The best Android apps for learning

With millions of helpful apps available, it can be difficult to know where to begin

The world is bursting with great education apps - here are our top four picks

4. Study Checker

On the packet: Imagine Big Brother lived in your phone, or worse, your Mum still controlled your screen time. Study Checker notes your study and break times, building a series of interesting stats, covering days, weeks, months or any period of your choosing. It knows your habits, it really knows.

Out of the box: Study Checker knows as much as you tell it. Think of it like an organiser that you can easily hoodwink into believing you totally spent five hours on coursework last night and didn’t go bowling instead…it’s great for setting goals and keeping yourself honest.  The time keeper is a nice reminder that hey, this is supposed to be study time and this is how long you stuck with it.

Downside: Not Big Brother.
Upside: Mum does not control screen time.

3. StudyBlue

On the packet: Flashcards have always been a large part of the educational arena; they’re sticky, clinging to your brain as you read the term and associated definition over and over again. Rote learning certainly has its place and it isn’t always the classroom, as forcing your brain to remember random facts, figures and key points has been a staple of panicked students everywhere for decades, if not centuries. StudyBlue is a fancy-pants digital version, syncing with your phone and tablet devices, allowing you to take notes and create flashcards that are not only sharable but editable.

Out of the box: Digital flash cards, we can feel the excitement. The features are nifty enough for what the app promises, allowing you to have discussion with fellow users and collaborate over assignment notes. You can set your own flashcard quizzes, testing memory retention and identify weaknesses to facilitate detailed study later on; audio, images and text are all compatible formats.

Downside: It’s a bit buggy. Navigation needs work.
Upside: If you learn by repetition and quizzes, this one’s for you.

2. Self-Control

On the packet: Self Control blocks your favourite websites for a stipulated period of time, re-routing your concentration into your study materials…where it should be. You can still be called, make calls, send texts, be texted and other phone functions, but you won’t be able to surf Buzzfeed or Boing Boing, hunting for distractions.

Out of the box: An effective little tool for almost anything; whether you’re at work and the presence of your phone is too strong to ignore or studying a new course, Self-Control lives up to the second part of its name. It is controlling. Check out your study graphs, track how long it took to complete tasks and plan for the next round. The ads are a bit annoying but they aren’t as invasive as Study Checker’s campaign.

Downside: It works.
Upside: It works.

1. Sworkit

On the packet: Prepare your muscles and fill up your drink bottles, we have a no-excuses exercise app for those five minute breaks you absolutely need. Study by its nature is more sedentary than active; you sit for hours on end and stare at screens, books and reading. Your body needs to move. Sworkit is designed to give busy people a kick up the butt, whether they live near a gym or not; simply type in your workout time (five minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes – whatever your break time) and follow the instructions onscreen. You have time, even when you think you don’t.

Out of the box: We love it. Sworkit is interval training at its finest, mixing up resistance, strength, cardio and flexibility, completely reinventing your at-home routine. Audio and video is included, so you never need to guess what to do next or what your form should look like. Overall navigation is common sense and pleasant to look at – best fitness/procrastination breaker app on the market.  

There you have it. Four awesome apps for free and guaranteed to boost your study performance. Have we missed any of your favourites?