In addition to containing a series of prebuilt flashcard decks, you can use Dictionary.com’s Flashcards app for Android to create your own deck of vocabulary flashcards to study on the go. In order to create a customized deck, you must submit some information, I’m guessing, that will either help the app’s advertisers better target you, or simply to provide demographic information to the developer. Once you’ve registered your email, name, age and gender, you can create your own deck by inputting words, then selecting from one or more definitions offered by Dictionary.com. In a previous review of the Dictionary.com app for Android, I lamented the omission of several real words, and so was unsurprised to find the same to be true for Flashcards. For instance, when I input “abnegation,” two definitions immediately populated, while “elision” elicited none (though this word can be found on the Dictionary.com website). This might make it more difficult to customize a deck for higher-level cramming, for tests like the LSAT or GRE, since there is no way to manually input a word’s meaning. It would also be useful to be able to return to the app’s home screen from wherever you are, which is not currently possible; instead, you must hit your device’s Back button repeatedly. But these limitations aside, the Flashcards app for Android is intuitive to use and also fun, as long as you call defining words from a list of four choices “fun” (and I sure do).    Less

Get to know your town better, or explore new places with Buildings, for Android. This app uses your GPS coordinates to match points of interest to its database of over 40,000 historically-significant buildings, including trading posts, historic architecture, and buildings that have local significance. Once you find a site that interests you (and you can search by distance, or building type), click on the link to view a library of images, and a text-heavy historical description of each site.   Less

It’s rare to find apps that are both fun to use and informative, but NASA App for Android is both. You can check out footage from NASA’s missions, browse a library of breath-taking images, and learn more about our planet and our galaxy from some of NASA’s top aerospace engineers, astronomers, and scientists. NASA’s Android app also lets you share images with your friends on social media, and read about NASA’s ongoing missions. Best of all, a handy feature shows you, by using your GPS coordinates, when you can spot the International Space Station, or any other craft launched by NASA, in your neighborhood.    Less