The internet is awash with information of all kinds. There are countless websites, search engines and news outlets out there, making it hard to know where to look when you want to find something out. We’ve put together a list of great apps that can help you find the information you need in no time.
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Information
- Blinkist ($4.17/month, iOS and Android) provides summaries for over 1,000 influential nonfiction books.
Over 1,000 books have been summarized in the Blinkist library.
Over 1,000 books have been summarized in the Blinkist library.
You can listen to book summaries via audio.
You can listen to book summaries via audio.
This app provides 15-minute written and audio takeaways from books on psychology, history, health, current affairs, and more. Titles like Thinking Fast and Slow, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and Walter Isaacson’s Einstein are condensed into manageable written and audio insights, so you can learn more in less time. The audio feature is an awesome way to dive into a book while folding laundry or cooking a meal.
The app is also a great book discovery tool. If something intrigues you, go deeper and download the entire book!
Blinkist’s subscriptions are pretty pricey ($50 per year for Plus and $80 per year for Premium), so take advantage of the three-day free trial period to decide if it’s worth it.
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- Health IQ (Free, iOS) tests your health knowledge and teaches you a lot along the way.
Instead of tracking meals or counting steps, this app is focused on health education so consumers can make more informed decisions about what they eat and how much they need to exercise.
Did you know, for example, that out of all types of carrots, purple ones have the most antioxidants? You’ll learn that fact and much more by taking Health IQ’s many quizzes. All of the questions and their answers have been approved by doctors, dietitians, trainers, and other health experts.
- TradeHero (Free, iOS and Android) is a stock exchange game that teaches you how to invest in a virtual environment.
The app is a virtual finance community where people trade virtual stocks with a fake $100K stock portfolio. You can compete with friends and other TradeHero members, while learning about the increasingly complex world of markets, investing, and trading.
Quotes are available for 22 exchanges around the world, including the NYSE and NASDAQ. You can opt for stock alerts or follow TradeHero’s most successful users. The app will ping you when a “Hero” you’re following makes a trade, so you can learn from the best.
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- Duolingo (Free, iOS, Android, and Windows Phone) is a visual, interactive way to learn the basics of a new language.
Whether you’re preparing for a vacation abroad or want to refresh an old high school skill, this app is a great way to get acquainted with a new language, fast. Duolingo uses pictures, speech, and writing in short, digestable lessons. Learned vocabulary and phrases are reintroduced throughout the course to improve memorization.
An independent study discovered that 34 hours of Duolingo is equivalent to 11 weeks, or 1 semester, of a university course. If you’re in the market to learn Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Irish, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, or English, this app is the best way to get your feet wet with a foreign language.
- Velocity ($3, iOS) or A Faster Reader (Free, Android) can show you what it’s like to speed read.
Velocity App for iOS
Velocity App for iOS
A Faster Reader for Android
A Faster Reader for Android
Both of these apps aim to speed up your reading by showing just one word at a time in quick succession. It’s called RSVP, or rapid serial visual presentation. It’ll help you read long articles in less time.
The beauty of Velocity for iOS is that it’s not limited to articles from Instapaper or Pocket. You can read articles from the web or even email. The interface is simple, elegant, and very easy to use.
With A Faster Reader for Android, you can import e-books (.epub or .txt, with an experimental PDF feature), articles from Pocket, or text from your RSS subscriptions. One neat feature is the ability to slow the text down with a single tap on the right side of the word.
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- TED (Free, iOS, and Android) offers engaging, inspiring talks from thought leaders.
TED is a 30-year-old organization dedicated to spreading ideas that offer a deeper understanding of the world around us. The official app gives users access to the entire TED video library, available with subtitles in over 90 languages. Discover new talks by watching playlists curated by topic or build a new playlist by selecting what type of content you want to see (funny, informative, persuasive, jaw-dropping, etc.).
- Elementary Minute ($1, iOS) or Trivia Crack (Free, iOS and Android) is a quick way to boost your trivia knowledge.
Elementary Minute for iOS
Elementary Minute for iOS
Trivia Crack for Android
Trivia Crack for Android
These quiz apps are great for killing time while you’re standing in line for coffee or waiting for a bus to arrive.
Elementary Minute is a simple game that presents you with a statement or math equation, and you must decide whether it’s true or false. The topics range from geography, famous people, and mathematics.
Trivia Crack is similar in that you answer questions related to science, entertainment, art, geography, sports, and history, but the difference is that you can challenge friends and chat with them in the app.
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- Udacity: Learn Programming (Free, iOS and Android) is a convenient way to learn how to code, on-the-go.
Udacity brings experts from tech giants like Facebook and Google to your phone. Each course is optimized for mobile, and what’s different about Udacity is that you can take quizzes right from the app in addition to watching the class lectures.
