We’ve all seen and used Duolingo once in our lifetime. Maybe you had the impulse to learn French with how romantic it can be or you really want to understand anime without subtitles so you decided to take up Japanese. However, it’s also common knowledge that Duolingo is not the best way to learn. Their methods don’t allow for consistent progress. We’ve all seen the weird sentences that you would not use regularly as genuine practice. So what should you use?
Memrise
This UK-based app has a great range of coursework to choose from. You can even choose what you would like to focus on and it has reinforcement-based learning. Progress has never been more consistent with Memrise and they use appropriate visual aids to help you memorise vocabulary seamlessly.
Mango Languages
Mango Languages is superior in every way. It doesn’t rush you into learning and takes the time to explain the logic behind the grammar and vocabulary. This app is for more serious than casual learners but in our opinion, if you wish to learn something even casually, a serious teaching method will do wonders.
Busuu
A huge competitor to Duolingo, Busuu has the same approach to learning as Duolingo with its simple exercises but unlike Duolingo, your work is reviewed by fluent and native speakers. That is an optional advantage but it makes a huge difference to interact with fluent speakers and get their feedback.
Babbel
Babbel is again similar to Duolingo but without the nonsensical sentences about animals wearing shirts. Babbel’s gamified coursework is more catered to real-life conversations and scenarios. Thus, giving you practice for daily situations that you might find yourself stuck in. It presents a good challenge to language learners.
LingoDeer
LingoDeer found everything wrong about Duolingo and fixed it. The app is catered towards beginners, a level that language apps are mostly used for. They teach and drill simple vocabulary into you first rather than throwing you in. While this is a confusing method for beginners, serious learners at the beginner level might also appreciate their story-reading coursework.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Have you ever found yourself stuck, wishing to do something or wanting an easy guide? Well, look no further because where there’s the desire to learn, there’s always an app for that.
Here are some common needs with amazing apps to help you improve your lifestyle or talents!
Mental Health – Headspace
Headspace is one of the leading mental health apps out there. Mental health apps have risen in popularity since the COVID-19 pandemic. What makes Headspace worth recommending is that it offers several ways to improve your mental health, including guided meditation, walking, running, and sessions to focus on your mindfulness, all led by world-class experts. It also provides sleep sounds for those struggling with sleep issues.
Without the commitment of in-app purchases, Nike Training Club is an easy-access fitness app that prioritises personal, at-home training. The range of fitness regimens makes catering to your needs and goals simple. They work at your own pace and also offer some mindfulness training to balance physical health. Progress is achievable with Nike Training Club’s over 300+ workouts.
As a free and easy-to-use app, Snapseed is the best photo-editing app for your casual needs. The great adjustment system and variety of filters, with easy localised editing, allow you to bring out the best in your photos. Interestingly, Google also bought Snapseed to get their development team and technology.
Goodbudget is a proactive budgeting app whose money management and expense tracking do not disappoint. Their key feature is their secure data backup on the cloud as well as their collaborative approach when it comes to household finances. It connects you to others financially easily and intuitively modifies your budgets for you when needed.
Plant Nanny combines self-care and plant care into one app that motivates you to drink daily water for a cute cause. It features an adorable animated plant with expressions and unique looks that you have to take care of by drinking water. While the app isn’t entirely free, their basic app is a great tool that reminds you to hydrate and if you miss a cup, the plant will wither.
These are only a few of the apps for common daily needs that caught our attention. With apps becoming more and more convenient, it is a great partner for our physical and mental wellbeing. We encourage you to improve your lifestyle with these amazing apps that we handpicked.
Android phones are tablets are capable of much more than snapping selfies and posting social media updates. With the right app, you can effectively convert your Android device into a movie theatre, canvas, workstation, or anything else you could possibly imagine.
There are millions of free mobile apps for Android on the Google Play Store, but picking the right one according to your needs is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
We present to you the top 5 Android apps of 2021, that we think would do the job for you just right. Each recommended app is excellent in its own way.
Here we go:
WhatsOnFlix
With the introduction of streaming platforms, we have all become big movie-buffs. WhatsOnFlix is one of the top free Android and iOS apps that is useful to users, especially to the ones who love watching movies. This app updates you on what to watch next on Netflix.
It lets you discover, filter, searches for the latest movies and series on Netflix. Get rid of the streaming chaos now and watch your favourite flick with ease.
Spotify
Spotify is arguably the best app for Android when it comes to streaming music. This app has it all. You can easily listen to all your favourite music, albums, and create a playlist of your own. Moreover, Spotify recommendations are one of the best and as it settles down with your taste perfectly.
Once you download the Spotify app, you can select a ready-made playlist that suits your mood and enjoy the unmatched sound quality.
