Everyone is constantly on your phone and especially in college, you’re constantly checking Instagram, messaging about your next assignment with a classmate, or arranging what time to meet at the dining hall with your roommate. Your phone is an extremely handy tool, especially when it comes to college. Below, I’ve compiled a list of the top 10 Apps You Need in College.
This list of apps is not only apps that will make your college experience more fun, but also less stressful and more importantly, safer as well.
Uber
Uber is essentially a mobile taxis service. It allows you get a ride almost instantly and is available around the world. On the app, you’re able to split fairs with your friends immediately, track when your ride is arriving, see how much the trip will cost, and now you can even get food delivered from select restaurants in your area! Honestly, Uber is a lifesaver when it comes to going out with my friends. In case you haven’t used Uber before you can sign up with my code to get a free Uber Ride up to $20!
Venmo
Venmo is another must-have when it comes to college. It’s only been a recent addition to my app collection, but it’s definitely made life so much easier. Venmo is an app where you’re able to immediately transfer money between your contacts. This has been great for splitting the bill at a restaurant, paying my roommate for utilities, but also small things like picking up something at the store for a friend. My friends and I rarely have cash on us, so having a safe and secure app that we can easily transfer money is amazing!
Snapchat
If you don’t have Snapchat, you’re definitely missing out. Snapchat is one of my favorites, if not my favorite social media app. It allows you to automatically send photos and videos to your friends which are a nice change from just a traditional text. It also allows you to post pictures and videos on your “story” for all of your contacts to see. I especially love using Snapchat during my travels and also staying in touch with friends back home. Sending photos to my story or to my contacts allows a lot of my friends and family to stay up-to-date with what I’m doing instead of reaching out to everyone individually.
Another one of my favorite social media accounts, Instagram, is a gallery where you can post photos and add filters. Instagram just added a new ‘story’ feature as well, but I still prefer to use Snapchat for that kind of feature. Instagram is pretty simple, but that’s what I love most about it. You’re able to really make an awesome gallery on your feed, really display your best pictures and make them look great with their editing tools. Instagram is also a great and fun way to keep updated with what’s happening at local businesses in the area or your school since most businesses and schools have these social media accounts. It’s just nice to have everything available in one place.
You can follow me on Instagram by clicking here!
Spotify
Spotify is available in an app or on your computer and allows you to listen to just about any song, anywhere in the world. Spotify has two services offered, their premium and their basic plan. Their basic plan is completely free, but it does, however, include ads and limited skips every few songs. The premium plan is $9.99 a month and allows you to have unlimited skips, no ads, and download songs so you’re able to listen to music when there’s no service available. College students are however able to get the premium plan for half price (basically the price of a single coffee!) with a valid student ID. Spotify has awesome playlists for any occasion that are already pre-made such as studying playlists, partying playlists, and the perfect playlists for working out.
GroupMe
GroupMe is an app that I just discovered this year. It’s an awesome app that allows you to have group messages with multiple individuals regardless if they have an iPhone or not. You can like people’s messages, letting them know you see their message, you can set up events and get RSVP’s immediately, and @ mention group members so they get a notification that they’re specifically mentioned in the chat. I currently have GroupMe for school projects and societies that I’m a part of on campus and it’s a lifesaver.
Find my Friends
Find My Friends is an app that essentially lets you stalk your friends. I rarely use this app, but the few times I used it, it’s come in handy. How it works is you and your friends enter your information and share your locations. This allows you to see a GPS location of where your friend (or their phone) is. There have been nights where we lost a friend for a little bit or I was unsure why my friend wasn’t responding but with Find My Friends app I was able to find where they are or see that they’re at least okay.
Find My Phone
Find my phone is something that’s automatically hooked up to your ICloud. Making sure that it’s all set up and correct is definitely important. There have been so many times where I misplaced my phone and being able to see the GPS location and have the phone have an alarm go off, has saved me so many times. I’ve also had my phone stolen before. With this app, I was able to report my phone as stolen and get everything erased on it. This is great because the person who stole my phone won’t have any of my information, but also won’t be able to sell my phone since once it’s reported stolen, it can never be activated again.
Banking App
Most, if not all banks nowadays have mobile banking apps where you’re able to check your accounts and transfer funds. I’m someone who keeps my money in my savings and then transfers money into my debt as I need it. This helps me keep my spending down. If you haven’t checked out your bank’s mobile app, I highly recommend it, it’ll make your life so much easier.
Calm/ Mediation App
My last recommendation is a calm or meditation app. College is obviously stressful. Apps like Calm or any meditation app allows you to sit in a guided meditation to allow you to destress or calm down right before a big exam or right before bed. Meditations can be as long as you want them to be, 5 minutes to 20 minutes. Meditation isn’t something that I practice often, but I do find that in extremely stressful situations, it definitely does help and make me feel so much better.
I hope you found this post helpful! What are your favorite apps or something that you cannot or couldn’t get through college without? Let me know in the comments down below!
