Apple’s slogan “An app for everything” isn’t far off the mark. There really is an app for almost everything. Below are 15 great apps for college students, whether you are craving food or trying to solve that math problem.
Old necessities
UrbanSpoon (free)Perfect for: hungry peopleClassic app UrbanSpoon takes in where you are, the type of cuisine you want, and how much you want to pay, and then it tells you where you want to eat. It also provides a link to reviews of each restaurant.
Shazam (free)Perfect for: when you hear that great songWhen that song comes on the radio, Shazam can identify it when you can’t. The only downside is that it can require up to 30 seconds to retrieve information, which can be a problem if you only hear or know a few seconds of the song.
News
The Weather Channel (free)Perfect for: getting dressed in the morningFairly self-explanatory: it tells you what the weather is in as many locations as you want. Claremont—75 and sunny. Wherever you’re from—not nearly as nice!
Time Mobile (free)Perfect for: keeping up to date outside the bubbleAmong news apps, Time Mobile is one of the easier ones to use. It has a simple photo-flip system that is reminiscent of reading a magazine. Articles often include links to other sites’ news.
Others
Pennies ($2.99)Perfect for: college students on a budgetKeeping a budget is tricky. Pennies will keep track of all your expenses, divide them by category, and alert you if you go over-budget. Unfortunately, it won’t print money for you if you do run out.
Best Camera ($2.99)Perfect for: making your photos look even betterOnce those pictures end up in Camera Roll, how do you make them look good? With Best Camera. Editing, enhancing, red-eye removal, and more, Best Camera will make your shots look amazing every time.
Great gamesMr. Driller ($0.99)Perfect for: addictionAnime-inspired Mr. Driller has you plunging through layers of colorful goo while avoiding getting squashed by even more goo. While appearing youthful and simple, it’s surprisingly difficult (after four hours of careful research and testing, I still haven’t beaten the beginner set, but I’m still hard at work).
Monster Kill ($0.99)Perfect for: stress releaseExactly what it sounds like—kill zombies! Cut their heads off in an exceedingly satisfying way. There’s just something about zombies…
Fling ($0.99)Perfect for: killing timeFling little colorful puffballs around a grid to solve puzzles. The object of the game is to knock the balls off the screen until only one is left. Easy to start, shockingly difficult by the end, and perfect for killing time in between.
Just for fun
More Toast! ($0.99)Perfect for: doing absolutely nothing in a really entertaining wayMore Toast! makes virtual toast with random pictures from Camera Roll burned into the bread. You can then cover it with toppings and eat it (virtually).
Lightsaber (free)Perfect for: epic battlesChoose your handle and color, and put on the music. It’s time for a lightsaber fight!
iGlowStick (free)Perfect for: lighting the wayDo you remember light sticks? On your iPhone, you can crack them, shake them, and watch them glow just like the Halloweens of your childhood.
AcademicsPeriodic ($0.99)Perfect for: chemistry homeworkProviding atomic number, orbitals, mass, and (in the next update) oxidation numbers, Periodic provides all the information that a regular table provides. The only problem is that the table form is difficult to use.
Graphing Calculator ($0.99)Perfect for: math homeworkCan’t find your treasured old TI-83? Graphing Calculator does all the same stuff. (For the non-graphing functions, try Scientific Calculator ($0.99).)
Octavian ($2.99)Perfect for: music homeworkOctavian generates a full keyboard, with chord and scale identification. If you’re too lazy to read those pesky lead sheets (or if you can’t read them fast enough to play along), you can put in the chords and it will play the song for you.