Bumble
Well, if you are listening to Spotify, or selecting a movie on Netflix, it is better to get someone special to accompany you. Bumble is one of the finest apps for dating. You can make secure connections from around the world. The most interesting part about this app is that women have the option to make the first move.
Google Pay
The whole world is going digital. India especially is on a digital transformation stage and physical currencies are being washed out more and more from the market and are being replaced by digital transactions.
If you have a bank account and a card, you can easily set up an account on Google Pay and make digital transactions from your bank to someone else’s bank, as well as get the money in your account too. All this is done through a very secure payment method of UPIs.
Zomato
Last but not the least, you have to have a Zomato app to satisfy your food craving at any given hour of the day. Ordering food at your home has never been this easy! Through the Zomato app, you can check out the restaurants’ pics, menu, user reviews, and decide wherever you want to eat.
It has multiple other unique features for customers like takeaway, table booking, and discoveries. You can also find many discounts and offers on the restaurants, which makes this one of the top free applications for android easy on your pocket.
I am sure some of you may have gone through the first part of this “Top 10 Apps for College Students”. Many of you are reading essential so many times that some of you may have started creating a perception as if I was the one who formulated the Essential Commodities Amendment Act, 2020, due to complete havoc going around the borders of Delhi. So, let’s not take much of your time and head towards this coolest part that will showcase some of the sophisticated applications. If you have not gone through the first part, here’s a chance for you to go through it by clicking on this link.
Ahh, College! Gone were the days when the “Papa Kehte Hain ” song took people to their college days. PM Modi is constantly working on Atmanirbhar Bharat, but he forgets one crucial thing – Atmanirbharta or self-reliance comes when one joins a college and hostel. Trust me; it is what you will look upon where your second home teaches you every single thing in your life in bits and pieces. I am sure that even this year, many students are ready to make their move to their college, be it a virtual one, till the time vaccination reaches a major portion of the population. One of the major events that will happen with you is that some of you will get your smartphone and be ready to utilize it to the fullest. Let’s know what are essential apps for college students from this Exhibit blog.
Spotify
I am sure many of you know about this splendid application. This app is no less than a rockstar. Why? First of all, it can soothe you in finding your kind of song. Next, it has a wide range of podcasts that can help you during your college days. I was a passionate coder, so I found one podcast channel by Andres Arriaga. This channel can ensure that your coding journey is smooth. So, yes, this will be the first essential app that you will like to have on your smartphone. Exhibit has covered news on Spotify recently, which you can read from here.
Google Calendar
Some restless days can come for you when you know that you have not a single minute in a day for yourself. Yeah, sometimes your college schedule can create a complete ruckus for sure. Now, you will be reluctant to halt at any moment, but those situations will demand the relentless quotient in you. For those times, Google Calendar as a companion can help you a lot in optimizing time management.
EverNote
Hey, don’t move further if you think your smartphone allows you to get in-built notes making apps . No, you should not use it. Now, please don’t get offended as I am no one who will control you. But, I hold a strong reason. What? The best part about this app is that it allows smooth integration with your Gmail account to store these files on the cloud. I hope it is a concrete reason that can allow you to download this mobile app.
CamScanner or other Image to PDF Converter
Guys and girls, you need to go digital. Please don’t consider me as a right-wing politician. Digitization literally brings comfort to your life. A situation may arise when you need to borrow notes by taking pictures from your friend in one shot. You saved it as pictures and started reading them on your laptop (considering that it helps you give visualization), but you will sense the issue of closing one image and opening the other to read the notes. Instead, get something that can convert these bunch of images into PDF format files. Get any authenticated app that can help you in achieving this feat.
Any Payment App
You will be above 18. You will have your bank accounts. And, sometimes, it will happen that you don’t have money in your wallet, but you need to spend it on buying some commodities. Well, for that purpose, you need a payment app. Sometimes, you have to transfer it to a friend, and you have no energy or intention to go to your campus’s bank ATM to take out the cash. Download GooglePay, PhonePe, PayTM, etc., for such instances, whichever suits you the most.
Essential Apps for College Students
According to Exhibit, this one article is not enough to showcase some of the finest mobile applications that need to be present on your smartphone. Hence, Exhibit will come again with another edition with a second part (with bigger Mirzapur-type applications this time). Get ready to learn more on essential apps for college students.
What a time to be alive, isn’t it? Remember the time when you were slacking close to 10 hours a day and sometimes even working on the weekends without a day off. You were sick of it. And you were desperate enough for that much-needed break. Well, here’s your chance. We found out a few apps that might keep you occupied in this lockdown period. Assuming that you start your day by doing some chores in the morning like you usually would on a regular working day and then head straight to work. Things are a bit different unless you’re one from the ‘heroes’ category. Thank you for your never-ending patience and support! Coming back, the next step would be for us individuals is most likely an option to work from home.