All videos can be downloaded for offline access too. The app includes introductory, intermediate, and advanced courses in HTML, CSS, Javascript, Python, and Java, among other programming languages.
- HowStuffWorks (Free, iOS and Android) unlocks all of the site’s informative articles, videos, and podcasts on various subjects.
Who invented the internet? Why is your car vibrating? Who is Charles IX of France? Learn the answers to all of these questions with How Stuff Works’s comprehensive app, which covers topics that range from culture to science and tech.
You can play quizzes, listen to podcasts like Stuff You Missed in History Class, watch shows like Stuff Mom Never Told You, browse different topics, and save articles for later.
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- StarWalk ($3, iOS, Android, and Windows Phone) uses augmented reality to show you interesting things about the night sky.
Point your phone or tablet to the sky to reveal which planets, constellations, and satellites are viewable. Every object has an info button next to its name (like the M1 Crab Nebula, for example) that can display an image of that celestial object close up and provide more information. You can even move your device to see the graphics in the sky change in real time. In addition to star maps, the app provides daily updates on the current moon phase and sunset/sunrise times.
Trending apps
Uber
Uber is the world’s leading on-demand ride-sharing service, connecting 103 million riders to drivers in over 70 different countries across the globe.
uber | most popular apps
Uber has plenty of competitors today, but they continue to dominate the U.S. Market, with 71% of that market share. They also have a powerful presence in most countries across the globe (their exit from Russia and China notwithstanding).
What made Uber so successful? Obviously, being first-to-market was a great advantage, but the app itself offers a superior user experience as well—something anyone can attest to when they’ve tried using local competitors in various parts of the world.
A few things the Uber app does right:
Excellent GPS integration with Google Maps, allowing users to drop pins in precise locations and giving them the option to make their location known to the driver.
Seamless payment processing, with the option to pay in cash in parts of the world where credit cards are less widespread.
Price calculation so riders know what they’re paying upfront. We’re all used to this by now, but this was an innovative feature when it launched.
Available on: iOS, Android
Price: Paid as per ride.
Instagram
One of the world’s largest social media platforms, with 1.4 billion monthly users, Instagram offers an easy way to connect through images and videos. Launched in 2010 and purchased by Facebook in 2012, Instagram is extremely popular among Millennials and Gen-Zers, making it a powerful channel for advertisers trying to reach those segments.
instagram | top used apps for social media
A few things the Instagram app does right:
The “stories” feature first appeared on Instagram before it spread to Facebook, making it easy to capture videos and photos that would automatically disappear within 24-hours.
In-app video and photo editing for on-the-spot uploads.
In-app shopping, allowing users to connect with brands they love and browse new products for sale.
Availability: iOS, Android
Pricing: Free.
TikTok
TikTok is a popular app, built by the Beijing-based firm ByteDance, for creating and sharing short videos. Among the most popular genres on the platform are lip-syncing and dancing, but many use it for highly-creative short films. Once the favorite among the under-18 crowd, TikTok has gone mainstream.
tiktok | popular apps
A few things the TikTok app does right:
A highly-effective algorithm figures out what users want to see, and it keeps them coming back. Sure, every social media site does this, but TikTok is “sticky” beyond belief—with the average user spending 52 minutes per day on the app, and with 90% of their monthly users accessing it daily.
Automatic filters that make everyone look a bit better looking on camera. Maybe this is not the best for teaching self-acceptance and body-positivity, but it sure does drive engagement.
Duets feature, allowing users to collaborate on different devices to create group videos. Since lip-syncing is all the rage on TikTok, this comes in handy with videos like this one, where users add on to existing viral videos.
Availability: iOS, Android
Price: Free.
Airbnb
Airbnb connects hosts who have apartments or rooms to rent with travelers who need a place to stay. Today a household name, Founder Brian Chesky struggled in the beginning, begging venture capitalists to invest $150,000 to keep it afloat—in exchange for 10% of the company. One of those VCs walked out of a coffee shop meeting with Chesky, convinced he was a mad man with a losing idea. Oops!
AirBNB
A few things the Airbnb app does right:
Powerful filters that make it easy to find the precise accommodation you want, down to details like whether the place has an iron to iron clothes or a desk to work from.
Easy in-app communication so hosts and guests can coordinate directly from the app.
Fully integrated payment system that includes the ability to pay for incidentals. For instance, if you lose the house keys and owe the landlord extra money for the copy they made, you can handle that exchange through the app.
Availability: iOS, Android
Price: Paid as per booking.
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription-based video-on-demand app. It is the world’s foremost subscription Over the Top (OTT) media service, accessible on multiple devices, including mobile. Netflix constantly updates its huge inventory of films with the latest and most acclaimed movies and shows across many genres.
netflix | top 10 best apps
At the end of 2020, Netflix had over 204 million paying subscribers, and 47% of Americans prefer Netflix over any other video streaming service. Usership skyrocketed even more as the Covid-19 pandemic wore on, with many of us on lockdown and longing to escape into a world of cinema.
