9 Best iPad Apps for Students

As a student, you’re constantly juggling assignments, exams, and extracurricular activities, all while trying to keep your sanity intact. It can feel overwhelming at times, right? But what if I told you that your iPad could be your secret weapon in managing this chaos? With the right apps, you can transform your device into a powerful study tool that not only helps you stay organized but also enhances your learning experience.

In my own journey through school, I discovered that the right applications could make all the difference. From taking notes during lectures to managing deadlines and collaborating on group projects, these tools have become essential to my academic success. Whether you're a high school student preparing for finals or a college undergrad navigating complex coursework, there’s an app out there that can help streamline your study process and boost your productivity.

How did these apps make the list? 

We looked at 3 factors when choosing the best iPad apps for students:

• Price: We only included apps that are within a student budget -- or better yet, free. 

• App Store Rating: All these apps have a ranking of 4/5 stars on the App Store. 

• Usefulness: Which apps will help you get better grades and succeed in school? 

1. Grammarly

• Price: Free

• Rating in the App Store: 4.4

If you're typing essays, reports, or any schoolwork on your iPad, consider using Grammarly. This free spelling and grammar checker integrates with various apps and offers a keyboard and browser extension. It checks your writing in real-time, ensuring your text is free of typos.

Grammarly also provides tone suggestions, helping you recognize when to switch from passive to active voice.

Here’s what you can do with Grammarly:

• Proofread your essays or papers, saving you from having to read them again.

• Get stylistic tips to sound more confident, professional, or direct.

• Enjoy spellcheck as you write.

2. Notion

• Price: Free

• Rating on the App Store: 4

Notion provides the tools to create your own wiki or dashboard for school. It can serve as a workspace and a centralized hub for your schedule, to-dos, and notes.

While there’s a bit of a learning curve when you first start using Notion, the great news is that there are thousands of templates, tutorials, and ideas available online to help inspire your setup.

Things you can do with Notion:

• Organize your school schedule and calendar 

• Keep track of all your schoolwork, assignments, and exams

• Bookmark or organize your reading list

3. Oneboard

• Price: Free for the first 5 notebooks, then 9.99€/per year

• Rating on the App Store: 4.7

If you want to replace all your physical notebooks with digital notes, Oneboard is the way to go.

Oneboard lets you create notebooks and organize them in folders. What's more, because it's digital, you can annotate documents, search your handwriting, and combine handwritten notes with typed text.

It also comes with several note-taking templates to help you choose the best note-taking method, including Cornell notes.

Things you can do with Oneboard

• Take notes and record audio during lectures, then play it back when revising

• Let Oneboard AI help you formulate

• Import textbooks or readings from PDFs to annotate and highlight

4. Forest

• Price: $5.99

• Rating in App Store: 4.8

Looking for a way to stay focused while studying? This is the best iPad app for when it's crunch time and you need to stay distraction-free. 

Meet Forest, the app that turns time management into a game. 

Plant a tree whenever you need to stay off your iPad, and watch your little seedling grow into a tree as the timer ticks down. But beware: Switch to another app before the timer ends and your tree will wither and die. 

With Forest, you’ll love watching your hard work pay off in the form of a beautiful, lush forest.

Things you can do with Forest: 

• Launch Forest at the beginning of your study session to stay focussed throughout

• Launch it when you're in lecture and don't want to get distracted by other apps on your iPad

5. Todoist

Todoist is an essential task management app for students looking to stay organized amidst their busy schedules. With its intuitive design, you can quickly create tasks using natural language recognition, set due dates, and prioritize assignments by class or urgency. The app automatically sorts tasks into Today, Upcoming, and custom views, making it easy to focus on what needs immediate attention.

One of Todoist's standout features is its cross-device syncing, ensuring your tasks are accessible on your iPad, phone, or computer. Additionally, it offers collaboration tools for group projects, allowing you to share tasks and manage deadlines with classmates effortlessly. With a robust free plan that covers essential features, Todoist is a must-have app for any student aiming to enhance productivity and streamline their study routine.

Things you can do with Todoist:

• In a group project? Create a shared to-dos board with your group members

• See all your tasks for a week in the calendar view

• Download and sync it to your phone or computer to access your to-dos anywhere

6. Libby

• Price: Free

• Rating in App Store: 4.7

College textbooks can be heavy, costly, and often only useful for a single semester.

If you're considering a digital option for your required readings, check out Libby, the e-reading app from OverDrive. It connects you to your local library's collection of ebooks and audiobooks at no cost—just sign up with your library card (which is free too!).

Keep in mind that your choices will be limited to what's available at your local library.

With Libby, you can:

• Swap out your bulky textbooks for digital versions on your iPad.

• Borrow required reading materials instead of buying them.

7. Zotero

• Price: Free

• Rating on App Store: 4.8

Organizing and formatting citations for school papers can be a major hassle and a significant time drain. Zotero transforms your research process by automatically organizing and generating citations and bibliographies.

With support for over 10,000 citation styles, including APA, Chicago, IEEE, and MLA, Zotero is the top iPad app for students looking to save time on citations.

Zotero also helps you collect and organize your research for easy access, allowing you to concentrate on what truly matters: writing your paper!

With Zotero, you can:

• Automatically capture citations while browsing research papers or articles online.

• Convert citations between styles when assembling your bibliography.

• Share and collaborate on your bibliography for group research or projects.

8. KeePassLock - Password Manager

• Price: 4.99€

• Rating on the App Store: 5.0

As a college student, you know how overwhelming the digital landscape of higher education can be.

With multiple email accounts, school software (like Moodle and Blackboard Learn), and various school accounts, you're constantly juggling usernames and passwords. And there's nothing that derails an all-nighter like having to reset a forgotten password.

Next time, simplify your life with KeePassLock, a password manager that securely stores all your passwords in one easy-to-access location. This way, you can free up mental space for what really matters—acing your exams! 😉

With KeePassLock, you can:

• Keep all your university logins organized, so you don’t have to stress about forgetting strong passwords.

• Generate new passwords for new websites and accounts.

9. Headspace

• Price: $69.99/year after 14-day free trial, or $9.99/year with the student plan.

• Rating on the App Store: 4.8

Student life can be incredibly stressful, with deadlines, presentations, and exams all demanding your attention.

Not only does stress take a toll on your health, but it can also affect your academic performance.

Headspace is a meditation app designed to help you regain a sense of calm and control. It offers guided meditations, sleep sounds, and mindfulness exercises to reduce stress and enhance your mental well-being.

With an affordable student plan, Headspace is one of the best iPad apps for wellness that won’t strain your budget.

With Headspace, you can:

• Use bedtime meditations to help you relax and fall asleep more easily.

• Practice daily meditation to develop the habit of clearing your mind, even during less stressful times.

• Try breathing exercises to calm your nerves when anxiety peaks, especially during exam season.

Got more suggestions on the best iPad apps for students?

Tweet us @1boardhq to share!