Since the pandemic went global and country after country initiated various lockdowns, we’ve all spent more time online. Businesses that were niche are now mainstream as we’ve sought to stay connected with those we’ve barely seen. Here are some of the top apps that students say they’ve used far more in the last year.

TikTok

It was already an up-and-coming social media app early last year. In fact, TikTok has been around since 2016 though for the first two years of its life it was limited to China. TikTok gave us no end of funny, entertaining, and educational videos to help us get through the tough times. There are simply too many that went viral to list them all but a special shout out to the sea shanty singers.

Zoom

Zoom became the video chat app of choice for all ages. But why Zoom rather than anything else? Because it’s easy to use. All you needed was one person to set up a chat and send the link to everyone else. Older people not used to video chatting didn’t need to worry about setting up an account, logging in, MFA… something that people who don’t have much internet experience like to do.

Forest

This productivity and organisation app is aimed at small businesses and freelancers. However, students started using it en masse. But why? Because of how it works. It allows you to break tasks into manageable segments. You set a 25-minute session, plant a seed, and watch it become a tree. If you switch to something else, the plant dies.

Netflix / Prime / Disney

A special mention to all those streaming services that gave us endless hours of fun in lockdown. Binge watching was a thing before 2020, but last year we were all at it. Did they change how we view films and television forever? Perhaps – time will tell but things were going digital before the pandemic anyway.

Strava

Fitness apps have been around for a long time – there is plenty of competition with no one true outstanding app to beat all others. But during the pandemic, students took to Strava in large numbers. Why? Mostly, it’s because of the challenges that made the daily walk fun. Some of these are group challenges, putting the social aspect into the isolation during the pandemic.

Headspace

From physical health to mental health, we all felt it last year – mostly due to isolation and the loss of those freedoms we all took for granted. Headspace is a meditation, stress, and anxiety reduction app. Not only that, but it also has tasks that help you focus, get better quality sleep, and calm your mind. There is a cost with this though, although you can use it for free for 14 days.