In today’s world, cell phones and the apps kept on them have become some of the main sources of entertainment for millennials. College students spend many hours throughout the day getting lost in the world of updating Instagram stories, keeping Snapchat streaks, and mindlessly scrolling through Twitter. While mainstream apps like these are commonly downloaded and used, far more beneficial and useful apps struggle to rise to the surface. Here’s a list of the top 5 apps which every college student should know about.

1.     UNiDAYS – Whether you’re a shopaholic, aspiring makeup guru, or a gym junkie, this is a must have app for college students who can never pass up on a good deal. UNiDAYS is free, easy to use, and offers countless exclusive offers and discounts on what seems like an endless range of products. Get the best deals on anything from Ray-Bans, to MAC Cosmetics, or even on-demand fitness apps such as Aaptive. All you have to do is download the app, validate that you’re a college student by logging into your PSU account (using your typical username and password), and you have access to everything UNiDAYS has to offer. And the best part is that your new promo codes are renewed each time you use them. So, the deals really are endless!
2.     Grammarly – In a world full of constant communication, it may be hard to believe that language has somewhat deteriorated. And yet a large part of texts, comments, and conversations are lacking in proper grammar, missing a sense of sophistication, and have become full of overly used abbreviations. It’s easy to become part of the population guilty of these habits. Luckily, it’s just as easy to fix – all you have to do is download Grammarly onto your phone or laptop. Grammarly is a free writing assistant that not only corrects spelling and grammar but uses natural language processing to alert you when you’ve misused certain terms, suggest better word usage, and so much more.
3.     Alarmy – Mornings can be hard. For some, just getting out of bed and making it to class in time may be the most challenging part of college. When your phone alarm goes off, and all it takes to silence the noise is a simple tap of the “Snooze” button, oversleeping is easy. So, for the students who may not be the biggest morning people but are determined to start getting out of bed when the alarm goes off – Alarmy is the solution. With this app, your alarm is not simply something you can tap away. Alarmy allows you to set your alarm with certain tasks attached, so that you can’t turn it off until they are complete. Tasks can range from solving math problems to shaking your phone until you reach a preset goal, or even taking a photo of a registered object or area. If you’re tired of being too tired to wake up – download Alarmy today!
4.     Circle of 6 – For many people their college campus will become like home, they’ll come to know the surrounding city well, and they’ll see familiar faces everywhere. However, no matter how comfortable a student is with his/her college experience, it is always important to have safety precautions ready to use in case of an emergency. Circle of 6 app allows users to connect to 6 trusted friends quickly and efficiently to help stay safe and prevent violence. With the app, users select 6 contacts who they trust and would feel comfortable reaching out to in the unlikely event of an emergency. To reach out to the selected circle of 6, all users have to do is click on one of three alert systems. Either the speech bubble icon, which sends a text to each number in your circle that says “I need to talk”, the telephone icon, which sends a text to each member of your circle that says “call and pretend you need me”, or the location pin icon which sends a text to each member of your circle that says “come and get me” with your GPS location automatically attached. Circle of 6 even has 2 pre-programmed hotlines attached and readily available for use. Every college student should play a role in keeping themselves and their campus safe,  so download Circle of 6 today.
5.     Feedly – Staying up to date on relevant news can be difficult to achieve, even if a large majority of time is spent on social media. Finding likable news outlets is hard and seeing anything other than Politics mentioned on a headline has become a rarity. For those who are longing for a way to get the information they want, on the topics they love, Feedly is a necessity. You get to choose the news on your timeline by sorting through different sources, which are categorized by topics such as Design, Marketing, Science, or Politics. Once you’ve chosen which news outlets you want to be receiving your information from, you can even organize them into different feeds, so you can truly decide what you’re reading about and when. Discover new publications, blogs, and Youtube channels with Feedly.