Best Free apps for SU Students

After spending a lot of time browsing through various tech blogs about which apps are best for college students, I felt like pulling out my increasingly graying hair.  There are so many valuable apps out there that I felt like it was IC's turn at giving you a list of quality apps that SU users can use for free.

Keep in mind, we have our own app store called "Self-Service"  that all of the apps contained within are free to students.  Many of these apps are not actually free, but for SU students they are, so these apps will be included in this list.

Let's do this:

• Evernote -- An app that allows you to organize all of your thoughts, interesting information, tasks, and various other snippets that you want to hold onto.  You can access Evernote across all of your devices, and it has an extremely easy interface to navigate.

• Skype -- Needless to say, Skype is on the list because of its very simple interface, and its extraordinary functionality.  Face to face communication, for free, with anybody across the world is a breeze with Skype. 

• Penultimate -- A creative note taking program that will allow you to use your iPad as a blank piece of paper.  Feel free to use a stylus with Penultimate, and create hand-written notes and store them directly to Evernote.  The Penultimate / Evernote combo is one of the most potent app combos for students

• Google Drive -- At SU we use a lot of Google applications.  Google Drive is one of the apps that we most commonly use because of its downright convenience.  Want to store a doc forever that everybody in your group can modify to perfection?  Want to store a photo album that nobody else but you can see?  Google Drive is going to be perfect for you.

• Mint -- A simple way to keep track of your delicate college finances.  Hookup your bank account information to Mint and you will get a wealth of spending habit information, budget tracking, and other easy to access financial information.

• Keynote -- Many feel as though this is the best app for making slide-shows. The slides are designed to look pretty sleek and professional, and the interface is clean and comfortable for users of all skill levels. 

• Duolingo -- Lots of people have a pretty easy time learning foreign languages.  If you are not one of those people, Duolingo is a phenomenal and free way to get a little extra help with whatever language you need assistance with.

• Pages -- Considered by many to be the highest quality word processors for iPad, Pages will allow you to create, edit, and view documents wherever you are.

• Numbers -- Not all classes will require you to work with spreadsheets.  Those classes that will have you working with spreadsheets, Numbers will, most likely, be an incredibly useful app.

• Gmail -- With notifications for each email your receive and lots of options to customize your inbox, the Gmail app should prove invaluable for all of you.  Make sure to have this one downloaded so that you never miss an important email again!

Without a doubt if you download and use these apps effectively, you will, in some way, increase your ability to work more efficiently at SU.