As we all know, our generation is more addicted to our smartphones than ever before. Despite what parents, grandparents, and older generations might have said in the past about how our infatuation with these powerful devices was “unhealthy,” even they are now starting to question how they ever made it through life without one. 

That being said, the majority of college students have smartphones—I know, shocking right? I’ll assume that if you are reading this article in the first place, it’s because you have a smartphone and you are a college student…was I right?  You want to know what apps you can add to your collection that you don’t already have…am I still right? If so, then you’ve come to the right place. Some apps may be more obvious than others, but hopefully I’ll be able to give you some new excuses to pull out your phone during that boring 8 a.m. lecture.

(PS. All these apps are free!)

Let me start this one off by first saying that we are college students. We are all guilty of going to Wikipedia for a paper or project of some sort. Regardless of whether or not our professor thinks Wikipedia is a “reliable source,” the site has a ton of information on literally everything you might want to know. So whether you’re going against your professor’s advice and using it to help write your paper, looking up that pretty actress in that one movie to see what other films she’s been in, or even looking up the statistics for last year’s football season so you can actually sound like you know what the hell you are talking about when you get together with your drinking buddies, definitely download this app to have on standby.

2. Yik Yak
This one is very delicate subject matter. First things first, only download this app and use it when at college. Beware when you go back home to your nice, little, innocent neighborhood and find yourself on this app feeling anger and hatred. Some people reading this understand but for those of you who don’t, it’s probably because your hometown is way different than mine or you just haven’t been on the app in a small town with nothing interesting going on. Secondly, this app is for the thick skinned. If you get offended a little too easily or take things to heart when getting called out, then you probably should just leave this app alone. For those of you who don’t already know about “the yak,” it’s essentially a giant anonymous message board where people can post just about anything. If you love hearing about the latest rumors, gossip, fraternity/sorority feuds or even if you just want a quick laugh at somebody’s bad attempt at a pick-up line, get this app.

I think we all know why this app is on here. How can you stay friends with anybody if you are not sending them selfies every 5 minutes? It’s just what friends do nowadays in college to stay in touch. Ultimately, all kidding aside, this app is great for interacting with your friends. 

4. iFunny
This one is my personal favorite on the list. I’d say I’ve probably wasted a total of at least 30 to 40 hours of my life on this app since I downloaded it this past winter break. That being said, it was well worth it. Do you like laughing? Get this app, you will not be disappointed. That’s all I’m going to say.

5. SoundCloud
This app might be one of the less popular ones out there but the reason I include it on this list is because I absolutely love finding new music. This app has all sorts of music that you can find and play for free. Not only that, you don’t have to sit through and skip all the bad songs to get to the good ones. You can just search for the song you want and play it. Plus, no advertisements or commercials. How often do you find a music related app without any of that nowadays? Exactly my point, this one’s for the music lovers out there -  download it.