I don’t know about you but I am a big fan of learning new things, and I especially enjoy finding bizarre and strange factoids. Learning new things is how you evolve as a human being, so it never hurts to add another interest to your hobby list.
And with smartphones being in our hands, all day-every day, we we can easily turn them into learning tools, if we want to. How? By downloading a few apps which can help us broaden our knowledge.
I’ll start with good old Reddit – which is home to an immense database of knowledge. It’s like a digital version of the Library of Alexandria and sometimes you risk getting lost in its immensity if you don’t know where to look. I for one, am a big of the TodayILearned thread which lists interesting, little-known facts about anything and everything. Here’s a fun example:
“TIL there is an 87 year old woman in Japan who owns a restaurant by day and spins techno at a local club in Tokyo by night. They call her DJ Dumpling.”
And there’s more where that came from.
Blinkist
I wish I could read more, but I don’t always have the time to. The Blinkist app knows time is limited, so it delivers book summaries right on your phone. You can either read these summaries or listen to them via audio.
The app includes abstracts of more than 1,500 best-selling books covering genres such as psychology, history, health or current affairs and much more. The app is free to download and use at first, but after the 3-day trial is over you will need to upgrade to Plus or Premium versions.
TED
Another great app for folks who don’t have much time to sit down and read a book. TED is an organization dedicated to spreading ideas worth hearing about. The Android app helps you deepen your knowledge by letting you search the TED Talks data-base by the subject you’d like to learn more about like “brain” or “creativity” or find a new topic of interest by browsing tags or playlists.
Trivia Crack
Improve your Trivia knowledge with this fun Trivia game which challenges you with hundreds of thousands of exciting questions. The app is available in 20 game languages and allows you to chat with your opponents and make connections too.
Curiosity
Aptly named Curiosity, the app allows users to explore articles, infographics and videos in order to bring them up date with their topics of interest. Are you passionate about a certain subject at the moment, let’s say Human Biology? Open Curiosity and tap on the category in order to open short-form articles and videos related to the topic. Explore new topics with this free knowledgeable database that will challenge you to keep learning.
StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon is an easy way to find the content you care about. When you first start using the app, you’ll need to add your topics of interest. After which you’ll be required to tap on the StumbleUpon button, so the app can start delivering the best topic-related content available on the net. It serves up an intriguing mix of photos, videos, articles, quotes, art, memes and tips.
Dictionary.com
Mobile fans can download the leading English dictionary app for Android for free from the Google Play Store. It’s one of the most comprehensive word data bases housing 2,000,000 definitions and synonyms. But the best part is that it features a Word of the Day section, which allows users to learn a new word everyway. For example, do you know what “Affinal” means? If you don’t, I suggest you download the app right now!
Just Facts: Did You Know?
Another easy-to-use app which delivers factoids to your Android. These are displayed in a form of a quick sentence, like for example “Most of the Vitamin C found in fruits is in the skin.”
The app is home to more than 10,500+ facts about animals, life, coffee, love, history, people, science, countries, music, companies, geography, immigration, nature, politics, food and a lot more. You’ll definitely find something worthy of your attention.
BrightSide
BrightSide offers a large collection of fun articles and listicles covering topics such as Inspiration, Creativity and Wonder. Want to expand your imagination beyond the mundane daily life? Give BrightSide and its articles a shot. You’ll find works such as “20 Utterly Captivating movies about love.”
Philosophy Quotes Every day
Get your dose of daily inspirational with this philosophical app and learn something in the process too. For example, did you know that Herman Hesse author of Steppenwolf believed the following?
“The man of power is ruined by power, the man of money by money, the submissive man by subservience, the pleasure seeker by pleasure.”
