In a world of distractions, focusing on studying can be tricky. That’s as true when you’re heading into a new year of school or are about to embark on weeks of exams – and whether you’re a youngster or enrolled in adult education.
Your iPhone can be the biggest source of such distractions. But these apps help turn your smartphone into a study aid, from sorting schedules to noting down important discoveries. However, do test them well in advance of any important revision, to make sure you install and keep what works best for you.
Unhabit (free)
Best for blocking online temptation
This Safari extension is for when you can’t be trusted to stay away from the likes of Reddit or Facebook for several hours when you’re supposed to be studying. Blocking sites takes just a couple of taps inside Safari. The Unhabit app then provides nuance in the form of site overrides for specific days, and optional “cooldown” countdowns for when you’re determined to “cheat.” It’ll track such moments too, aiming to guilt you into better habits. Want something similar for apps? Try one sec (free + IAP).
Reminders (free)
Best for to-do lists
It’s best not to think too hard about a task manager when it comes to dealing with studying. So, sure, you could go all-in on Notion or some other fancy system when constructing your schedule, but Apple’s Reminders will do. In fact, it’s far better than that. Make use of smart lists, tagging, sections, and widgets and you’ll end up with a flexible, extensible setup that syncs between all of your Apple devices – and all without spending any money at all.
Widget Wizard (free or $4/£4)
Best for viewing study schedules
Schedules are best when readily available and effortless to scan. Widget Wizard’s Agenda view pulls in existing data from Calendars and displays it as a scrolling list. Create a studying calendar with timed slots or all-day events and you can limit Widget Wizard’s Agenda view to show only that calendar. Instant study schedule! Even better: use the app’s “The One Widget” (with Main Block set to Agenda and Selected Calendars limited to your study calendar) and this info can be right on your Home Screen.
Bear Focus Timer ($3/£3)
Best for bursts of focused study
Many people are best suited to bursts of focused activity, broken up by short breaks. This timer helps track such work/break cycles when you’re studying with a device other than your phone – because the timer only starts when your device is face down. While that happens, white noise optionally plays. Get tempted to pick up your phone and the titular bear scowls at you. It’s an effective psychological trick.
Streaks ($6/£6)
Best for habit forming
Research suggests it can take weeks to fully infuse a habit like studying into your routine. For many people, having data to see how they’re progressing – and simultaneously gamifying the process – can be useful. Streaks is the best habit-tracker for iPhone. It’s flexible yet uncomplicated. Habits can be defined as positive, negative and timed, and are triggered by pressing massive buttons within the app. A widget lets you track how you’re doing from your Home Screen.
Bear (free or $30/£30 per year)
Best for typed notes
Unrelated to the other ‘bear’ app in this round-up, Bear is a notes app that makes it easy to stash all kinds of information you’ll need to retrieve later. Even on iPhone, you can drag and drop images and PDFs into written notes. Links can become visual previews with a tap. And a robust tagging system lets you organize your work. You get all this for free. Pay and you add iCloud sync, extra export options, and search within PDFs.
Notability (free + IAP)
Best for freeform study notes
Should you hanker for more freeform notes, try Notability. You can freely mix typed text, handwritten passages, doodles, images, and even audio. The smartly designed interface, with its floating toolbar, aids efficiency while maximizing screen space on your phone for things that matter. Templates can further speed things along (several are built in; get more from the Notability Gallery) as can – with a Plus or Pro subscription – AI-generated summaries and quizzes.
Goodnotes (free + IAP)
Best for all-in-one notes and flash cards
There’s admittedly a lot of crossover between this app and Notability, in that both allow you to create notes that are a mix of documents, images, handwriting, audio, and text. To some degree, the best choice will depend on the app workflow that most clicks for you. But there are a couple of features in Goodnotes that stand apart. The infinite whiteboard canvas means you never run out of space, and built-in flashcards are a boon if you don’t want to use a separate app.
LiquidText (free + IAP)
Best for “thinking different” about PDFs
Plenty of apps let you import and scribble over PDFs. A couple are covered in this list. But LiquidText does something very different. It allows you to compare and contrast various parts of a document, making highlights, connecting sources to notes, and even collapsing larger documents down to just the parts you want to concentrate on. It requires some investment, in terms of time and money, and it won’t be for everyone. But it’s immensely powerful in the right hands.
MindNode (free or $25/£25 per year)
Best for sorting ideas
Jotting down thoughts when studying is one thing – organizing them is something else entirely. MindNode is the best mind-mapping app on iPhone, which lets you start things off with a bullet-point outline and quickly fashion that into a mind-map that can include imagery, links, and inline notes. Even the free version gives you the basics: editing, arranging, folding branches, and the means to import and export data.
Flashtex (free or $12/£12)
Best for speedy revision
This flashcards app is a blank canvas, rather than being preloaded with a bunch of sets. But in having to construct your own cards, you do get to fashion a study aid that’s specific to your needs. Making new cards is simple, whether you choose to work with text, photos or sketches. And the no-nonsense interface makes it painless to organize cards, and makes it a cinch to set up all kinds of sessions to commit everything you’ve created to memory.