Everyone’s got Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat on his or her phone. But here are a few less obvious smartphone apps worth checking out if you don’t have them already:

 

Photography apps

 

Instagram: Free for iPhone and Android

Instagram is an incredible tool for turning mediocre pictures into works of art and works just as well as a quick, easy way to see what friends are up to. But that’s part of the issue with Instagram: It’s as much a social network as it is a photo-editing tool. If you want to put cool filters on your photos but don’t always want to “instantly” share them with the world, check out the next two apps.

VSCO Cam: Free for iPhone and Android 

Simple and artsy, VSCO Cam’s “Legacy Collection” offers 10 unique filter options ranging from black and white to washed-out to splashed with color. It doesn’t offer the same brightening tools as Instagram, but these filters often offer a sleeker, more polished shine to your photos. And unlike with Instagram, you’re not forced to crop your pictures into a square.

Adobe Photoshop Express: Free for iPhone and Android

It’s not exactly Photoshop for real, but it does the trick. Along with a cool selection of seasonal filters, PS Express also offers the ability to change the clarity, sharpness and contrast of your photos; to crop, rotate and flip them; and even to detect and eliminate red-eye. Instagram makes your pictures look really good — this can make them look great.

 

Music apps

Does anyone really use iTunes anymore? If you do, it might be worth it to give one of these two streaming services a shot:

Spotify: Free for iPhone and Andriod; premium account for $9.99 a month

An incredible desktop application for free and legal streaming, Spotify also offers a mobile app that works pretty damn well for your phone. There’s a misconception that the app takes too long to load songs if you’re not connected to Wi-Fi. This could be true for free users, but if you have a premium account ($9.99 a month), you can make playlists offline to stream whenever — even if you’re not connected to a 3G network, the songs are pre-downloaded onto your phone as if you own them (they’d work in a subway tunnel, on an airplane, you name it). Not everybody understands this feature, but now you do — so use it!

Beats Music: Seven-day free trial on iPhone and Android; $9.99 a month afterward

A brand-new app developed by Dr. Dre’s ubiquitous Beats Electronics company goes beyond the duties of a typical music streaming service. Beats offers a fully personalized, curated music experience in the vein of Pandora or Songza. With its “Sentence” feature, you can give the app an idea of where you are, what mood you’re in and what you’re doing, and in return, it will play you a set of songs that fit the moment. It’s pretty cool — and while Spotify might be the better app overall, Beats is far prettier to look at.
 

Essential University Apps

GroupMe: Free for iPhone and Android

Perfect for student groups, GroupMe provides an easy way for multiple members with different types of phones to stay in touch. Helpful for avoiding that annoying problem in which group texts don’t get through to every member because some have iPhones and others don’t.

Capital One: Free for iPhone and Android

What’s in your wallet? If Capital One — conveniently housed in Stamp Student Union and with ATMs all over the campus — is your bank of choice, this app is a must-have. It’s not exactly flawless — with pretty frequent “unexpected crashes” — but it usually comes up big in the clutch when you need to transfer money or check your account status.

The Diamondback: Free for iPhone and Android

Of course! Stay up-to-date on news about the university and campus. In all seriousness, The Diamondback app is well designed and frequently updated. It’s worth downloading — support your peers and good local journalism.

 
Photos courtesy of Wikimedia commons.