The 12 (free) apps and widgets Uni students can’t study without

With 100% of Generation Z (those aged 16-24) using mobile phones in one way or another, and a record number of UK students in university this year, it’s fair to say this generation of students will be relying on their mobile devices more than ever. To help break through the millions of apps and homescreen widgets available to download for use both on and offline, UNiDAYS worked with a group of uni students from across the UK to understand which apps and widgets they just can’t live without as they head back to uni this month.

Spending

Monzo
Monzo is a mobile-first bank that allows its near-6million users to spend, save and manage their money from the palm of their hand. Oli Kleary from the Open University explained: “It’s great for bouncing money around housemate stuff”, as the smartphone app connects with the contacts in your phone and allows users to send money in seconds. Users can also set up “pots” within the app, to manage spending, saving, and household bills.

UNiDAYS
Available in 114 markets globally, and with more than 7m active users, both the UNiDAYS app and homescreen widget hosts shoppable discounts and benefits from over 800 brands in the UK alone. Erin Roddy from Liverpool John Moores said: “Before I buy anything online I look for a UNiDAYS discount, so it absolutely affects where I shop. It’s great for finding affordable gifts for people, too!”

Gander
Gander is the first and only app that connects you directly to reduced and stickered food sitting on the shelves of your local supermarkets. On average, Gander users save an average of 56% on their food shops, and Erin again told UNiDAYS that she “Loves the way it goes through all the local stores and tracks where and when things are going out of date so you can get yellow sticker bargains!”

Organisation

Trello
Trello is a flexible project management app where groups or teams can create plans, collaborate on group course work, organise individual tasks and track progress in a visual way. Katie Partridge who studies at Newcastle University adds: “Trello is great for organisation, I can’t live without Trello!”

Notion
Notion is an on-the-go workspace that can be used in loads of ways; whether it be keeping track of notes and tasks, Notion adapts to how the user works. Functions include keeping records of reading lists and spreadsheets, to organising calendars and assignments, as well as tagging and assigning tasks to others. Oli Keary again says: “I love Notion for daily life management, like my weekly planners and to-do lists are all there and it’s totally customisable too.”

Goodnotes
This app seems to have revolutionised note taking in loads of ways. From being able to take hand-written notes or turning your iPad into a digital whiteboard, to the recognition software that means you can search your entire library in one go, Goodnotes is the app for students. Oli adds that he uses it to “Download textbooks as PDFs and highlight/make notes”, something that is a game changer for anyone studying.

School Work

Slack
“Slack is where the future works”, according to the tech platform’s website. Erin Roddy at Liverpool John Moores agrees, saying that she uses it “for group work mainly, as it’s handy to have channels” of discussions around the projects being worked on. These organised spaces can host calls, messages, files and more.

Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc)
Google Workspaces offers productivity tools that are totally collaborative and shareable, and which can be accessed from anyone, anywhere. A truly flexible solution for group work, with templates in every product to suit any situation that you can think of. Erin, who is studying an arts degree said: “Google docs are the best for obvious reasons, but I also love Google Arts and Culture for inspiration too”.

Grammarly
Grammarly is an AI-powered writing assistant that identifies not just spelling mistakes, but also grammatical errors and instances of plagiarism too. It can also offer suggestions to a writer’s tone, to help them sound more confident or less emotional, and is useful for effective communication. Currently, over 30 million people use Grammarly to improve their writing.

Wellness

Forest
Forest is an app that helps you stay present and focused in that whenever you want to focus on something, you “plant” a “tree” in the app, and the longer you stay in the app, the more the tree will grow. Users are encouraged to build whole forests themselves. Better still, the app genuinely works with Trees for Future to actually plant trees, and so far they have planted over 1.2 million. When Forest’s users spend virtual coins that they earn in-app on planting real trees, Forest then donates to the charity and creates planting orders.

Fabulous
Fabulous is an app that was actually created and designed by Uni students at Duke University, and which “uses behavioural science to help people make smart changes and build healthy habits”. Maddi at the University of Roehampton adds: “I use Fabulous for everyday mental and physical well-being. It helps me to remind myself to do the small tasks like making my bed, staying hydrated, taking 2 minutes to stretch and breathe, because all that is super important.”

StepsApp
The Steps App turns your phone into an aesthetically pleasing step counter, and makes tracking your daily activity more enjoyable than ever. You can analyse your daily data and compare and identify activity patterns, and the widget sits happily on the homescreen, working in the background without even being activated.