ZOOM Cloud Meetings
Now, working from home can be fun for some and boring for others. Of course, let’s be honest here, some meetings are boring. You have no idea why you are a part of it. Until the Boss finally asks you for your precious opinion. Well, this app is going to help your Boss out. While you’re at home in your comfort zone, he can schedule a meeting with you and your 100 other colleagues. You just need a computer or a laptop or a smartphone and a decent internet connection for you to join in the meeting. But hold it, if you are thinking where am I gaining at this. Well, you are. You can show your clients your presentations and crack that deal which you have been dying to crack. All this by you sharing your screen with the respective members on the call. So much better than those darkroom PowerPoint presentations, where some are found napping. It is a decent app to catch up with your colleagues too.
Houseparty
Wait a moment. Let me proceed ahead with caution. Houseparty was in the news for all the right reasons, until people claimed that their accounts were hacked. Relax! That was a smear campaign started by somebody. Houseparty will be awarding you 1 million dollars (₹7.6 crores) if you manage to prove that somebody was spreading these rumours. Anyway, you are better off enjoying your quarantine period by spending quality time with your family members at home and for someone not that lucky they can do so by playing different games on this app while they are video chatting. Talk to mutual friends and still stay in touch with everyone. The application is really smart, it will alert your friends whenever you are back online on the app. You can even join them, drop a face mail if they have missed a call or just get in touch with them whenever they are back online. You can have a private party of your own too, by locking the rooms in which you and your friends are. Quite cool. A genius idea that was based on a simple concept. Talk to each other while you are playing with each other. Well, the application has gone viral ever since lockdown came into force. Maybe you too should jump on the Houseparty bandwagon and let yourself loose. Sounds fun? It is!
Bumble
This is no joke, virtual dating is a thing, you guys. If you have been sitting on the fence with dating apps. Now is the time to try them out. Many bored people are going to get on the app looking to have a decent conversation with people who share the same interests. So I popped up to look out for people who were exactly doing the same thing. What do you do when you’re in a lockdown situation? Chat up with strangers, and possibly get to know them better before actually meeting them once the quarantine period ends. And the app that I enjoyed using was Bumble. To start with, Bumble has three options for you to choose from. Whether you want to find dates, or friends to hang out with or expand your business network with like-minded individuals. It is truly your choice. Not that you only have to go looking for dates, there are interesting people out there who you can interact with. Every single person out there is in isolation and there’s no harm in trying your luck with someone special. You never know, the person you meet during your quarantine period might be the one who you could be spending your future with. You never know.
AmpMe
Once you’re done looking out for your future significant others, you might want to try this fun app too. It’s for being a bit romantic when you’re alone. No, not what you are thinking. I have no business looking for other things on this app but this one special feature I like to use. Suppose you have a special friend that stays away who has a similar taste in music. You both cannot listen to the same music together at the same time because we’re all isolating in our own houses. We expect you both too. Well, nobody is stopping you to do the same thing virtually. Yes, you and your special friend can play songs from YouTube, Spotify, and your Music library for free. All of that at the same time. Syncing the audio on both your smartphones. Again, all you both need is a fast internet connection and a good choice of songs. And, of course, you can restrict others from joining your private listening session. Apart from that, it gives you an option to chat while you are enjoying your playlist on YouTube or Spotify or your Music Library. It is a sweet way of enjoying the songs together. Or if you want to create a listening session for your whole group then you can ask other friends to join in. Try it out, you might want to ask your Bumble date to join you there. See, I gave you an idea already to do a fun virtual activity together.
Starmaker
Are you tired of playing Ludo, COD, PUBG and what not? You might want to relax your fingers then. This one will rather test your vocal skills. Ever played an online karaoke game? No? It’s pretty simple. Ask all your friends to sing a chorus of their favourite songs and share them on the group. A fun way of keeping your friends and yourself entertained, no? Well, the Starmaker app does act like a karaoke machine. All you have to do is search for your favourite song and play it. The app will automatically collect lyrics and flash it for you as the regular karaoke machines would do. However, I found its instrumentals to be not as accurate but enough for one to have an enjoyable karaoke session with. And when you are done recording your first single, you will be given points and scores, which to be honest, I had no interest in tracking. All I wanted to do was record the single and share it with my friends. Also, they had a good laugh about it. Go on, try it out.
Countries are getting lockdown for days and some for months. It is quite a serious situation out there. If you happen to read this, I am sure you come in the privileged lot. Well, hear me out on this. It is our responsibility to win over this situation. How are we going to do that? By staying home, following basic hygiene and keeping yourself fit. When all of this is over, you will come out of this as a more mature person who has seen through a tough period. For now, enjoy these random apps. You might thank yourself later for doing so. Stay safe, everyone!
