Have you ever flicked through your phone’s home screen and been impressed (or appalled) by the amount of useless apps you’ve accumulated over the years? We bet there’s loads of them. Candy Crush, Temple Run or Word with Friends… they definitely provided the good times, but what about the best apps for starting uni?

Do yourself a favour and bookmark this list. These are the best apps for starting uni – and will make your life as a Charles Sturt University student THAT much easier.

DropBox or GoogleDrive

Be prepared for an avalanche! There’s going to be loads of notes, articles and readings that you need to keep handy. One solution is to download a cloud storage app – like DropBox or GoogleDrive. That way, you can access your uploaded files from anywhere (on your phone, laptop or tablet) and share them with your friends, study buddies or teaching staff. Added bonus: You’re 100 per cent less likely to misplace your notes.

Focus Keeper

This app uses the ‘Pomodoro method’ of study – the art of segmenting your ‘focus time’ into 25-minute sections, broken up by short breaks. The aim of the game is quality over quantity – meaning it’s better to spend 25 minutes studying with laser-like focus, than two hours of unfocused, distracted study. You can set your goals and study time and track your progress. High recommended for those who ‘procrasti-study’ regularly.

Pocketbook

We all know that looking after your money can sometimes be a chore. It doesn’t have to be though. Pocketbook is a free budgeting app that helps you track exactly where you money is going. The app automatically organises your spending into categories like clothes, groceries and fuel – showing you where money is being spent. You can also set up budgets for each category, check your balances and view your transactions. The aim to help you spend and save even smarter. And as a uni student, all financial assistance should be welcomed!

iStudiez Pro

Looking for the ultimate study tracking app? iStudiez Pro allows you to plan out every single aspect of your studies. Track everything from classes to homework – even grades for each subject! The best part of the app is that it’s easy to switch between to-do list and calendar modes so that you can see when everything’s due. Basically, it’s an online calendar that shows your daily schedule and tasks at a single glance. This one is a game changer, guys.

Paprika

Moving out of home? Maybe you’re moving on campus and living in one of our self-catered options. If cooking isn’t your forte, you need this app. Paprika will take the stress out of your meal prep by allowing you to download your favourite recipes from the internet, make meal plans and create grocery lists. Everything you need to organise the weekly food shop is all in the one place. It’s a life saver for the culinarily challenged.

Forest

Have you ever been having a good study sesh, yet somehow ended up scrolling through Instagram or Facebook with no clue how you ended up there? ‘Mindless scroll’ is a thing, people. Forest is one of the best apps for starting uni as it is designed to beat your phone addiction by providing an incentive to stay focused. Using the app, you’ll plant a seed. That seed will grow into a tree – and the longer you stay on the app, the bigger the tree will grow. The moment you switch to another app, the tree stops growing and starts to wither away. So stay focused!

Splitwise

So you’ve moved on campus, made some new buddies and you’re splitting your groceries each week. Good plan. Except old mate Johnny conveniently ‘forgets’ to chip in his 20 bucks after the weekly shop. That’s where Splitwise comes in. With Splitwise, you can keep a running total of ‘who owes who what’ over time. Bills, groceries, rent, dining out – whatever you’re spending moolah on, Splitwise makes sure everyone gets paid back.

Are you ready to start your uni journey?

If you’re looking for more info to help you cruise into your first year at Charles Sturt University, you can find loads of information about starting university from Insight. You can:

• read our uni-speak cheat sheet
• check off our 50 tips to get you organised before class starts
• learn how to conquer Orientation
• find out 5 must-dos in your first week at uni.

We can’t wait to welcome you to the Charles Sturt fam.