5 iPhone Apps that will change your University experience for the better

If you are off to University this September, then there will be plenty of things to get organised, most importantly yourself. University is a great way to develop your skills and make friends for life, but it can be hard to stay focused and organised with so many distractions and social events calling. Help is in hand however. If you loathe personal admin or fear public speaking then there are a few handy apps that you can rely on to make your University experience just that little bit easier.

So, if you are packing your bags ready embark on a potentially life changing few years of higher education, then read on to find out the apps you shouldn't hit class without:

1.Easy Harvard Referencing

Referencing your work and compiling your bibliography used to be a lengthy process and unfortunately, rushing it or failing to do this correctly could result in you losing valuable marks. Thankfully there are a few great apps on the market that will save you loads of time and help ensure that you are referencing your work correctly. Harvard Referencing, available to download for £1.49 allows you scan bar codes of books or journals to gather the details, and will then convert them into the Harvard Referencing format. You can use this app for both in-text and end references and choose from more than 20 different referencing options. Simples! Not only can you claw back those important marks, but save time for a game of pool down the student union.

2. Evernote

If you haven’t heard of Evernote then you may have been hiding under a rock for the last year. Evernote has become a popular app for everyone from those in business, to busy mums, but it can also be incredibly valuable to students. This free app helps you remember pretty much everything and can be used across all your devices to save and organise a variety of media. You can take notes, set voice record reminders and create to-do lists and even store photos such as your lecture timetables. Keynote allows you to sync all of your notes across multiple devices and computers so you can access them from any platform which is great if you alternate between an iPhone and a Laptop. Evernote also allows you to link in with your social media and share notes with your friends or study groups across Facebook and Twitter so you can stay connected.

3. GoodReader

There can be a lot of literature to read when you are studying at University and it’s pretty time consuming, trust me. The ability to make notes electronically not only saves you time and a few pence at the printer, but makes it easy to store and transport a variety of study notes. The Good Reader App allows you to make your notes electronically, and as most Text books can be accessed in PDF format and lecture notes are often issued as an email attachment, it's one of the better time and space saving apps available on the market. You mark-up PDFs by adding text boxes, sticky notes, arrows or drawings, basically whatever you fancy. It isn't limited to PDFs however; this clever app can read anything from books to maps and pictures. Plus, the same as with Evernote, you don’t need to worry about organising or losing notes scribbled on pieces of paper as you can store them all on your iPhone or iPad. Just make sure you don’t lose your iPhone... and have the right Gadget Insurance to protect you if you do.

4. Keynote

Delivering a presentation is a rite of passage that most students will need to embark on, and having good presentation skills is something that can benefit you greatly in the working world. The Keynote App can help with the dreaded presentation task by allowing you to create a high standard presentation with ease. You can add graphs and charts with a few clicks, so data can be presented via Pie charts or 3D bars. You can create a simple presentation just by touching and tapping, and even present right on your iPad, iPhone or iPod. You can choose from 12 design themes and produce your presentation using a choice of master slides, fonts and animations.  It will give you the tools you require, meaning that the only thing you have to add is a dash of confidence and a bit of personal charm to guarantee top marks.

5. DropBox

Drop Box is a great online multi-platform file sharing service that is already widely used by professionals and students alike. With this great app you can make documents, photos and videos available to yourself anywhere in the world or share documents, even large ones with others in a matter of seconds. You can access these files on any device and take advantage of the 2 GB of free storage. You can even add files to your ‘favourites’ so that you can access the right ones fast offline. This is an easy way to back up your files to protect them so they are still accessible should your computer crash or your iPhone get lost or stolen. The great thing about DropBox is its completely free, so even using it just for backing up files it is a worthwhile investment that every University Student should take advantage of.

DropBox can protect your files, but it unfortunately won’t protect your iPhone or Gadgets and if something should happen to them then it could be a huge inconvenience especially if you rely on them so heavily to help you stay organised. Therefore investing in  Gadget Insurance is a great idea, if only to protect yourself from the financial inconvenience of losing a valuable item.  Protect Your Bubble offers great rates on Gadget Insurance so that you can get your items protected and save your student loan for more important things... beer perhaps?