Venmo
This free money-exchanging app allows people to directly pull dollars out of a debit account to quickly and easily pay other people. Venmo, which can be protected with a passcode, is completely safe and useful for splitting the check, paying bills to roommates, getting cash from mom or pitching in for gas.
Users can both charge and pay people who use Venmo. The app also allows users to “cash out” directly to their bank account. The money saved up within the app can be delivered within one business day of choosing to “cash out.”
My Weekly Budget
My WB is a simple but comprehensive app perfect for students on a tight budget. This 99-cent app allows users to plug in a set weekly budget. Once a purchase is made, users enter in the amount of money spent and assign a category. For example, spending $25 at Stater Brothers would fall under “groceries.” Users can set favorite categories for quick and easy tracking.
The app also allows users to enter money found or added to the weekly budget. If students find some cash in the couch, the app allows them to account for that. Additionally, My WB keeps a history of the user’s spending from week to week, so students can track exactly how much they are putting out.
Safe Trek
For students who live far from campus, off campus or often commute on foot late at night, this app ensures additional safety and peace of mind. When they feel unsafe, users turn on the app, then press and hold a small button in the middle of screen. Once they have reached their safe destination, users can release the button and enter a personal pin number.
If, within 10 seconds, the pin is not entered into the phone, the local authorities are immediately notified of the user’s location. Although campus safety officers do roam the perimeter of the school, this $1.99 app can help ease the nerves of pedestrians.
Sleep Cycle
Sleep Cycle is a 99-cent app that not only acts as an alarm clock, but tracks sleep patterns by using the accelerometer in the iPhone. According to its website, the app allows users to see how well they slept based on how much they moved in the night. By placing an iPhone face down on the top corner of the mattress, the app tracks movements. The app then wakes up users within a 30-minute window based on when they are most prepared or not in a deep sleep.
The app provides myriad choices for soothing sounds to wake up any college student in need of a good alarm in order to make it to early morning classes. Sleep Cycle additionally acts as a sleep aid to block out roommate snoring or late-night typing by providing sounds to fall asleep to including “Rain on car roof” and “Ocean waves.”
Sleep Cycle also comes in a version called Power Nap that allows users to choose a power nap (up to 20 minutes), a recovery nap (up to 45 minutes) and one sleep cycle (up to 120 minutes).