Smartphones are fast becoming the most common form of portable device and their power can be used for entertainment, education, creativity and productivity. If you are heading off to college or already well into your course then these top 5 free study apps will help you work more effectively without draining your bank balance.

SparkyLife

Every student of literature will become intimately engaged with SparkNotes, the website that provides in-depth analysis and explanations of most of the significant plays, novels and poetry you might encounter at college. The Sparky app is a free program designed for the iPhone which lets you harness the power of SparkNotes on smartphones. If you are ever in a seminar or lecture and you forgot the book or need to brush up on your understanding of characters, this is the app that could save the day.

Brain Tutor 3D

Medics will love the complexity and comprehensiveness of this app, which is able to model the brain in real time 3D graphics and help you learn all the terms and conditions associated with the complex part of the body. MRI scans were used to create the images stored on this app, so you can be sure of the accuracy and relevance of the information it delivers.

MathemagicsLite

While you may have your own scientific calculator to hand, this app means that smartphones can become just as capable when tackling complex conundrums and algebraic formulas. Since this is the ‘lite’ version of the app it is slightly less powerful than the paid-for edition, but you still get a dizzying array of mathematical tools at your disposal.

Shakespeare

The great Bard is studied by thousands of people each year, but lugging around a Complete Works can be tiresome. With this iPhone app you can store every single one of his plays and sonnets on your mobile and, perhaps most importantly, search through them to find that quote or scene that you need. Smartphones can replace a large number of text books that students need on a regular basis.

iElements

A great science-oriented app, iElements does just what its name implies and gives you access to the periodic table with all 118 elements. Of course since this is designed for smartphones it does a lot more than a basic wall chart. You can arrange the elements based on their atomic number, name, symbol, series and much more. On top of this you can use the touchscreen to get details on individual elements to help out when that pop quiz is looming.

This article was written by Rob from Expansys.com – be first with all the latest smartphones, tablets and other gadgets.