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One of the hardest things for a student to do is to stay motivated and productive. We go through it, hours of sitting around procrastinating, waiting for someone to knock on the door or phone us asking us to come out so we can justify an excuse for leaving our work till a later date.

Unfortunately, the work still needs to be done and it’s even harder to go back to it. Luckily, thanks to the age of technology we live in, there are countless apps and tools we can download and utilise to alleviate our stresses and ease our pains. Here, to make your life a little easier and a lot more productive is my nine productivity and development apps and tools.

Dictionary.com

To kick start my list, an app/website that can help you know and throughout your life. Dictionary.com allows you to search words and phrases to find the meaning, allowing you to expand your vocabulary, enabling you to write and speak precisely as you mean to. Log on using your computer or download the app for your respective smartphone.

Paper Fellows

This free to sign up online community is packed full of budding writers and writing professionals. Together, this creates a rich online community that can educate and advise you on the best way to approach your writing based situations. Whether you’re looking for advice on format, topic, content, writing style, ways to stay productive or even how to write the first word, Paper Fellows has something for you.

Brainscape

Flashcards have long been used as an effective learning tool to teach us about a subject in short, digestible sizes. Even when you’re in college, flashcards are a fantastic way to effectively learn for an upcoming test. Specifically for iOS devices, Brainstorm allows you to download free or paid flashcards to use right on your phone, covering a whole manner of subjects.

ToDoist

Getting organised is one of the most important aspects of getting things done. If you’ve got an ever-increasing workload and one really simple way just to combine and refer to then Todoist is the app for you. Available on all smartphone devices with seamless syncing to your desktop computer, this is such as a great app to list out your jobs the day and get them done.

Assignment Help

You could spend hours writing a perfect piece of content for your assignment only to hand it in and get a B, maybe even a C. It’s just not fair when the lecturer decides to mark you down just because there’s a typo or a spelling mistake that doesn’t really affect the overall content. To avoid this problem entirely, and to save you from doing it, upload it to Ox Essays where a professional writer can proofread your work for you!

MindGenius

Remember when you used to do mind-maps during your earlier years in school? The reason they used them then was that they’re visual and they work so well. They still work extremely well now! Simply download the software onto your desktop computer and get you organised and on the right path to creativity and increased levels of productivity.

Evernote

The critically acclaimed king of list apps and productivity booster. Evernote simply must be on this list as it features on every productivity list. Even though at its core Evernote is just a to-do list app, there are so many features seamlessly integrated into the software, it really can change your life.

CiteItIn

There’s one thing I do not miss about college would and that is referencing. The bane of my life, I wish had discovered CiteItIn sooner, a piece of free online software that allows you to create outstanding, professional looking references and citations that make your work look and sound incredible.

Academized

When researching for information for your assignment you may come across a simple sentence that says exactly what you mean but there’s no way to re-word it. You do this a couple of times in a 10,000-word assignment and you’re more than likely going to be caught out for plagiarism. This can even result in you getting removed from the course. To minimise and eliminate the risk, send off your work to Academized, a custom writing solution that can scan and check your work, editing it so it passes any plagiarism test.

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Brenda Berg is a professional with over 15 years experience in business management, marketing and entrepreneurship. Consultant and tutor for college students and entrepreneurs. Self motivated results driven individual who is encouraged to travel around the world and share gained experience in her blog Letsgoandlearn.com

Source link:http://www.theiphoneappreview.com/2017/07/9-most-useful-apps-tools-for-college-students-that-will-make-you-smarter-more-productive/

Sidewords ($2.99) by Milkbag Games is an original title that is part word game and part logic puzzle. If you enjoyed recent titles like TypeShift and Antitype, then you will love what Sidewords brings to the table.

As someone who makes a living off of writing, I have a soft spot for word games. Even though I always got beat pretty badly in Words with Friends, I still liked to play it just for the fun of it. I’ve also acquired many other word games over the years, including some favorites like Letterpress and Capitals. But in an oversaturated App Store, most word games end up being Scrabble or Boggle clones, which gets tiring. So when Sidewords hit the App Store this week, I became intrigued and had to give it a try myself. Needless to say, it’s one of the more unique offerings out there and does not disappoint.

App Feels Like

Free

TypeShift

Zach Gage

$1.99

Antitype

BorderLeap, LLC

Free

Words With Friends – Best Word Game

Zynga Mobile

Free

Letterpress – Word Game

Solebon LLC

Free

Capitals – Multiplayer Word Battle

NimbleBit LLC

$7.99

SCRABBLE Premium

Electronic Arts Inc.

