Google Drive apps for university - 5 useful tools

Special apps make Google Drive the perfect companion at university. These tools ensure that you can always access all your documents, no matter what device and where you are. We have selected the most useful Google Drive apps and summarized them for you in this tip.

Google Drive for your smartphone or tablet

• With the Google Drive app for Android or iOS allows you to access your online storage directly from your tablet or smartphone.
• You can view, upload and download files. In contrast to the Drive app on the Windows PC, the files are not automatically downloaded to your device. That's why you always need an internet connection if you want to view files. However, you can save individual files on your device for offline use.

Google Docs and Sheets as separate apps

• The word processor Google Docs (iOS version) and the spreadsheet spreadsheets (iOS) were part of the Drive app until recently, but now they are independent apps.
• However, this has not changed the meaning and purpose of the apps: You can use them to edit text or table documents that are saved on your drive. Like the web version of Google Drive, the apps support the simultaneous editing of a document by several people.

Google Drive Tools: Read, edit and save PDFs online

• If you want to view or edit PDFs at the university that are on your Google Drive, Foxit Mobile PDF (iOS: PDF Expert 5 or new Annotate + PDF) is just the thing for you.
• With the paid app, you can mark, underline, insert notes and freehand drawings. Your changes are immediately saved on Google Drive and can also be viewed on any PC with any PDF reader.

Sync Google Drive folders with Folder Sync

• The "Folder Sync" app synchronizes the contents of a folder on your Android device with Google Drive.
• This can be done in three ways: from drive to your device, from your device to drive or in both directions. If you select 2-way synchronization, the latest version of a file is copied. The free version of the app has fewer options than the paid version, but it is sufficient for most cases.
• Unfortunately, there is (so far) no alternative for iOS devices.

Record and synchronize university lectures with LectureNotes

LectureNotes has little to do with Google Drive, but in cooperation with Folder Sync there is a very useful combination:

• With LectureNotes you can write handwritten notes. The app also offers some drawing tools. However, the Android app only supports synchronization with Evernote and OneNote. With Folder Sync this can be fixed and the LectureNotes folder can also be synchronized with Google Drive. Your notes are saved as PNG image files, which is why you can read them from other devices.

The apps generally work on any Android device, but a tablet with digitizer, such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1, is highly recommended, especially for LectureNotes. Read this practical tip on how to synchronize files automatically with Drive.