My Top 5 Apps

I thought I would share some of my favourite apps today, so let's just dive right in! (All of these apps are free, yay!)

1. DuoLingo

I love learning languages, so in the summer I downloaded this and began learning Italian. I'm almost at Level 13 now! The app shows your progress and encourages you to log in often to reinforce your learning, and if you don't do anything for a while then it shows you beginning to 'forget' vocab. What I particularly like is that it even requires you to say things yourself so you can copy the pronunciation guide and practice speaking the language. Definitely a great app, and all free too!

2. Candy Crush Saga

Cliché, I know. When everyone was hyping it up and the adverts were on TV, I had no idea why everyone was so obsessed with it. I did, however, give in after a while and download it just to see, and I was well and truly bitten by the Candy Crush bug. I can proudly say that I haven't been so obsessed as to be one of those people you hear about in the news who have spent tens of thousands of pounds on it - I haven't spent a single penny *brushes dust off shoulder*. So if you don't have this app, I would both recommend and warn against it. It's highly addictive, but luckily since you only have five lives (keep your finger off that 'buy more lives' button!!) it doesn't take up too much time.

3. Lumosity

This is a brain function/reaction improvement app (I'm really unsure how to describe it??). You select what aspects you would like to improve, such as making decisions under pressure, avoiding distractions, improving concentration and numerous other areas. You are recommended to 'work out' three to five times a week and as far as I can see it works well; I'm hoping it will help with my revision come exam time..

4. Headspace

If you're looking for a good way to calm down and de-stress after a long day, this is it. Headspace is made up of blocks of 10 minute sessions which allow you to just zone out, and I find it is especially good just before bed as it makes you quite sleepy. I think you have to pay extra to get some of the other sessions, but when I get to that point I think I'll probably just start the first one again as it will still be relaxing.

5. Sleep Time Free

This app is both an alarm clock, a sleep analyst and a brilliant way to start any day. You set your alarm with a window of up to 30 minutes before and after it, making a portion of anywhere up to an hour in which you could be woken up. The app wakes you when you are at a point of light sleep, meaning that you wake up more naturally and feeling more refreshed. The way it does this is by determining how deep your sleep is throughout the night based on how much you move. You keep your iPhone/iPad/iPod at the top corner of your mattress so it can sense your movements. When you wake up, you are provided with a detailed analysis of your sleep. I can honestly say I feel a lot more awake when I use this app than a normal alarm clock!

I hope that was interesting or useful to at least one person. If you use any of these, download any as a reault of this or have any other great apps, let me know in a comment. Thanks for reading!

P.S. I was going to put photos of the app icons to make this post a bit more colourful, but I'm not sure about the copyright rules. Better to be safe than sorry!

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