Free

Boggle With Friends

Zynga Mobile

$2.99

Threes!

Sirvo LLC

In terms of visuals, Sidewords features a completely minimalist design that’s also customizable to the player’s wishes. Upon the first launch, players get greeted with a simple game menu that’s laid out in a square grid. The background’s set to letter tiles that move, but you can change that to nothing, or just have the animation stop. The other options include changing color themes (four to choose from) and toggling haptic feedback.

During gameplay, players will find simple grids composed of squares. For the most part, the game is rendered in 2-D so things look flat, but there’s a bit of depth to the tiles so they slightly pop out.The typography is a bit on the thinner side, but I think it’s still fairly legible since the letter tiles are bigger.

Grids range in size, from 3×3 for the easy puzzles up to 6×6 for the tougher ones. Letter tiles arranged along the top row and first column, kind of like a graph, and are what you’re using to spell out words to fill the rest of the grid. Selected letters end up highlighted in a contrasting color so it’s easy to tell them apart from what you haven’t picked out.

All animations in Sidewords are pretty subtle, though they’re still smooth and fluid on my iPhone 7. I had no issues with lag or choppiness, and the haptic feedback worked wonderfully. The game doesn’t have any tunes playing in the background, but there are some whimsical sound effects that are fun to hear as you spell out words and solve puzzles.

Since Sidewords is a puzzle game, it’s level-based with various collections to go through. Each collection features a handful of puzzles that vary in size and difficulty. While some collections feature what look like random words (the letters you’re using), others have set themes, such as “Entertainment: Television Shows” and “Potpourri: Food.”

In addition to the puzzle collections, there’s a bonus game mode called Quads. It involves sliding letter tiles in from the sides of the grid (think Threes! style) and then spelling words with tiles that are adjacent to each other. Quads is more of high score chaser, and you can play endlessly until the grid fills up and it’s impossible to spell out more words. However, the only way to earn points in Quads is to spell out words that are adjacent to the Quad Tiles, and a point’s earned for each Quad you clear out.

Controls in Sidewords are easy to pick up and intuitive for the platform. In Puzzles, players simply tap on the letter tiles they want to use to spell out words, and then tap on the checkmark button to submit it. Spelled words then occupy the spaces on the grid that line up with the tiles used, and words cannot overlap. If you change your mind about a word and want to get rid of it, just tap on the word itself and it clears out. This is necessary when it’s impossible to spell out another word with the current setup.

The controls for Quads works a bit differently. First, you’ll have to slide your finger on the screen to make the tiles slide towards that direction, and then more tiles come in from the sides. You repeat the process until the tiles you want to spell with are adjacent to each other, and then just tap on them to select them. There’s no need to worry about overlap in this mode, but you need to remember that you only get points once a Quad piece disappears.

Sidewords is truly not like other word games you’ve played before. It’s a combination of word and logic, thus creating a unique experience that is hard to replicate.

Sidewords is a combination of word and logic, thus creating a unique experience that is hard to replicate.

Sidewords is a definite must for any word game fan. The minimalistic graphics are appealing to anyone, and the sound effects are delightful to hear. The controls are simple and easy enough for anyone to pick up. However, the best part about Sidewords is the distinctive gameplay mechanic. It’s interesting and provides challenging puzzles of various difficulty levels when the logic factor plays in. It’s a standout amongst many similar word games that are already on the App Store, and for good reason.

While Sidewords is pretty great, it may not be for everyone. If you already aren’t a fan of word games, then Sidewords isn’t going to change your mind, especially if you don’t care for logic puzzles either. I would also like to see more themes available, and perhaps maybe an option to change the main background depending on the theme. Otherwise, the game is fantastic.

As a big fan of word games, Sidewords is one I’m truly enjoying so far. I love the simple and clean aesthetic, and the sound effects are fun to listen to while playing. The word and logic elements mashed together create a special experience that I’ve never seen before in a word game, which is refreshing. Sidewords is definitely one game that should be in everyone’s game collection.

I recommend giving Sidewords a try if you’re into either word or logic puzzles. Sidewords is available on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for $2.99. There are no in-app purchases.

9.0

OVERALL

Gameplay 10

Replayability 9

Game Controls 9

Graphics 9

Sound/Music 8

$2.99

Sidewords

Milkbag Games

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