LibGuides: Digital accessibility: Study apps

Top three ambient apps

Free apps that deliver low-level ‘white noise’

Coffitivity (Online or Apple Mac)
Play an ambient coffee shop soundtrack to limit distractions
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Based on research showing that the familiar buzz of baristas and clatter of coffee mugs distracts you just the right amount!

Study Ambiance (Android)
A study-meditation app to help you avoid distractions while studying.
You can use it for better sleep too!
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Study on a mountain top
Read your book near a quiet lake
Meditate near a calm beach
Learn English in a rain-forest
All without leaving your home!
Noisli (Online, Chrome extension, iOS and Android)
Customise your perfect study environment
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By mixing together different earthly sounds, ranging from rain, a train, to a fan and breezy leaves.
Mix the high and low pitches together to find a completely original frequency for you.
Sounds of the Bodleian
Missing the library atmosphere?
Choose from 4 different Bodleian library backgrounds
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Duke Humfrey's Library
Radcliffe Camera Upper reading Room
Sir Charles Mackerras reading Room in the Weston Library
Bodleian Old Library Upper Reading Room

Time Management and Organisation apps

Google Keep (available on PC and mobile phone)
Create a 'To Do' list
Save your thoughts, wherever you are
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Add notes, lists, photos, and audio to Keep
Set a time-based reminder to make sure you never miss a thing
MS Teams (Windows, Apple Mac, Android and iOS)
For team meetings or chat online - stay in touch with colleagues and tutors
Turn on live captions when you’re in a meeting
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Just click on the '…' three dots at the top of the screen, to open a drop-down menu which should include the option
It’s only live for your individual view of the meeting
MS OneNote (Online, Windows, Apple Mac, Android and iOS)
Your digital notebook to save ideas and organize notes
Always find your notes right where you left them
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Divide into sections and pages, easy navigation and search
Revise with type, highlighting, or ink annotations.
Share ideas and create together

Manage regular breaks while studying

TomatoTimer (available on PC and mobile phone)
Set the timer for 25 minutes then take a short break
And then start again
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This time management app, based on the Pomodoro technique, was created for a more productive way to work and study
See also Take a Break in APPsAnywhere
Basic free timer helps you avoid repetitive-stress injuries by reminding you to take a break

Put down your phone

Focus on what's more important in life

Forest with sun shining through the trees

Forest (available on PC and mobile phone)
Stay focused and plant real trees on Earth
Forest team partners with a real-tree-planting organization
Trees for the Future plant real trees on Earth
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Users spend virtual coins earned in Forest on planting real trees
Forest team donates the coins and creates planting orders

Using AI in your studies

Guidance for students on using Generative AI

For an outline on acceptable use, resources and tutorials available
What to look out for - pros and cons, with help, tips and suggestions

Use AI for:
Grammar and spelling checks
Identifying internet search keywords
Planning outlines
Generating ideas for visuals
Obtaining explanations of concepts
Debugging code
Overcoming writer's block

For general AI-related questions email ai-help@westminster.ac.uk

NB when using AI in assessments you must always include a statement in your submissions- see guidance for further details

Padlet board
For guides and courses, prompting and research tools
Blackboard
To access access ‘Generative AI at Westminster’
Sign into Blackboard, go to ‘My Modules and Courses’

Help with everyday study

Blackboard ALLY
Convert documents found in Blackboard, into a range of other formats:
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Plus other specialised alternative formats such as tagged PDFS
Access the information you need, the way you need it.

MP3 version for audio learners
HTML or ePub for reading as an e-book on iPad or other e-book readers
Beeline Reader enhanced version for easier and faster on-screen reading
Immersive Reader enhances reading experience - features text to speech option, tools to highlight nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs in the text, line focus and picture dictionary
Translate into another language from a drop down list of language options

Claro ScanPen OCR Reader (Android and iOS)
Listen to printed text spoken aloud from a photo
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Use to photo your printed text document...
Select the text with your finger (or stylus),
Hear it spoken straight back to you.
No internet connection required.
Adobe Scan video to watch
Free scanning tool that captures, cleans and crops images of anything and transforms them into smart PDFs
MS Lens – PDF Scanner
Have a scanner in your pocket.
A free app for both Android and iOS that allows you to scan documents and whiteboards, and put them into other applications
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Use to convert images to PDF, Word, PowerPoint or Excel files.
For anyone who wants free scanning with formatted OCR results.

Get Microsoft Lens for iOS

Get Microsoft Lens for Android

Microsoft To Do
To do list - plan, manage, share
Available for free, and syncs across iPhone, Android, Windows and the web
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Integrated with Outlook to add a deadline
Manage all your tasks in one place and by date
Otter-AI
A smart note-taking and collaboration app for meetings, calls, video conferences, interviews, lectures, etc.
This can be used either by the presenter, or the participant
Create a free account that Includes 600 minutes of 40 min transcriptions free per month
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After 40 mins, you can press record again to start a new session
After the session, the audio recording and searchable transcript will remain available in your account

Library Guides

Digital accessibility: Study apps

Improving focus apps