Best apps for students

We explore some of the best study apps for high school students, to help you transform your smartphone from a distraction into a handy assistant.

Is your phone your worst enemy when it comes to studying? Do constant notifications stop you from getting into the study zone? Or are you guilty of letting a 5-minute social media break turn into an hour-long TikTok session?

No judgement – we’ve all been there.

The good news is you don’t need to lock your phone away in a box or turn it off every time you sit down to study (that would be madness).

In fact, with the right apps installed, your smartphone could become a convenient study buddy. Here are our top 12 useful apps for students.

Shortcuts: Jump straight to the type of app you need.

• Concentration apps
• Productivity apps
• Note-taking apps
• Mindfulness apps
• Flashcard apps

Apps to help concentration

The best concentration apps can help you get into the right mental zone for absorbing information. This category looks at apps that keep you from getting distracted (e.g. with white noise or by blocking other apps).

1. Forest

Some of us need a little external motivation to stay focused while studying. And that’s fine.

The Forest app provides a visual incentive by letting you plant a virtual tree and then basically holding that tree hostage until your study session is over.

Want to check your Instagram for a second? Tempted to do a quick online shop between textbook chapters? Go ahead. You’ll just have to come to peace with watching your tree wither and die first.

But if you stick to your focus time, you’ll enjoy watching your trees flourish. Over several study sessions, you can build a delightful digital forest – a pleasant reminder of all your productive hours.

• Available on: iOS, Android, Chrome
• Average rating: 4.8/5 on App Store, 4.6/5 on Google Play
• Cost: Free (with ads), with a premium version available for $52/year
• Note: Please check your school's policy before downloading this or any app to your school computer.

2. Focus Friend by Hank Green

If you’d like your focus gamification to be even cuter, you might like Focus Friend. The general concept is similar to Forest, but here your concentration will be rewarded with decorations you can use to jazz up your Bean Friend’s little room.

The Bean Friend is adorable and customisable, but be careful – if you cancel your focus timer, they get “really really sad”. Sometimes guilt can be a powerful motivator to see your study session through to the end.

This app allows you to track your progress (even when your phone is locked), block distracting apps while you’re focusing, and plan out your break times using the Pomodoro method of productivity.

• Available on: iOS, Android
• Average rating: 4.7/5 on App Store, 4.5/5 on Google Play
• Cost: Free with in-app purchases (e.g. Pro version is $24.99/year)

3. Freedom

Freedom is an app that locks your phone while studying (or any other time you need to focus). Flag the apps and/or websites that distract you, and Freedom will block them – great if the self-motivated apps like Forest don’t quite cut it for you. You can set a scheduled session in advance or start some ‘Freedom time’ whenever you need it.

Freedom blocks time-wasting apps and websites across all your devices, so your iPad won’t tempt you away while you’re studying on your MacBook.

• Available on: iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Chrome, Linux
• Average rating: 4.2/5 on App Store, 4.4/5 on Google Play
• Cost: Free for basic features, premium subscription available ($59.99/year on iOS, $69.99/year on Android)
• Note: Please check your school's policy before downloading this or any app to your school computer.

4. White Noise

Silence can be deafening when you’re trying to focus, but your favourite tunes might not help so much either. There’s nothing quite like finishing an important note only to realise you started writing lyrics halfway through the sentence (thanks a lot, Chappell).

A bit of white noise can help you focus without drawing too much attention to itself. The White Noise app lets you build custom soundscapes to suit your preferences with a wide range of sounds including beach waves, breezes, camp fires, chimes, rain, running water and even a vacuum cleaner (hey, if that's what gets you in the mood for study, you do you).

• Available on: iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Chrome
• Average rating: 4.8/5 on App Store, 4.6/5 on Google Play
• Cost: $1.99 (App Store) or $1.49 (Google Play)
• Note: Please check your school's policy before downloading this or any app to your school computer.

Productivity apps for students

Alright, so you’ve got distractions out of the way and some background sounds on loop. Now let’s talk about some good apps for students that will help you get the most out of your study time. The next two study apps help you organise your schedule and stay on top of assignments so you can achieve more and cram less.

5. Todoist

Todoist can organise your school subjects, assignment deadlines, homework and… pretty much your whole life, if you want it to. This is one of the best apps for students because it keeps your schoolwork on track while also holding you accountable.

The Todoist app provides handy features including:

• recurring due dates (great for weekly homework)
• quick add (add new assignments and tasks on the go)
• favourites and priorities (flag the subjects you need to focus on)
• sections and subtasks (divide intimidating projects into small, simple steps)
• integrations with other apps (e.g. Google Calendar and Dropbox).

With all your tasks and due dates kept neatly in Todoist – rather than floating around in your head – you’ll be free to focus on your studies.

• Available on: iOS, Android, Mac, Windows
• Average rating: 4.7/5 on App Store, 4.5/5 on Google Play
• Cost: Free for basic, $8/month or $72/year for pro (extra features)
• Note: Please check your school's policy before downloading this or any app to your school computer.

6. Habitica

If you want your to-do list to feel a little more exciting, try Habitica. This productivity app aims to gamify your whole life, so you can get things done while also having fun.

Here you’ll create goals and then earn rewards for completing them. These rewards can include in-game features like gear and skills for your character, but you can also set custom real-life goals like watching the next episode of your favourite show.

While Habitica is perfect for helping you improve your schoolwork, you may also find it useful for health, fitness, work, and other life goals.