A few things the Netflix app does right:
Suggestions based on the content users like have not only allowed Netflix to keep users engaged, but it’s led to a burgeoning of original TV shows produced by Netflix itself.
Offline viewing lets users download shows and movies so they can view them later on the metro or anywhere else they don’t get data service. We’re getting used to this by now, but it used to be that we could only stream content using a live connection.
Parental controls allows parents to easily control the content their kids download on a family plan, and it can all be done via the app.
Availability: iOS, Android
Pricing: Paid subscription.
Amazon
One of the world’s largest multinational tech giants, the Amazon ecosystem offers digital streaming, cloud computing, e-commerce, and more. Always at the forefront of UX innovation, the Amazon app makes it easy to buy, review, and return products around the world.
amazon | best app for shopping
A few things the Amazon app does right:
Barcode scanner feature, which allows shoppers to scan a barcode for an item they find in a store and compare it to the price on Amazon.
A high-tech, seamless returns process allows users to select products they wish to return and process those returns directly from the app. In certain parts of the world, customers can then bring the items they wish to return to a local retail partner. The partner scans a QR code from the app, receives the item, and takes care of all the return shipping.
Buy Now button that lets users make a purchase with a single click, assuming they’ve already uploaded their credit card and address information.
Availability: iOS, Android
Pricing: Free.
YouTube
YouTube is the world’s most popular video platform. It is a treasure trove of entertainment and original content, helping millions of creators shoot and share their work with the world.
youtube | best app for video streaming
A few things the YouTube app does right:
Video chapters allow creators to break longer videos up into sections, that way viewers can jump to the “chapters” they want to view and skip past segments that don’t interest them.
Easy-to-access caption buttons so viewers can see captions on any video.
Subscribe button that allows users to subscribe to a favorite creator’s channel with one click. This means users will receive notifications each time that the creator posts a new video, thereby boosting engagement and growing the platform.
Availability: iOS, Android
Pricing: Free, with the option to purchase an ad-free subscription.
Dropbox
Dropbox is a reliable and well-designed cloud storage app that functions well on multiple devices. It makes it easy to share files with teams or store important documents on the cloud for future access. You can even comment on documents you’ve shared with other people.
dropbox | best app for online storage
A few things the Dropbox app does right:
Easy integration with other top apps and web service available, with zero compatibility issues.
No file-size limit on uploads.
Easy sharing features, allowing users to create secured links to documents they want to share with a handful of people.
Availability: iOS, Android
Price: Free to download, with a paid version that includes additional benefits like extra storage.
Spotify
Spotify is one of the most popular apps in the music space. It has consistently upgraded its mobile app design, streaming quality, and music sharing capability. The app has an ad-supported free version, whereas Spotify premium membership removes ads and gives additional features.
spotify | best app for music streaming
A few things the Spotify app does right:
Offline listening for premium members, allowing users to download the songs they like and listen without an internet connection (saying goodbye to iTunes).
Playlist following and sharing allows users to share and discover new music.
Made-for-you playlists, with the app’s algorithm sending you new music based on your preferences.
Availability: iOS, Android
Price: Free, with paid subscriptions available for ad-free listening and additional features.
WhatsApp
Launched in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, and sold to Facebook for $19 billion in 2014, WhatsApp is popular around the world. It’s used to chat, make phone calls, and communicate seamlessly by using internet data to bypass international phone networks. It currently has more than 1.5 billion users worldwide.
whatsapp
A few things WhatsApp does right:
End-to-end encryption helps keep users’ data safe.
Voice messages with no time limit (unlike Facebook Messenger, which limits your messages to one minute).
Pin-dropping that allows users to share their live location with friends.
Availability: iOS, Android
Price: Free.
Honorable Mentions: Seamless and Pocket
Beyond our top ten, we wanted to mention two more popular apps that didn’t make the big mobile apps list but deserve a shoutout nonetheless for their superior UX and overall execution.
Seamless
Seamless, a food ordering app, lets users order food online through their smartphones. Seamless is part of GrubHub, where users can order meals from around 35,000 restaurants in more than 900 cities.
Seamless app
A few things the Seamless app does right:
Offering tremendous variety from a wide range of restaurants.
Simpler, more user-friendly ordering process compared to similar apps.
Availability: iOS, Android
Price: Free.
Pocket
Pocket helps users save and share videos, articles, and emails to their smartphones. The app learns what you like to read and recommends similar articles.
Pocket one of the top popular apps
A few things the Pocket app does right:
Highly readable interface for offline viewing.
Computer narration, in case you’re occupied and want a Siri-like voice to read the content to you.
Conclusion
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