The CFF highlights the top ten free apps for UCF students

The use of smartphones and tablets is becoming increasingly popular among students. Since the introduction of these technological masterpieces, an app has been created for nearly everything, from a funny talking cat to a survival 101 kit. Not surprisingly, there is now a plethora of apps that cater specifically to students.

Here are 10 free apps that students can download for their smartphones or tablets and use for either educational or recreational purposes:

1. Urbanspoon: Let’s face it: Ramen noodles and drive-thru meals are not real food. So, for fellow foodies, the Urbanspoon app will help you break out of your fast food rut. Whether you’re looking for a fancy place to take your date or trying to find a cheap, low-key cafe, this app will point you in the right direction. You can search by food type, proximity, most popular or by price (ranging from $-$$$$).

2. MyFitnessPal: After you stuff yourself thanks to all of Urbanspoon’s good suggestions, what better way to avoid the “freshman 15” than to get this app? MyFitnessPal allows you to set personal goals and then creates a fitness plan for you. To keep track of your food intake, all you have to do is type in your meal and the nutritional information will automatically come up.

3. 8tracks: For music lovers who find all of the ads interrupting the music on Pandora annoying, 8tracks is a great alternative. It features various playlists (a favorite is the Science of Studying playlist) that you or other users can upload. To play music, all you have to do is favorite a playlist, which can have hours of music on it.

4. Sleep Cycle Calculator Lite: Tired of counting sheep at night? Try Sleep Cycle Lite to keep track of how much sleep you should be getting. The calculator counts your sleep cycles in 1.5-hour increments and also takes into account how long it takes the average person to fall asleep. When you enter what time you are planning to go to sleep, the calculator gives you the optimal times to wake up in the morning. Also, it allows you to enter what time you want to wake up, and it gives you a list of times when you should go to bed.

5. Visual Budget: Student loans and basic college living expenses cause many young adults to live on a limited budget. The average college student is constantly worried about overdrafting his or her checking account. Visual Budget allows you to keep track of your average spending per day, week and month. It automatically creates graphs and provides you with updates for your account, helping students to learn great savings habits early on.

6. Frommer’s Travel Tools: While traveling, this app is extremely useful. Frommer’s allows you to have all of its travel guides at the tip of your fingers so that you don’t have to lug around heavy books. Additionally, there are tons of extras with this app that are great for the avid traveler, such as a currency converter, trivia and postcards to send to all your friends.

7. CliffsNotes: Students from all sorts of majors are used to reading countless books per semester for their classes. Occasionally, students miss important details or don’t have time to read the entire book. Thanks to the CliffsNotes app, students can have all book and chapter summaries at the tips of their fingers in a flash.

8. Newser: Many students can hardly spare 15 minutes to catch up on world, U.S. and local news. Reading an entire newspaper is frustrating and, at times, nearly impossible. Students on a tight schedule who wish to remain caught up on current events might prefer Newser for all of their news. Every story is usually fewer than 300 words, allowing readers to get to the main point of the story quickly while still staying well-informed. In addition to the hard news stories, Newser also sprinkles its home page with bizarre and fascinating human interest pieces.

9. Blackboard Mobile Learn: This app allows you to get to UCF Webcourses quickly without opening your browser. It also allows you to post discussions, submit assignments and send messages. Every UCF student who is taking an online course can benefit from this app!

10. Mixology: OK, so this isn’t really the best example of an educational app, but it is a fun one! Unless you’re a bartender, making a great drink probably doesn’t always comes naturally to you. Mixology allows you to input what ingredients you have and then comes up with various drinks that you can make. It also comes with a complete guide of nearly every type of shot and mixed drink imaginable, along with recipes for recommended drinks