With the upcoming academic year, its time to review how we can make our devices take a bit of the work load. Here are 5 mobile apps for law students available on most platforms (Windows, Android, iOS, etc) that should be helpful.
Dropbox is a file-sharing app that allows you to share your files on all your devices. You can also share the files with your friends. The best way to use Dropbox is to start saving all your files within the dropbox folder. This way, you can access your files anywhere you go. Create folders for each subject and keep it organized. Suppose you open a PDF file and highlight certain text on your mobile phone. When you go home and access the file on your desktop, you can continue highlighting and reading the file. It’s extremely handy during exams since you may keep shifting between your phone, tablet, laptop and desktop.
Evernote is a great app for those who like and don’t like recording what happens in class. This app allows you record lectures and type notes at the same time. Like Dropbox, you can access all this information on any device which has the app. And that’s not it. If your teacher is upto it, you may even want to record the lecture. Both audio and video recordings come in handy during revisions since you may not have time to cover the whole course. If you’re using a galaxy note (or any other laptop, tablet or phone that allows you to use a Stylus), use the Ink feature on the app. The Ink feature allows you to take notes in your own handwriting. Just remember that if your mind is wandering and you open the browser, this app stops recording the lecture.
Pocket is a great app for all law students. There is a lot of reading to do and you won’t always have the time to cover everything. The founders of Pocket want us to pocket it and read it when we have time. As and when you come across interesting links and videos, add them to Pocket. Once you’ve read it and select the tick, the link will be hidden. What makes the app fascinating is how the link is presented when you view it on the app. It removes all the bloatware from the website that eats up your mobile bandwidth and displays the relevant information. It is currently available on all platforms including the Ipad. If you’re browsing on your laptop or desktop, just add the pocket plugin available for Firefox and Chrome.
Catch is an app that allows you to capture audio, text or video for discussion and action. Suppose you come across something interesting on the notice board, Catch allows you to take a picture and set a reminder. If it is a notice about an upcoming internship, you can save the image and ask it to remind you before the deadline. Using the Catch browser extension available for your laptop and desktop, you can save the relevant text with their links. Using hashtags and streams, you can categorize and organize your information. Like the other apps, even this app is on the cloud which means you can access all your information from any device that has the app.
While most of us have heard of Google+, we may not have been fully exposed to the powers of its Hangout function. Hangout allows upto 9 people to video chat at the same time. While you’re at it, you can share your screen or even collaborate on a document. It comes really handy when you’re collaborating on a moot or a project since you can discuss and put down your thoughts in real-time. What differentiates Hangout from Skype and Facebook is its ability to let a number of users collaborate in real-time. While Skype permits video conferencing with more than two people for a fee, facebook is yet to introduce the feature at this point.
If you have any suggestions on how to use these apps or about apps that we should have included, leave a comment below!
