My Five Favorite Apps That Make Studying Less Painful

I 've recently been reviewing a boatload of flashcard apps—apps geared toward learning a foreign language, apps that turn your Google Sheets into study materials, and apps that are super simple but still effective—but my absolute favorite was Brainscape. I earned five stars out of five thanks to its many great features. There's a giant library of existing card decks that have been reviewed and approved by experts (some delivered straight from credentialing boards to help you study for specific entry or certification exams); you can use AI to quickly generate the cards you need for a specific class; it works across your phone and computer; it uses the all-important Leitner method to help you study with spaced repetition for maximum retention; and it's relatively cheap at $19.99 per month, compared to its less-involved competitors. Out of all the apps I reviewed, this is the one I'm still using. It's available on iOS, Android, and your browser.

Oh, you like studying with mind maps more than flashcards? No problem, though it will cost you: Download Xmind from the iOS App Store. It's $99 per year after your two-week trial, but it could be worth it for the right studier. You can make blank mind maps to organize your notes, or choose a pre-made templates for mind maps that focus on problem-solving, business plan creation, project management, or anything else. They're color-coded, easy to create and edit, and can be accessed by multiple accounts, so you can work on them in tandem with others on your team. (It's perfect for group projects.) I recommend using it in a desktop browser to make the creation of your maps faster and easier. They'll appear instantly in your mobile app, too. Read my full review here.

Flora, available on iOS (and coming soon on Android and a Chrome extension), isn't actually a study app so much as a focus app—but when you're studying, focus matters a lot, as I explained in my full review. It's similar to a few other focus apps on the market in that you grow "trees" in a virtual forest, but they only grow as long as you don't interrupt them by using your phone. What sets Flora apart, though, is that it's free to download and use. You have the option to donate money if you want to plant real-life trees based on your own virtual forest's growth, and the option to bet real money on the fact that you won't kill your trees, which will only happen if you abandon your focus during your scheduled focus time. (I successfully grew a tree by telling the app I wanted to work for 10 minutes straight, then take a five-minute break.) You can pick the kinds of trees you grow, how long you spend working, how long your breaks are, and whether your app keeps data on your focus times and/or resets after a week or a month. It's easy to use and very motivating.

I like to use MyStudyLife as a planner because it's specially designed for school, while apps like iCal and Google Calendar aren't (although you can import your iCal data on here, too). Available on iOS and Android, this tool is free, but extremely customizable: You can enter in assignments, tests, and course details, right down to the room the class is in and the name of the professor who teaches it. The app will remind you whenever you have something coming up, and it keeps it all organized in a simple calendar. It's got a bare-bones interface that is easy to navigate and, for $4.99 per month or $29.99 per year (after a free one-week trial), you can access additional features like grade tracking, widgets, and dark mode. It works absolutely fine on the free version, though, which is why I consider it the best planner app on the market right now. Read my full review here.

Previously, I thought Evernote was the best app for note-taking, but during the process of reviewing it, I learned that some of its fans have been abandoning it in favor of Notion—so I reviewed that, too, and found it really is the superior choice—Evernote is still great, but Notion does all the same things, but better. It's easy to use; manages your home, school, and work lives seamlessly; comes pre-loaded with templates like to-do lists, meal and recipe planners, and class schedulers); has a built-in AI assistant; performs well across platforms; and generally shines as a life-management tool. By providing you space to take notes, whether on your iPhone or Android or using your browser, it makes it possible to keep everything in order. You can record lectures, upload study materials, and just generally stay organized. Best of all, you only need to pay if you're using it on a big team—if you're using it to manage your personal life or as a studying tool, the free version is everything you need, providing you a calendar, subtasks, formulas, basic automations, charts, and more.