Study tips
We explore some of the best study apps for high school students, to help you transform your smartphone from a distraction into a handy assistant.
Is your phone your worst enemy when it comes to studying? Do constant notifications stop you from getting into the study zone? Or are you guilty of letting a 5-minute social media break turn into an hour-long TikTok session?
No judgement – we’ve all been there.
The good news is you don’t need to lock your phone away in a box or turn it off every time you sit down to study (that would be madness).
In fact, with the right apps installed, your smartphone could become a convenient study buddy. Here are our top 12 useful apps for students.
Shortcuts: Jump straight to the type of app you need.
- Concentration apps
- Productivity apps
- Note-taking apps
- Mindfulness apps
Apps to help concentration
1. Forest
The best concentration apps can help you get into the right mental zone for absorbing information. This category looks at apps that keep you from getting distracted (e.g. with white noise or by blocking other apps).
Some of us need a little external motivation to stay focused while studying. And that’s fine.
The Forest app provides a visual incentive by letting you plant a virtual tree and then basically holding that tree hostage until your study session is over.
Want to check your Instagram for a second? Tempted to do a quick online shop between textbook chapters? Go ahead. You’ll just have to come to peace with watching your tree wither and die first.
But if you stick to your focus time, you’ll enjoy watching your trees flourish. Over several study sessions, you can build a delightful digital forest – a pleasant reminder of all your productive hours.
- Available on: iOS, Android, Chrome
- Average rating: 4.8/5 on App Store, 4.6/5 on Google Play
- Cost: Free (with ads), with a premium version available for $52/year
- Note: Please check your school’s policy before downloading this or any app to your school computer.
2. Focus Friend by Hank Green
If you’d like your focus gamification to be even cuter, you might like Focus Friend. The general concept is similar to Forest, but here your concentration will be rewarded with decorations you can use to jazz up your Bean Friend’s little room.
The Bean Friend is adorable and customisable, but be careful – if you cancel your focus timer, they get “really really sad”. Sometimes guilt can be a powerful motivator to see your study session through to the end.
This app allows you to track your progress (even when your phone is locked), block distracting apps while you’re focusing, and plan out your break times using the Pomodoro method of productivity.
- Available on: iOS, Android
- Average rating: 4.7/5 on App Store, 4.5/5 on Google Play
- Cost: Free with in-app purchases (e.g. Pro version is $24.99/year)
3. Freedom
Freedom is an app that locks your phone while studying (or any other time you need to focus). Flag the apps and/or websites that distract you, and Freedom will block them – great if the self-motivated apps like Forest don’t quite cut it for you. You can set a scheduled session in advance or start some ‘Freedom time’ whenever you need it.
Freedom blocks time-wasting apps and websites across all your devices, so your iPad won’t tempt you away while you’re studying on your MacBook.