3 days ago, I had my first lecture of the school year.
I walked through the doors and found a seat in the very back.
And then boom. It hits me.
I am not prepared for college (yes, intro to CS was that intimidating).
There's an easy solution: find cool apps.
I did some research on the best apps for students. I also looked at apps I've used in the past. Combining these, I made a killer list of free and freemium apps (no budget-eating BS).
Here's the list:
Notion 🗓️
This is an absolute essential.
If you don't use Notion, you're doing something wrong. It's that simple.
You can use Notion for almost everything. I use it to create long-term plans, keep classes organized, and journal my life.
And get this—Notion offers a free education plan for students. Emphasis on free.
Notion has a huuuuge community of users. That means 3 things:
There are thousands of genuinely powerful templates
There's a huge support system in case you have a question
You probably have a friend who uses Notion
Download Notion (or an alternative like Obsidian). Don't look back.
Concepts 🧠
Concepts is another fantastic app for students.
It's an "unlimited canvas" note-taking app. In other words, you'll never run out of space.
This is cool for 3 reasons:
You can create "collage" notes (dump a bunch of concepts together and draw lines to connect ideas)
You can unleash your creative potential. Using an unlimited canvas app makes it 10x easier to brainstorm ideas
If you use spider diagram notes, you can take notes without worrying about how much space is left on your paper.
I've used Concepts for years. It's one of the few apps I highly recommend (check my post archiveif you don't believe me).
If you're interested, Concepts is offering Overoptimize readers a free trial (no credit card required). Click here for more info.
Pixelist 🔂
As a student, habits are everything.
Someone with solid habits is gonna do way better than someone who doesn't. Doesn't matter if it's hitting the gym, reading, or hydrating—just find a habit and stick with it.
Pixelist is an app that makes habit-tracking fun. It does this by using colors (woah).
It's a solid app—I've never had a problem with it. The gamification aspect is great for habit-tracking.
The best part? It's completely free. No in-app purchases.
Todoist ✅
I talk about Todoist all the time on this blog. There's a good reason for that.
I genuinely love Todoist.
I've used it as my to-do list app for years. Here's why:
For most users (including me), the free plan is enough
It's intuitive
It's also incredibly powerful
It has cool organization features
Though I've tried other to-do list apps from time to time, Todoist has always been my number 1. And for the upcoming school year, it'll probably stay like that.
Apple Notes 📝
Hear me out here.
I know Apple Notes isn't amazing:
It isn't the most powerful app out there
It doesn't have best community of users
It definitely isn't the best note-taking app out there
But there's one feature that students need to take a look at: Quick Notes.
If you're on your iPad, find the bottom right corner of your screen (hint: ↘️). Swipe towards the middle of the screen.
You should see a mini-note open up. This is a Quick Note (you can also view Quick Notes in your Notes app).
Quick Notes are useful when you're trying to dump out internal ideas. The unique strength of Quick Notes is how accessible it is—it literally takes one swipe to open a Quick Note.
I use Quick Notes when I'm:
trying to come up with a cool idea
researching a topic for an essay/speech
learning a completely new topic
Check it out. It's a solid feature.
Feyn 📚
My #1 flashcard app is Feyn.
It's not a super popular app (just 75 ratings on the App Store). That being said, it should be.
Feyn has one pretty distinct feature. Using your Apple Pencil, you can create handwritten flashcards. That's different from almost every app out there.
And in my opinion, it's better than almost every app out there.
Handwritten flashcards (in terms of learning at least) are better than typed flashcards. You can visualize concepts, write math equations without using weird symbols, and take the time to understand what's going on.
Feyn also syncs across devices via iCloud—you can create flashcards on your iPad and study them on your iPhone.
ChatGPT 🤖
This is a no-brainer.
If your class allows ChatGPT, this app is an absolute essential.
Ask it to explain concepts, give you practice problems, or explain what's wrong with your solution. You'll learn way faster.
One Sec 🕰️
Ok, I'm gonna sound like a dad right now.
You need to stop scrolling through Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or whatever app you're using. You're wasting your time and potential.
One Sec is an app that helps you with this. The idea is simple:
Find an app you're addicted to
Set up the one sec app
Follow instructions to setup an automation
You're set
Whenever you open up the app you chose, a new screen will pop up. It'll ask you to take a breath and genuinely make a decision: "Is it worth my time to scroll through this app?"
Final Thoughts
"It is essential to have good tools, but it is also essential that the tools should be used in the right way"—Wallace D. Wattles
Thanks for reading!
Adi