Education & reference

KHAN ACADEMY

From khanacademy.org Available on iOS, iPadOS The Khan Academy is a non-profit organisation dedicated to providing free, world-class education to anybody anywhere, and its app is packed with knowledge. The information here is universal, and it’s particularly strong on maths and science topics.

PBS KIDS VIDEO

From pbskids.org Available on Mac, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS This is a brilliant app for parents of young children: it provides safe, ad-free access to your kids’ favorite PBS Kids shows, which combine education and entertainment. You can download video for offline playback too, which is great for road trips.

DUOLINGO

From duolingo.com Available on iOS, iPadOS, iMessage Duolingo can help you to learn new languages or brush up on the ones you already know. It’s a friendly and charming way to broaden your vocabulary for future travels, and the use of days-long learning streaks adds an element of competitiveness too.

NOTABILITY

From notability.com Available on iOS, iPadOS, Mac If you have an Apple Pencil, Notability is one of the best apps for note taking, doodling, and other digital drawing. It used to be a paid app but now it’s freemium. The free version is still great for note taking, but unlimited editing and features such as OCR are IAPs.

SCRATCH

From scratch.mit.edu Available on Mac Scratch is a creative coding app designed for children, who can use it to create interactive stories, games, and animations and share them with other Scratch users. It’s the world’s largest coding platform for kids and can also be used to control LEGO Education devices.

KINDLE

From amazon.com Available on Mac, iOS, iPadOS You don’t need a Kindle e-reader to read Kindle books. While most bigname ebooks cost similar prices to printed equivalents, Amazon also has stacks of free books, often but not exclusively by up-and-coming authors. Quality varies, of course, but hey – free books!