• Available on: iOS, Mac
• Average rating: 3.9/5 on App Store, 4.6/5 on Google Play
• Cost: Free with in-app purchases and optional subscription for extra features ($6.99/month)

Apps for sorting your study notes

Are you the type of student who needs their notes neatly alphabetised or colour-coded? Or do you thrive on the chaos of having your notes jumbled together? Either way, these study apps can store your notes safely online and organise them any way you like.

7. Joplin

It’s hard to translate the experience of taking handwritten notes onto a mobile screen, but Joplin provides just the right amount of freedom and fluidity.

In addition to giving you spaces to type, handwrite or even draw your notes from each class, this note-taking app is also capable of working with maths equations, coding, diagrams, and speech-to-text transcription.

Joplin seamlessly syncs your notes across multiple devices, but it also works offline – so you can take notes without internet access and refine them on another device later. The app also has an active community, where you can get tips from other users and even customise the app with plugins.

• Available on: iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux
• Average rating: 4.6/5 on App Store, 4.2/5 on Google Play
• Cost: Free
• Note: Please check your school's policy before downloading this or any app to your school computer.

8. Google Keep

When you just need to jot down notes in a hurry, you can’t go past Google Keep. This speedy, intuitive app is perfect for capturing lightbulb ideas, making a checklist of study topics, or transcribing key points from class.

But Google Keep isn’t as basic as it looks on the surface. With labels, colour coding, voice-to-text, and drawing options, you can get a surprising amount of customisation from this free app. So, you can either tailor your notes to suit your style or just keep them simple and transfer them over to a more intricate note-taking app later.

Don’t be fooled by the name, either – this app is just as useful on Apple devices as Androids.

• Available on: iOS, Android, Chrome
• Average rating: 4.5/5 on App Store, 4.7/5 on Google Play
• Cost: Free

Mindfulness apps to put you in a study-ready state of mind

A healthy, happy mindset can make a huge difference for focusing and absorbing your notes. That’s why some of the best study apps aren’t about studying at all. Instead, the next two suggestions are good study apps for students because they’ll get your brain ready for productive study sessions.

9. Headspace

Headspace is all about – you guessed it – getting into a positive headspace. This app provides a wide selection of:

• guided meditations
• mindfulness courses
• sleep exercises
• focus playlists.

One of Headspace’s features is The Wake Up, which provides a daily bite-sized story to inspire or motivate you each morning. The app also has a large library of articles addressing topics that could help you with your study routine. These range from sleeping better and waking up fresh to relieving stress and improving self-esteem.

• Available on: iOS, Android, web browsers
• Average rating: 4.8/5 on App Store, 4.3/5 on Google Play
• Cost: Free, extra courses and exercises available via Headspace Plus ($19.99/month)

9. Finch: Self-Care Pet

Self-care is important for keeping yourself in a healthy, study-ready mindset, but it can sometimes feel silly or indulgent. Finch gives you the perfect excuse (and motivation) to look after yourself by providing you with a virtual pet that flourishes from your self-care routine.

Your unique and customisable pet will help you remember to complete mindful goals and exercises, turning your self-care from a chore into a fun and easy daily activity.

• Available on: iOS, Android
• Average rating: 4.9/5 on App Store, 4.9/5 on Google Play
• Cost: Free, Finch Plus subscription available ($15.99/month)

Flashcard apps

The flashcard technique can help you lock in knowledge before an exam, especially if you’re studying:

• another language (translation flashcards)
• mathematics (formula flashcards)
• an info-heavy subject (key definitions flashcards).

However, physical flashcards are time-consuming and a little wasteful. Using a flashcard app is a faster and eco-friendly approach.

11. Anki

The Anki program provides powerful, intelligent flashcards. This app aims to help you remember things, whether those things are facts, terms, equations, geographical points, details in images or even guitar chords. Anki uses a proven scheduling algorithm to automatically test you on the material you’re most likely to forget soon.

Since the app syncs across all your devices, you can use any spare minutes (e.g. at recess or waiting for the bus) to brush up on any of your subjects. Anki also has a considerable library of pre-made decks on all sorts of topics.

• Available on: Mac, Windows, iOS (AnkiMobile), Android (AnkiDroid)
• Average rating: 4.3/5 on App Store, 4.9/5 on Google Play
• Cost: Free on Mac, Windows and Android, $39.99 on iOS
• Note: Please check your school's policy before downloading this or any app to your school computer.

12. Quizlet

Using the power of AI, Quizlet can turn your class notes into digital flashcards. This app also hosts millions of existing flashcard sets – perfect if you’ve missed a class or didn’t quite get down every detail.

Beyond the flashcard functionality, Quizlet can also translate your notes into practice tests, essay prompts, and even interactive games to test your knowledge retention.

• Available on: iOS, Android
• Average rating: 4.7/5 on App Store, 4.6/5 on Google Play
• Cost: Free, Quizlet Plus subscription available ($12.99/month)

The final word

All these apps for students aim to give you an edge in exams and help with your schoolwork in different ways. We recommend trying a combination of the ones that seem relevant to you. Just be sure to trial them for a while before committing to any premium subscriptions.

Great news: Finding the best study apps for you while you’re still in high school can set you up for a healthy relationship between your phone and studies in university as well. (P.S. If you’ll be graduating soon, you might enjoy this article about transitioning from school to uni.)

Please note: Pricing and average rating info is from the apps’ various store profiles, updated in November 2025. This data is susceptible to change.

By the way, these aren't sponsored ads. We just genuinely think these apps are helpful. Are they the best study apps for high school students? We'll let you be the judge of that.