With how technology works these days, it’s easy for parents to feel on the edge about their teens using their mobile phones and devices. In just one click or download, kids can get exposed to ideas, videos, and apps that aren’t appropriate for them.
However, not all things related to technology are bad. In fact, there are mobile apps and tools that can help your kids excel at school and be more productive about what they are passionate about. To give you an idea, here are 8 of the best mobile apps for teens to download.
1. Evernote
Evernote is one of the most popular productivity apps in the market today. One good reason for that is that it allows users to sync files and data through different devices. For your teenager, this app can be a great help, especially since he has tons of research and homework at school. All he needs is to have access to his account through his smartphone or a desktop.
Evernote can save not just text files. It can also store lists, notes and web pages. It can also save photos and audio files.
2. Sketchbook Pro
If your teens love to draw and be creative, they shouldn’t miss this app on their smartphones. Sketchbook Pro allows users to transition from paper and pencil to digital drawings easily and conveniently. Since it’s digital, you’ll be able to keep your files on your device without having to worry about losing or misplacing papers.
The app has a user-friendly interface and buttons that can be customized according to the user’s needs. It has tools you’ll need- from painting to sketchbook drawing. Apart from that, the app features tools for adding shadows and highlights, too.
3. Khan Academy
Khan Academy is an educational app which both teachers and students can benefit from. It has thousands of video lessons on math, science and humanities users can learn from. You can stream the videos live or download them for later viewing.
The videos are not that lengthy, which is great for teens who don’t have very long attention spans. Most of them are less than 10 minutes. Despite being short, the videos are packed with lessons that are easy to understand and gain knowledge from. Apart from the lessons, the app also offers a coaching tool for both parents and teachers so that they can monitor the progress of their teens. It comes with ideas and suggestions on how you can incorporate the app to your students’ everyday lessons at school.
4. Magisto
Magisto is a video editing app that’s safe for teens to use. Unlike the dangerous apps that shouldn’t be on your kids’ phones, this one lets teens create videos easily and even without advanced editing skills. They can add music, put together footages and craft photo slide shows with no fuss.
One issue with the app, however, is that it only creates videos that are a minute long. There are only twelve theme options but there are dozens of songs to pick from.
5. K12 AP Exam Prep Mobile Apps
The K12 AP Exam Prep Mobile Apps include a series of apps that can help your teens prepare for their AP exams. The app is able to help students in almost every subject, like Calculus and even history. Apart from the tests, you will also be able to see the level of mastery of your kids. The app comes with a tab where you can view statistics.
The AP Exam mobile app offers multiple questions in two forms: full simulation and by topic. It also features an interactive review of essays to give you an idea of what it takes to earn high points.
6. Instructibles
Instructibles is an app fit for those with creative minds. It is filled with inspirations and DIY ideas to help users create and share their own projects. The ideas you can get from this app are endless. It covers projects from homemade cookies to solar lights.
7. Scholly
Scholly isn’t a productivity app or a tool for creative crafts. It’s actually an app created by a college junior who was able to receive a college scholarship program. As a way of giving back, he created the app to help other students pay for college as well. Students can use the app to search for college scholarship programs as well as insights on how the process goes. It even comes with sample essays which students can gain knowledge from.
8. Hakitzu Elite
Hakitzu Elite is a robot combat game. However, instead of just playing with robots, teens can also learn how to code. The app comes with lessons that can teach users the basics of JavaScript. Users can choose single or multiplayer missions using either an iOS or Android device. You can find four coding difficulty levels in the app.