Planning out a college essay can seem like a daunting task, but you don’t have to tackle it on your own when there are plenty of helpful apps available. Check out this list to see which ones capture your attention and down load one or more before your next assignment. They will help you organize your thoughts and notes, which will make it much less likely that you will get bogged down in the work.
1. MacJournal is an iPad app that works like a database for notes. It allows you to create journals that look like subfolders where you can record a single idea or a complete draft of your essay. Add a MacJournal companion app for Mac or Windows to access your work on your computer.
2. ThinkBook lets you organize your notes into bullet points, question items and To Do’s. You can organize them into different books and tag them so that you can refer to them later on.
3. iThoughts is a mind mapping tool for the iPhone/IPod Touch that helps you organize your thoughts into related points. iThoughts HD can be used for the iPad. Use it for brainstorming or keeping track of notes.
4 Popplet has the advantage of being very simple to use. This app allows you to make charts, mind maps, draw sketches or organize your ideas in the way that makes the most sense to you.
5. AudioNote allows you type or draw notes, as well as record audio files. This handy app also supports diagrams, lecture slides and photos.
6. The Questia iPad app for college students is free for college students to use. It can be used to format papers in a number of different styles, organize notes, and cite sources all in one place.
7. Evernote is a free app that helps you keep track of everything across all of the devices you own. Search through your notes and organize them to work on your essay from the library, your dorm room or any other location.
8. Pages is a word processing app that will run on your iPhone or iPad. You can sync your documents through iCloud to your PC or Mac to continue working on it when you get home.
9. Penultimate gives you the ability to jot down or draw a quick note with your finger. It comes with a number of different paper types (plain, squared or lined) and different pen colors, which means you can divide your notes into different categories when writing your paper.
10. iAnnotate PDF is a highlighting tool which allows you to dissect a PDF text and highlight relevant passages using different colors. Save time by picking out the parts of the text that you want to refer to in your essay.
11. Wikipanion for iPad will allow you to view Wikipedia without having to launch Safari. The best part about choosing this app to help you with your essay is that it’s free.
12. Instapaper lets you save web pages, blogs, or newspapers for more detailed review later on. Use this app with your iPhone or iPod Touch. This handy app lets you keep track of interesting material you come across when conducting research for your paper.
13. The NotesPlus gives you a lot of flexibility in organizing your notes. You can type or write notes, add pieces of content from a web browser, make text boxes around the page and move them around. This app also allows you to record audio while you take notes, import PDF files and highlight them, and add your own text.
14. WolframAlpha has been an important source of information for college students and it is now available as an iPhone app. When you need to access information on physics, math, engineering medicine, chemistry, or other topics, you can find it quickly and easily.
15. GoodReader for iPhone will help you read and manage large PDF files on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch. This app will also help you read text, images, and html files. Use it to watch video as well. You can synch it easily with Wi-Fi, the Internet, a USB, and e-mail. It can also be used with external servers like DropBox, Google Docs and Mobile Me.