Whether your teen wants to master core subjects, develop critical thinking, or explore new areas of knowledge, educational apps offer a convenient way to complement learning. Here’s what you need to know.
Related: Essential life skills for kids and teens
The best learning apps for teens
Best Maths apps
Khan Academy
Learn anything about Maths for free with thousands of interactive exercises, videos, and articles at your teen’s fingertips. They can spend an afternoon brushing up on statistics, discover how the Krebs cycle works, get a head start on next term’s geometry and even prepare for upcoming exams. This app offers a wide range of lessons and maths levels to help with everything from homework to maths theory.
Cost: Free
iOS or Android: Both
Mathway
Mathway is the world's most innovative maths calculator for algebra, graphing, calculus and more! Simply point a camera, snap a photo, or type a maths homework question in for step-by-step answers. It can be a very helpful app for understanding problem-solving techniques.
Cost: Free for basic level
iOS or Android: Both
GeoGebra Graphing Calculator
GeoGebra is a mathematics software app that combines geometry, algebra, spreadsheets, graphing, statistics, and calculus. It's suitable for advanced A-level students.
Cost: Free
iOS or Android: Both
Photomath
Photomath enables students to take pictures of handwritten or printed math problems and provides solutions. It’s a valuable tool for understanding the process of solving problems as it breaks a problem into bite-sized steps to help a student understand the “what” and “why” along with the “how.”
Cost: Free
iOS or Android: Both
Incredible Numbers
Incredible Numbers makes advanced mathematical concepts more relatable, from pi to primes, factorials to infinity. This is a brilliant way to open up the world of maths to kids. The app even shows the mysteries of math and the history behind theories.
Cost: Free
iOS or Android: Both
Best Finance apps
GoHenry
GoHenry is designed to teach your teen to be smart with money and understand the value of money. It comes with a free prepaid card, weekly autosaves to savings, instant spending notifications, and a user-friendly app. This helps your teen to see what they are spending and how much they earn and save each week. GoHenry with the financial education section, Money Missions, to teach your teen more about money.
Cost: £3.99 a month (Everyday), £5.99 (Premium)
iOS or Android: Both
GImi
Gimi’s purpose is to enable parents and teens to keep track of their pocket money. It also aims to give teens an understanding of their finances and can help with financial education. Kids see their in-app virtual piggy bank fill up weekly as money comes in.
Cost: Free
iOS or Android: Both
Rooster Money
Rooster Money is a popular finance app; teens can divide their money into four categories: Spend, Save, Gift, and Objectives. A paid Rooster Plus subscription is required to use the task management system and other premium features, although teens can use the virtual money tracker and other helpful functions at no cost.
Cost: Free (Virtual Tracker) & £1.99 a month (Rooster Card)
iOS or Android: Both
Starling Kite
Starling Kite is a teen-friendly area within the Starling bank account for kids aged six to 16 (Starling also has a teen account for 17 and 18-year-olds). Your teen can have a debit card and a separate app to monitor their balance and transactions. This gives them the freedom to learn how to use their money on and offline. You can also lock the card instantly if it’s lost or stolen.
Cost: Free (Parents or guardians need a Starling personal account)
iOS or Android: Both
Best Language apps
Duolingo
Learn a new language with the world’s most downloaded language app! Duolingo enables your teen to learn 40+ languages through quick, bite-sized, gamified lessons that appeal to teens. Practice speaking, reading, listening, and writing to build vocabulary and grammar skills.
Cost: Free
iOS or Android: Both
Babbel
If your teen is looking for a complete language-learning package, Babbel is the way to go. It teaches the basics of grammar, including particular vowels and consonants and their correct pronunciations, before moving on to conversational scenarios in everyday settings. They will need a subscription to access all the learning materials for one language, which can be 12.99 a month.
Cost: Free, but you need a subscription for the whole course
iOS or Android: Both
Memrise
Memrise is a helpful learning tool. It uses a familiar flashcard approach with spaced repetition to help you memorise words and phrases. There are also grammar lessons, and teens can set goals. Lessons are quick, and there’s a bit of gamification to help keep your teen coming back.
Cost: Free
iOS or Android:
Drops
Teens start by deciding how much time they want to commit daily and choose categories like food, travel talk, or business and tech. The app then reveals pictures to identify and pair onscreen. Each drop is also spoken aloud in your chosen language. It’s straightforward to dip into and build your vocabulary.
Cost: Free 7-day trial
iOS or Android: Both
Best Science apps
Khan Academy
One of the best learning apps you can find. The app offers multiple courses in science for all ages. Free chemistry courses, physics lectures, or general scientific facts can also be found. Best of all, the app has lecture videos by the best names in the field. Each video has academic lessons and tutorials to keep your teen engaged.
Cost: Free
iOS or Android: Both
iNaturalist
iNaturalist shares biodiversity information to help everyone learn about nature. You can identify plants and animals with visually similar suggestions and verification by dedicated contributors. Every identification is linked so that you can search for broad classifications like “Ferns” or “Fungi” as well as species-level identifications like “Humpback Whale” (and everything in between).
Cost: Free
iOS or Android: Both
Learn Physics
Learn Physics is an app that helps to understand physics easily with core concept tutorials, formula calculators and quizzes. The app features a comprehensive list of formulas for the physics topics listed below, each with a formula calculator that allows you to solve any variable within the formula.
Cost: Free
iOS or Android: Both
Chemistry
Chemistry is the go-to app for understanding chemical reactions and the Periodic Table. With this Chemistry app, your teen can discover chemical reactions, solve equations for chemistry and organic chemistry, and learn more about chemical elements with the interactive Periodic Table. They can also search for elements by name or symbol and tap to access detailed information.
Cost: Free
iOS or Android: Both
The benefits of learning apps for teens
Educational apps for teens can offer various benefits, contributing to their academic development, learning engagement, and overall skill enhancement. The latest apps use adaptive learning technologies, tailoring content based on a teen's progress and performance. This personalised approach can address individual learning styles and needs.
Interactive features such as quizzes, games, and simulations can aid in better information retention by making learning more hands-on and memorable. These gamified elements can motivate teens to stay engaged and complete tasks. Some educational apps also bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and real-world applications, demonstrating how academic concepts relate to practical scenarios.
While the benefits of educational apps for teens are significant, it's essential to ensure that screen time is balanced and the apps chosen align with your teen's educational goals and values.
How to encourage your teen to use learning apps
Encouraging teens to use learning apps isn’t always easy, but it can be a positive way to supplement their education. What can help is to choose learning apps alongside your teen that align with their academic needs. This increases the likelihood that they will find the apps exciting and beneficial.
Be sure to choose apps that align with your teen’s curriculum (their school may also advise on a selection). This ensures the content is relevant to your teen's academic needs and reinforces what they learn in class.
Above all, let your teen experiment with the app and ask them to give feedback on whether it is helpful for their needs. They are more likely to feel motivated to use apps they have had a role in selecting and testing.
How can GoHenry help?
Teens learn best by doing. So, show them how to manage money for themselves with a GoHenry prepaid teen debit card. Available for kids aged 6-18, GoHenry is a safe way for teens to practice their financial literacy skills. There’s a companion app for parents which allows you to pay pocket money, monitor spending, top up when necessary and create saving pots. Money Missions is our in-app financial education tool, allowing your kids/teens to explore various financial topics, from budgeting to saving and more.
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Ways to teach kids about money
Best budgeting & money apps for kids & teens
