I can’t tell you how many times technology has eased my life and helped me save time, money and efforts, especially as an international student living in a big city like London.
In this post, I would like to share my top 10 favourite gadgets and apps that I have used this year:
10. City Mapper
What I like about this app is that it provides a complete guide of all public transport options in London. Simply type where you are and where you want to go and you get the full route.
However, be careful because it gives you the scheduled time instead of real-time status (at least that’s what I found in train schedules). For example, there were times when my train was delayed and the app didn’t warn me about that, so it’s always worth to double check with another source.
9. Bus Checker
Want to know how much time your bus will take to arrive at the bus stop? Try “Bus Checker”. It is highly accurate with a real-time update of the bus location. You can also take a look at the street map and a route of all buses, which helps a lot if you are going to an unknown address for the first time. Despite the occasional bugs and ads, this app is absolutely amazing and helped me a lot in the cold windy days or whenever I got lost!
8. Evernote
This note-taking app is fantastic because it works in almost every OS, allows me to use and access my notes offline. Very practical whenever I need to write down some quick info so I can remember it later.
7. Timeout
Timeout is my ultimate guide for cool things to do in London. I mostly use the website and get to know the news through Facebook.
6. Google Drive
I used Google Drive for all my group projects this year. What I most like about this is that it allows you and your team to write, edit and review documents at the same time. Also, everyone can access the important documents in one single folder. No more worrying about where is the latest version of your report!
Each and every time I bought something from Amazon, I’ve had a great experience with all my packages delivered on time (and sometimes even before the projected deadline). For students, I recommend to take a look at their special deal called Amazon Student membership, which gives a one-day delivery for free during six months. I’ve been using it for a few months and it is fantastic. Just be cautious to cancel it before the trial expires (if you don’t want to pay for the Amazon Prime afterwards) or you will be charged an annual fee automatically.
I recently bought a portable charger from Anker and it is just fantastic. This little gadget is very elegant (black colour with little blue lights as battery indicators), lightweight and recharges my phone as fast as a plug socket. I don’t worry anymore about my phone’s battery when I am out.
3. Crockpot
This may seem unusual, but I have to praise it as one of my favourite gadgets of all time – and one of the best purchases I’ve ever made! Earlier this year, I bought this compact food warmer to eat homemade meals in between classes at the uni, so I wouldn’t need to go out to buy food every day. It has been working brilliantly and I just love how practical it is. It has a handy size, warms well in around 40 minutes and is very easy to clean. Whenever I was on my laptop or watching a lecture, I would plug it in a socket and wait until it was warm enough to eat. By the end of the term, four classmates have also bought the Crockpot, especially the girls from my groupwork. We’d bring it to our meetings almost every day!
The coolest thing about Google Translate is that you are able to download full dictionaries, which you can consult later even if you are offline. This app helps me to find the translations of new words in English when I am studying or any other language whilst travelling, so it’s a must-have translating app for me.
1. Dropbox
I just love Dropbox. It is super user-friendly, fast and lean in synchronising and updating all sorts of files. Plus, it works in almost every OS. If you organise your folders and take time to manage your documents there, you’ll see the great benefits that Dropbox can give to your productivity and learning process.
These are some of the apps and devices I used – and loved – throughout 2015. There are many more that I would include, but I will leave it to another post 🙂
What about you? What are your favourite apps and gadgets of all time?
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Great post Susana!
I’m currently doing a bit of research for a new blogpost for a site I write on myself which is how I found this page.
Gave me a great insight to what sort of Apps and gadgets etc students are using these days.
I was a student myself probably around a decade ago now, I remember iPad nano’s had just come out and I had to have one for all the bus journeys I ended up going on getting used to Uni life!
Crazy to see how far apps and tech etc has come already in such a short space of time. Things like Bus Checker and City Mapper would of made my life so much easier!
Thanks again 🙂
-Jordan
Excellent post Susana,
I love the Bus Checker app, there’s nothing better on a wet and windy day knowing your bus is only minutes away. I recommend every student has it.
I’m also a keen photographer and Dropbox is another of my favourite apps. It’s great for storing and sharing photos.
I use a free app called Snapseed to retouch and improve my photos which is really easy to use. For those students who are keen to use their mobile phones with camera type controls, I can recommend 645 Pro which mimicks an old school 645 camera.
I hope this helps, Nick
Great info, I am using 5 of 10 apps in my daily life. All are useful for students.