In school, it is the usual case that I get overloaded with homework. Throughout the year, I notice my backpack becoming increasingly heavier with all the papers, books, and notes I write. Sometimes I throw in a calculator and a large planner that increase the weight even more. Unfortunately, I know that I am not alone in this problem.

For those who endure the same problems as me, do not fret. With the help of some handy apps, I am able to contain all my tools in one handy place (and give my back some relief while I’m at it) on my smartphone which I carry each day. Even better, these apps are compatible with both Android and iPhone systems so help is just a tap away.

In daily life, everyone goes through lots of words they don’t know, or have even heard about. How would literature even expect us to know the definitions of connive or aberration? Sometimes context clues, no matter what I predict what the word means, just don’t make sense. In that case this is when my handy app, Dictionary.com comes into action. With a built-in thesaurus that is included in the download, I can navigate and learn definitions and synonyms of words way more efficiently than flipping through hundreds of pages of a physical dictionary. This app even has a “Word of the Day” feature that can teach me the definition of the craziest words in just one glance.

Dictionary.com only works with English, so when trying to find out meanings of words in another language, I turn to iTranslate for help, which provides quick and accurate translations that I trust more than the infamous Google Translate. From Spanish to Yiddish, this app assists me in my foreign language class. When a specific word gives me a lot of trouble to memorize, the “Favorite” feature on this app lets me save the vocabulary and gives easy access to it later. In the future, if I ever decide to learn Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Maltese, Slovak, or even Tagalog, I know where to start.

Next up, I downloaded Google Calendar which helps me stay on top of things. This handy calendar substitutes my planner and can even give me reminders when I have assignments due. After synching, Google Calendar can show all my events through all Google accounts and even events I listed on my default calendar on my phone. Now I don’t have the need to jot down assignment dates and carry around a planner anymore.

Along with organization, Google Drive also helps me at school. This handy app holds all of my documents and files that I have made and I can view all of them in one place. Probably you have already used Drive one time or another in school, and already know the usefulness of this service. Google, thank you for keeping me on track.

In addition, Graphing Calculator by Herbert Law for Android definitely helps out when I don’t have my T-959 with me. The app provides me with three calculators: Basic, Scientific, and Graphing which was all I ever needed to complete my math homework. With functions such as Sin, Tangent, and Cosine all on the interface, I can draw graphs and solve problems. For the graphing feature, you can even zoom in which helps see where the intercepts in the graph are. I love this app, and my phone is practically a substitute for a calculator everywhere I go. For iPhones, Free Graphing Calculator by William Jockusch is a nice substitute for Graphing Calculator. It acts similarly to Graphing Calculator and even has an entire unit circle for reference. But in comparison, I like Graphing Calculator better because of its display and easy access to the various types of calculators.

Through these apps, I am able to stay more organized, solve my homework problems, and take a weight off my shoulders. The world is constantly becoming more developed with electronics, so why not make some use out of it? Through my phone I can do so many things – text, take high quality pictures, and surf the Web instantly, but I can also govern my student life on the edge of my fingertips.