LIFE

Top apps can ease back-to-school stress

Shelby Le Duc
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

It's hard to believe summer is almost over and kids will be heading back to school soon. With the sun shining and birds still chirping, the last thing anyone wants to think about is class schedules, school supplies and homework.

It's always a little difficult to get back into the swing of things, for both students and parents.

Luckily, though, there are plenty of smartphone apps out there to make this transition — and school life in general — much easier. From studying to scholarships and everything in between, there's likely an app to help you out.

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Flashcards+

Flashcards have always been one of the best ways to study. They're easy, fast-paced and fun, but carrying them around for days on end can get annoying. Not to mention, it provides ample opportunities for cards to get lost. That's why the Flashcards+ smartphone app by Chegg — or, really, any flashcard app for that matter — is perfect. You can create and store endless virtual flash cards filled with all the information you need so you can study whenever and wherever you want.

Photomath

This app is mind-blowing. All you have to do is point your camera at a math problem, take a picture and the app solves it.

Many could argue this is what a calculator is for. Let's face it, though, a calculator does no good when you don't know the problem-solving process. That's what's great about Photomath. Not only does it give the answer, it also shows how to solve the problem step-by-step. Think of it as a digital tutor. Hopefully after seeing problems broken down time and again, they will become second nature and the help will no longer be necessary. When that happens, the app has done its job.

Currently, Photomath solves arithmetic, fractions, decimals, linear equations, equation systems and several functions like logarithms. Developers are currently working on upgrades to help solve and explain more complex problems like integrals, trigonometry and derivatives.

Dropbox

A good habit to get into is saving important documents in multiple places to avoid the possibility of losing or accidentally deleting them or having them become inaccessible because of technological difficulties. That's why all students equipped with a smartphone should download the Dropbox app. You are easily able to upload and save projects, papers and more to your Dropbox account and access them anytime, anywhere.

Tiny scanner

This little gem is perfect for students whose teachers use a variety of file types. With Tiny Scanner, you can take a picture of documents and photos and instantly turn them into PDFs. The app lets you save, name and organize scans into folders and share them through email, Dropbox and other similar applications.

Scholly 

Often times students don't seek out scholarships simply because they don't know where to start.

Subscribers to Scholly's free service can access examples of scholarship-winning essays and more. With just a one-time $2.99 fee, users can also use the app's scholarship-matching and application tracking system. This not only creates a list of scholarships uniquely suited to each user, but it boils down the time-consuming process of scouring the web for scholarships into just a few minutes. It saves time and ultimately money. Who doesn't like that?

Here Comes the Bus

Here Comes the Bus is an app that can provide peace of mind for parents like no other. Parents can use its real-time GPS tracking system to locate their child's school bus, see if it's on time or when it's scheduled to arrive at a designated stop if there's a delay. The app becomes twofold when children equipped with smartphones also have the app downloaded. In which case, parents are notified when children get on and off the bus at home and at school.

Keep in mind this app is only an option if your school district has a contract with the app's developer. If this is something you're interested in, perhaps it might be worth talking over with an administrator. More information can be found at herecomesthebus.com.

All of the above apps — or versions of them — are free and available for iOS and Android unless specified otherwise in the description.

Shelby Le Duc
Back-to-school events

sleduc@greenbay.gannett.com 'Like' Shelby Le Duc on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @pgshelbyleduc