With the new semester starting off, students are looking for the ideal student apps to help them start on the new semester. These student apps can range from improving study methods to maintaining communication with friends and family. In this blog post, we will be focusing on student apps for communication. Here is our list of 2020’s best student apps for communication.
- GroupMe
- AirSend
- Kakao
- Telegram
Let’s start off with our first student app, GroupMe.
GroupMe
GroupMe is a mobile group messaging app owned by Microsoft. GroupMe is the go-to student app. With free group messaging, students can easily chat and share videos with each other. Additionally, users can use the apps custom emojis and create personalized GIFS.
However, even though GroupMe is the mainstream student app, it is not that easy or great to use. For instance, with the new Skype call integration, students can now place calls using Skype. But my question is, why not use Skype instead of GroupMe? What is the point of implementing call functionality from another chat app into another chat app?
While the app is convenient to have, many lackluster attributes make using the app questionable. Up until now, there haven’t been any decent alternatives to GroupMe. Until AirSend.
AirSend
Texting can sometimes be boring. There are new chat apps that provide the solution to mundane texting. AirSend is one of those chat apps. With AirSend, students can seamlessly chat with friends and family, manage their own workspace, and collaborate on projects with their peers. Boiled down, AirSend has everything a student needs:
- Emote, sticker, and GIF messaging
- File Storage/organization
- Built-in File sharing
- Video/audio calling
- Task management
- Note-taking
- Create public communities
- Communication via channels
Best of all, with AirSend, adding friends and family is super easy. Finally, AirSend offers a clean design with little-to-no clutter. Though we like to think we are the best student app, we need to give credit to other student apps that are just as great as AirSend. For instance, Kakao.
Kakao
Kakao is a South Korean company established in 2010. Kakao is an easy-to-use and straightforward messenger app. Students can enjoy unlimited free calls with fellow Kakao users. Further, students can:
- Chat from anywhere
- Send up to 100 MB files
- Set chat room transparency
- Voice/video calls on PC
- Voice filters
- Live talks
- Calendars
- Animated emoticons and pretty themes
- And a whole lot more
Kakao is one of those underground chat apps that not a lot of students know about. But once discovered, Kakao can be an entertaining app to use.
Telegram
Telegram is a cloud-based mobile and desktop messaging app with a focus on security and speed. Telegram is a simple-to-use messaging app that is private, open, and powerful. What do I mean by private, open, and powerful? Let me break it down.
- Private: Telegram messages are heavily encrypted and can self-destruct. Self-destruct meaning that you can eliminate all messages with no trace-down history.
- Open: Telegram is an open API and source code free for everyone.
- Powerful: Students can send images up to no file size limit.
Among many other attributes, Telegram is a free and much better alternative than most other chat apps. Using the app myself, I felt that it was a comfortable student app to use. Though I must admit that in the beginning, it was a bit difficult to use. Next on our list is WhatsApp.
WhatsApp is one of the more common overrated student apps. We hypothesized that the only reason students use the app is that they haven’t yet found a better alternative (but now they do). However, I still feel compelled to mention WhatsApp on our best student app list because it is highly used.
WhatsApp offers:
- Chat
- Sharing files
- Voice and video calls
The app is extremely limited in customization, but it still gets the job done. The other major annoyance with the app is that images and videos go directly to your personal multimedia library. I do not know about you, but I would prefer not to see other people’s families in my photo library.
Summary
Each student app has its positives and negatives. Though GroupMe is the mainstream app, there are much better alternatives. AirSend and Kakao are great student apps for customization, video and audio calling, and seamless messaging. Telegram is for those who want tighter security. WhatsApp is a good app for those who are looking for simplicity and limited customization.