We can all vouch for the fact that the internet is often a place for mindless browsing. Many times, we don’t even realize how time just flew by while scrolling through 9gag or BuzzFeed. And while all these sites are fun and entertaining and thus occasionally important too, there must be something better we can do with our time on the web.
The Week has rounded up five great apps that are treasure troves of information and knowledge. With great articles, vocabulary enhancers, and educational games, these apps can help you get rid of boredom while making you a little bit more smarter by the time you decide to stop browsing and get back to life.
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Curiosity
Just the name of this app is enough to let you know that it will greatly feed your knowledge hungry soul. Instead of logging onto a social media app, click on this app and you can learn so much about things you were always curious about but didn’t know who to ask. This app includes information on every topic you can think of – from nature and history to news, art, space and technological advancement. If you dig a little more, you will also come across a plethora of fun facts about the topics of your interest. There are multiple ways in which you can learn from this app. You can either read condensed but informative articles or watch videos from smart content creators. You also have the option to save articles, videos and lines that interest you or share them with other people. Curiosity is available both Android and iOS. It also has a website that can easily access the account you use from your app, in case you want to use Curiosity on a larger screen. It currently has over a million download count and an average rating of 4.7 out of five.
Lumosity
Officially named ‘Lumosity: Brain Games and Cognitive Games’, this app was launched in mid 2014. This app has been listed under the best online brain training program multiple times by different renowned international media houses. A good thing is that a majority of features of this game are completely free of cost. Usually people think mobile games are just for passing time but that is not the case with Lumosity. It has over 40 educational games especially made for adults. They are designed to develop your mental strength in a number of sectors including speed, memory, flexibility, problem solving and attention. The app is available in seven different languages – English, French, Korean, Japanese, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. You also have a feature that will tailor a personalized training program according to your needs and requirements. Additionally, the app also gives you tips to be more accurate, increase your speed, and strategize better. Curiosity has an average rating of 4.2 and has been downloaded by more than ten million people.
Orphic
Orphic is a relatively new app when compared to the other apps in this list. It hasn’t even been two years since its launch but the app already has more than a hundred thousand downloads and an average rating of 4.5. This app is good for all those who are looking to expand their vocabulary and learn new words in English. It also includes words that are borrowed from another language but are currently being used in English. You actually can save your favorite words to go through them later or copy them to your clipboard and paste them wherever it is that you want to. Additionally, you can share words from Orphic and their meanings with a friend as well. A newly added feature also allows you to learn some of the trendy internet slangs and how they are used in conversations. You can also write notes about each word, view examples of how they are used in sentences and view the IPA notations of the words to help you clearly pronounce these words.
Medium
If you are someone who is always looking for fun new stories then you will love Medium. This app is called a platform for social journalism where both amateur and professional writers and publishing houses are constantly uploading new content. Once you create a personal account on this app, you can view articles and stories tailored to your interests. The posts you see on your homepage will also consist of topics or people you follow. If you are interested in writing, you can easily upload your own posts to the app. Editing already published posts is also very easy. You can also highlight phrases or paragraphs that you find important and share them with your followers. If you want to share your own opinions on posts, you can also join the conversation. Medium also has a website from where you can access your account and operate its functions too. It’s available on both Android and iOS and has over a million downloads and a rating of 4.6 on the Google Play Store.
Drona
Drona is an app that lets you improve your general knowledge. It has a large database of more than 50,000 questions and comes with daily updates too and you can get notifications of these updates. You can test your knowledge with the quiz feature and improve your English with its word learner. With over a million downloads and a 4.2 rating on the Google Play Store, this app is just the thing you are looking for if you don’t have time to browse through limitless content but want snippets of wisdom anyway. However, if you have the time, you can also browse through the curated collection of categories ranging from books and authors and computers and IT to business, economy and history and geography. There’s nothing that’s not there on Drona. You can also keep track of your learning progress as you will be able to save all that with a quick sign. If you have Drona installed on your phone, you will never be bored every again.
