Guide to the Most Useful Web Apps

Using these web apps will raise your productivity tremendously.

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Last Updated: Dec 19, 2023
A person holding a laptop and smartphone
Web apps are a cross between mobile apps and websites.

A web app, or an optimized version of a website, is designed to offer an interactive and smooth experience, similar to a downloadable app on your smartphone. The advantage of web apps is that you don’t need to download them; you can access them from any device with an internet browser. Web apps come in various categories, from productivity to online security. If you haven’t already used these web apps, here are seven that you have to check out.

Supernotes

If you’re looking for a collaborative note-taking web app, give Supernotes a try. It creates flashcards, sets reminders, takes notes, and shares them. Online note-taking is a great way to stay organized and be more productive if you don’t like writing important information or tasks on paper.

Supernotes also allow users to create a network of notes and organize them in their preferred hierarchy. At its core, Supernotes is simple to use; its latest version features an editor mode, notes visualization tools, and a daily journaling mode. It offers two plans: starter and unlimited. The starter version is free and offers all the basic features. The unlimited version offers API access, a supporter badge, and priority support. Students get a 50 percent discount on the yearly plan when they sign up with their student email.

Grammarly

Grammarly logo
Grammarly saves time by proofreading and editing documents online.

Grammarly is useful for business professionals, students, freelancers, and anyone looking for an online tool to improve their writing. You can use the free version, which offers grammar, writing style, and spelling suggestions. A premium version provides more advanced suggestions, such as sentence structure errors and plagiarism filters.

Users can use the Grammarly web app to install browser extensions, which are available for Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and other browsers. You need an internet connection to use this web app, as Grammarly doesn’t run offline.

Canva

Canva is a graphic design web app for any user, regardless of technical skills or artistic talent. This all-in-one web app lets you create social media posts, reports, slide decks, images, and even websites. Unlike other graphic design tools such as Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator, Canva has a gentle learning curve. You can determine which internet provider is best for you and your business to prevent issues when saving your Canva design, especially large files.

The Canva web app has a clean and easy-to-use interface. Users who want to use Canva offline will have to download the Canva app on their computer or mobile device. It has three pricing tiers: Free, Pro, and Teams, each of which comes with a free trial.

Flipboard

With the Flipboard web app, you get a combination of a social media platform, RSS readers, and an online newspaper. Users can “flip” through the articles to get all the latest news in one place. They can also choose the type of news they want, save content, and add specific RSS feeds to their news stream. Flipboard is a great classroom tool, keeping students up to date with current events and trends.

Its content comes from various resources, including news feeds and social media such as Instagram and Facebook. Flipboard also has a social aspect, allowing users to share content on their social media. This is a unique feature, as typical news websites don’t offer this.

LastPass

Password typography using wooden blocks with a key and lock on a red circle
A password manager securely stores multiple passwords online.

A password manager is often on the list of top internet safety tips. LastPass is one the best web-based password managers, with a rich set of features, including multifactor authentication (MFA). It’s a freemium web app, meaning it offers a basic free plan and a premium one to unlock more useful features.

Remembering multiple passwords leads to users relying on overly simple passwords, which are vulnerable to cyberattacks. With LastPass, users can store multiple passwords and access them from any browser on a computer or smartphone.

The free version of LastPass offers unlimited passwords, one-to-one encryption, and auto-syncing for multiple devices. The paid versions offer password sharing and encrypted file storage. All versions offer a digital wallet that auto-fills billing and credit card information when shopping online.

Zenkit

Zenkit is one of the best kanban web apps. If you’ve never heard of kanban, it’s simply a method to manage work by balancing capacity with demands. Zenkit is an online collaborative workspace designed for personal and professional use. It’s highly customizable, allowing users to add their custom fields, such as text, formula, date, checkbox, label, and so on.

You can create various items, including reminders, tasks, team space for collaboration, or a solo space for private collections. Zenkit is available to download as an app, but it’s best used in a browser. The website interface is fast and spacious, making navigation of the web app extremely smooth.

Dropbox

Dropbox is a reliable and easy-to-use web app for online file sharing and storage. It’s one of the pioneers in cloud storage platforms and offers user-friendly navigation that’s suitable for those who are not tech-savvy. Dropbox also offers outstanding upload speeds, especially on fast internet connections.

The free version comes with 2 GB storage, and users can buy more storage through different subscription plans. Dropbox has auto-syncing features, allowing users to access their Dropbox from any internet-connected device, including their smartphones.

The Dropbox web app allows you to view uploaded files, but you need to download them to edit. All documents uploaded to Dropbox are encrypted for added security. Plus, a two-step authentication process is required to log in from a new device.