Helpful Apps for a New Year, New You

Wanting to learn a new skill in the New Year, or make sure you achieve your resolution? Try an app from our roundup to help

Learn new skills

Babbel (www.babbel.com) if your aim is to learn a new language, then this is the app for you. Covering 8,500 hours of content in 14 languages, from Spanish to Indonesian, using Babbel will enable you to communicate in a foreign language from the start. Additionally, Babbel will use your native language and your knowledge of its grammar to help you learn more efficiently and at a higher speed. Lastly, all of the audio content is recorded by native speakers, allowing you to work on and perfect your accent from the start.

Available on iOS and Android, subscription available from £4.75/month

Skoove (www.skoove.com) is an entertaining and individualised way to learn the piano from your computer. Traditionally, learning the piano can seem daunting for novices: learning sheet music, as well as buying and housing a piano. Skoove works across leading web browsers and offers a set of intuitive and responsive courses in contemporary and classical music. Simply sign up, connect your keyboard to your laptop and get playing, while Skoove guides you through from beginner to Bach and Bon Jovi.

Available on browsers, subscriptions from £3.95/month

Blinkist (www.blinkist.com) is great if you want to know more about your chosen field, but just don't have the time to read the books about it. The app will provide you with 15-minute audios, condensing the main ideas of a book into a manageable and easily digestible snippet of information, letting you grasp the main points without having to read the full text. Whether you are interested in finance, history, psychology or marketing, this app will provide you with the basics in just 15 minutes of listening.

Available on iOS and Android, free to download, Premium subscription available

Acast (www.acast.com) is a podcasting platform that can help you improve your skills as you are busy doing other things. Whether you want to find out more about world cuisine, travel spots that you visited, or history and how it relates to the modern day (Dan Snow's History Hit podcast is perfect for this), this app will help you. Choose an area you're passionate about, select the podcast and prepare to learn new things every day.

Available on iOS and Android, free

Stick to resolutions

Remente (www.remente.com) is essentially a life coach that you can keep with you at all times. This clever app combines psychology with brain and mental training, to help its users reach their goals and lead a healthier and happier lifestyle, focusing on the importance of both mental and physical wellbeing. Within the app, you will be able to track your mood and personal progress, set goals and resolutions, as well as read insightful articles to further your mental wellbeing.

Available on iOS and Android, Premium Membership is also available for £4.17/month

Lifesum (www.lifesum.com) - using tech and psychology, Lifesum creates a tailored plan to help users live a happier, more balanced life. Whether your resolution is to lose weight, build muscle, or just be healthier, Lifesum shows how changing your small, everyday habits can transform your life. It allows you to track your calories, log your meals, set yourself goals and even monitors how much water you drink.

Available on iOS and Android, Gold Membership is also available from £3.99/month

Level (www.levelmoney.com) if your aim is to better manage and even save money this year, then this is the app for you. Level lets you plan in advance for essentials such as rent and bills, while also allowing you to set a saving target for each month, dedicating a set amount to non-essentials, such as coffees at lunch or shopping trips.

Available on iOS and Android, free

Forest (www.forestapp.cc) is an app to help you manage your phone addiction. Simply create a list of sites you don't want to visit for a certain time limit and add them to Forest – every time you try and go on the sites/apps in that time, a virtual tree will grow instead. The less you visit the apps in the set times, the bigger and prettier your tree will get.

Available on iOS and Android, £1.49.