What is an Education iPhone App?

Learning apps are designed as a study aid, for reference or simply for educational fun. And learning is not just for students, anyone that wants to learn a language or brush up on their math skills can benefit from an education app. iTunes currently offers 59 pages of Education apps that cover pre-school through college. You can find apps that help teach sign language, study aides like calculators and dictionaries and fun stuff like art, puzzle and quiz apps.

Currently the top paid apps include programs like IQ tests, learn Spanish programs, dictionaries and GRE vocabulary programs. Popular free apps include Spanish tutors, calculators, vocabulary builders, translators and dictionaries.

What to Look for:
The first thing to look for of course is one that satisfies your educational needs or one that looks like fun. We looked at quite a few apps and rated them on the following.

Features:
Education apps include many types, so therefore offer a vast variety of features; however, most apps in this category include features specific to studying, referencing or learning fun. We looked to see what features were included in the app and whether the app offered everything that the marketing material posted on iTunes related that it had.

Interface:
All features of the app should be simple to use and symbols or buttons should be easy to figure out. The most progressive iPhone apps also take advantage of the unique interactive touchscreen provided by the iPhone and iPod touch.

Graphics:
Graphics for Education apps for the iPhone should be applicable to the app, clear and attractive and load fast. Maps should be easy to read and zoomable.

Stability:
Education app stability is important, if the app crashes often, freezes up your device or loads information too slowly you won’t want to use it. So the app should load quickly, run smoothly and include zero glitches.

Program Size:
How much memory an Education app requires varies depending on how much the program includes and how much it relies on the internet to retrieve information. Some apps use only a few MB of space, some much more. This isn’t too critical unless you are close to running out of room on your device or if you have an iPod touch that doesn’t have internet access all of the time. In those cases you may want a larger, more comprehensive stand-alone app.

Support:
Almost all iPhone apps come very limited support; however it is helpful if they offer some online documentation and a developer contact email address.

Education apps are designed for learning and fun, we would recommend that you try out quite a few, many are affordable or free. However, if you need a more powerful app, you may want to look into a PC version, see our Education Software Reviews.