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5 brain training apps that flex your gray matter

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Your mental abilities are not fixed from birth. You can expand your mind and become even smarter. We here at AndroidPIT have gathered the best apps for training your brain and compiled them into one list. Get started with these apps and boost your IQ.

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Train your brain and get smarter with these apps. / © ANDROIDPIT

Top app for concentration: Headspace

The ability to concentrate is one of the most important functions of our minds. Increasing your focus will improve the rest of your cognitive abilities. It's best to start here because with better focus learning is easier. Sustained concentration will enable you to absorb other IQ boosting skills even faster.

A proven way to increase concentration is to practice a form of mindfulness. This is where you concentrate on the present and don't allow your mind to race. It trains your brain to focus and when you need to devote your attention to something your mind won't drift and you'll stay clear.

The best concentration app is Headspace. It gives you small, easy meditation goals that you can do in just 10 minutes a day. You learn the basics of mindfulness while the app tracks your progress and shows where improvements are needed.

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Headspace teaches you how to concentrate. / © ANDROIDPIT
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Top app for improving memory and attention: Lumosity

Your brain needs to be challenged to improve cognitive reasoning skills. That's why you need an app that gives you some raw IQ power. These are the building blocks to further sharpen your mind.

The Lumosity app provides you with a series of games that improve memory and increase attention span. These games have been developed alongside scientists and are designed to challenge core cognitive skills. There are over 25 training activities with different levels to get your mind in shape.

Lumosity starts with a series of tests that analyze your current skills. These include memory, train of thought and attention span. Take the test to see how you match up against your peers and where you need improvement. You can then target those areas in the training section.

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Try some of the fun Lumosity games and see how much sharper you'll become. / © ANDROIDPIT
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Top app for expanding creativity: Colorfy

Creativity is perhaps the most underrated brain activity. It is so important to your life. With increased creative powers you can come up with more innovative solutions to problems in your personal and professional life. You will find ways to approach challenges that you never thought were possible. Creative minds come up with some of the most lucrative ideas out there.

Teaching your mind to be more creative is not as difficult as you may think. You just need a series of exercises to unlock your inventive potential. Our favorite creativity building app is Colorfy. Commonly called an 'adult coloring book' this app gets your creative juices flowing.

Colorfy has hundreds of different blank coloring patterns to choose from like florals, animals, mandalas, gardens, famous paintings and more. There are tons of colors to choose from and there's even a rotating color palette of the day so your creativity stays fresh. My current 'masterpiece' is below.

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Colorfy gets your creative juices flowing. / © ANDROIDPIT
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Top app for increasing your knowledge: Today in History Calendar

Expanding your knowledge and learning new facts about your world is a great way to stimulate your mind. One way to do this is frame the present through the context of history. Getting some facts on the past gives us a better understanding of current events and enriches our lives.

The top app for increasing your knowledge is the Today in History Calendar. Each day you receive fun facts on the current date and what events happened on this day in the past. For instance, on June 1 the first known batch of Scotch whiskey was made and CNN began broadcasting.

The easily consumed nature of these facts makes this app so engaging. It's simple with an easy-to-navigate and colorful interface. There is an offline mode so you can use it anywhere and it won't burn your data. You can also use the widget for even faster facts. The only downside is the ads, which you can see in the screenshot below.

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Expand your knowledge with daily historical facts. / © ANDROIDPIT
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Top app for fueling your brain's musical inclinations: Music Maker Jam

Creating music enhances many aspects of your brain. It boosts brain function, helps with reasoning, increases math and science skills. It also improves your self-esteem makes you feel happier. But you don't need to learn an instrument or how to read music. You can make your own quality music from Android apps.

The Music Maker Jam app is the top app for boosting your brain with music. There are over 100 different styles of music like techno, rock, funk and hip-hop. You can even mix genres to create a unique sound. The app challenges you to create new music using many cognitive functions.

Getting started on your first song is easy. There is a mixer where you can configure thousands of different instruments and vocals with tons of styles. You can also record your own vocals and add them to your song. Share your tune when you're done. Who knows, you might have created something popular.

music maker jam
Create songs and expand your many aspects of your cognitive functions. / © ANDROIDPIT

Do you have any apps that stimulate your brain? Let us know in the comments.

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Cory Schmidt

Cory Schmidt
Editor

A Minnesota native, Cory's background is in writing and editing. He received his BA from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and his MA from the University of Kansas. He joined the Android community in 2009 and is excited to be contributing at AndroidPIT.

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5 comments
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  • 28
    itprolonden Jun 8, 2016 Link to comment

    The only way a music app is going to help with brain function is if if gets in to theory. Today's music is not music to use for brain building


  • Shanti DeMaio 1
    Shanti DeMaio Jun 4, 2016 Link to comment

    Peak and Elevate are my favorite brain games and you don't need to pay for the pro version to play a few games a day to exercise your brain 😊


  • Tech Zone 1
    Tech Zone Jun 2, 2016 Link to comment

    Oh my god !!! It is really interesting.


  • Albin Foro 30
    Albin Foro Jun 2, 2016 Link to comment

    My best brain trainer is the app I don't use - a password manager. Remembering all the many pws on Android and PC is contiinuous, mandatory, and is done in the course of ordinary use. Apart from that anybody who actively uses any number of ordinary apps - from games to ereaders or news aggregators to social - is probably getting as much stimulation and focus as from the type listed.


  • 7
    Haggie Jun 2, 2016 Link to comment

    "Your mental abilities are not fixed from birth. You can expand your mind and become even smarter."

    Be wary of any paid app that makes any claim about changing how your brain works (talking to you Lumosity). There is no peer-reviewed studies that support those claims.

    The only way they will make you smarter is when you learn that you have been ripped off.

    steve

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