One optimistic American consultant tweeted in early April that if individuals didn’t emerge from coronavirus quarantine having learnt a new skill, gained more information or begun something they’d been putting off, then “you never lacked the time, you lacked the discipline”.

The tweet went viral and was welcomed with equal parts derision and fury as individuals pointed out that home schooling, financial issues, stress and/or sickness were making this time anything from a wonderful self-improvement vacation.

Getting through is an accomplishment. Perhaps it’s best to think about setting aside some time to acquire a new skill as a method of getting some focus in these uncertain times, rather than seeing the acquisition of new information and abilities as some kind of test of laziness.

With that in mind, here are 20 applications that might assist if you do find the time. If you don’t have time, instead of feeling forced to display “discipline” now, this list may be useful to tuck away for the future.

Duolingo

(Android/Apple – free + in-app purchases)
Duolingo’s tagline: “Learn a language for free. “Forever” – sounds a little frightening. Luckily, its app is amazing, with a large selection of languages taught via short, straightforward activities that are meant to be done regularly. Its optional membership tier eliminates advertisements, and provides extra functionality.

Simply Piano

(Android/Apple – free + optional subscription)
If you’ve always wanted to learn to play piano, this app can help. It gives you exercises to play and then utilises the microphone on your device to listen to your playing and give you feedback. It includes a broad selection of songs to learn, two free courses and plenty more with a membership.

Mimo

(Android/Apple – free + in-app purchases)
There’s been a lot of “kids can code” talk in recent years, but many adults have taken up computer programming, too. Mimo makes the discipline approachable without dumbing it down or becoming over-dry. The tool supports a number of major programming languages and comes with a subscription to access its complete repertoire.

Anchor

(Android/Apple – free)
This is a Spotify-owned app, but it’s all about podcasts rather than music. Making podcasts. Soon enough you will be recording and editing episodes, adding soundtracks and uploading them to different podcast providers. The software will also provide you with statistics on your listening numbers.

Blinkist

(Android/Apple – free + subscription optional)
when it may be simple to promise oneself you will read loads of books when in self-isolation, it may be more challenging to follow through with the plan. Blinkist is a creative supplement to conventional reading. It takes non-fiction books and condenses them into 15-minute audiobooks. The subscription gives you access to the whole collection including offline listening.

Yousician

(Android/Apple – Free + optional subscription)
That instrument that’s been sitting in the corner for a decade? The hour is here! Yousician is one of the better apps for learning guitar (or ukulele), with bite-size lessons built around known tunes and, like Simply Piano, regular feedback – of the positive sort. Subscribing eliminates the limitations of the free version.

Candide Gardening

(Android/Apple – free)
If you have a garden, the UK shutdown may have inspired your green-fingered goals. Candide Gardening is a great tool to assist you out whether it be recognising plants, a library of gardening manuals or helping you discover individuals who can answer your queries.

Driving Theory Test 4 in 1 Kit

(Android/Apple – $4.99)
Car excursions are only being made for required trips at the moment and therefore driving lessons aren’t an option. But if you were learning (or planning to) there is nothing to stop you brushing up on your knowledge of the driving theory exam, including, in this app, video on hazard-prevention.

SketchAR

Android/Apple – free, optional membership
A blank sheet of paper may be a scary thing if you don’t think you’re very good at painting. SketchAR is a smart software that utilises augmented reality to show you how to draw as you hold the device over the paper. You may start from fresh or select from a variety of subjects like animals or graffiti.

Yummly

(Android/Apple – free + optional subscription)
Ideally, more time at home means more opportunity to try out new recipes, but finding the ingredients could be tricky at the moment. Yummly will teach you to improv in the kitchen, assisting you not just with guided recipes but also finding ideas based on what you have in your pantry.

Steezy Studio

(Android/Apple – free with optional subscription)
No sense of rhythm? You may learn to dance in the lockdown too. Just be sure to get any delicate items out of the way before testing this app in the living room. There are more than 500 video courses on genres from hip-hop to dance hall to breaking (like we mentioned, move the treasures first….).

Cryptic Crosswords Learn

(Android/Apple – free + inapp purchases)
mysterious crosswords are no so mysterious once you start learning some of the ways to solve them. This software does a pretty fantastic job of teaching you how to solve these problems and has exercises to test you as you go. The crosswords are still hard but you’ll be more confident. See also: Cryptic Crosswords.

Google Arts & Culture

(Android/Apple – Free)
Nobody is attending museums or galleries at the present, much alone going overseas to do so. That’s ideal timing for Google’s arts and culture app, which uses photographs, videos and virtual reality to deliver virtual tours of over 2,000 “cultural institutions” across the globe.

Brain Training

(Android/Apple – free + membership)
No need to stand still in self-isolation. Apps like Elevate are supposed to keep your brains fresh, with brief daily tasks to test your memory, arithmetic and other abilities. You may play free or pay to get plenty more workouts.

Calm

(Android/Apple – free + optional subscription)
If you’ve been wanting to get into mindfulness and meditation, then a pandemic seems like the perfect opportunity to finally do it. Calm has guided (spoken) meditations, calming music, and even tales read by the likes of Stephen Fry and Matthew McConaughey to help you sleep.

Brilliant

(Android/Apple – free with optional subscription)
A typical regret from those who have understood just how beneficial those abilities would be now is: “Why didn’t I try harder at maths at school”. Brilliant is an excellent method to brush up on mathematics and science: it covers foundations up to some quite sophisticated concepts such as neural networks.

Daily Yoga

(Android / Apple – free + optional subscription)
Yoga is another practice that many people choose to postpone for years. Daily Yoga is one of the greatest applications for beginners. It takes you from basic yoga poses to more advanced sessions, plus it has a “smart coach” that tells you what to practice each day.

Khan Academy

(Android/Apple – free)
Khan Academy is an American non-profit organization (thus the free-ness). They envision themselves as a worldwide classroom. This implies courses in mathematics, computers, science and economics, through to arts and humanities, with a combination of videos, articles and quizzes to assess your understanding.

Skillshare

(Android/Apple – free + optional membership)
If Khan Academy is fantastic for mathematics and sciences, Skillshare goes the other way: toward sketching, photography, graphic design and other creative areas. There are also courses in business orientated subjects such as marketing. Its catalogue is available with a single subscription.

Coursera

(Android/Apple – free + in-app purchases)
3,500 online learning courses in computing, art and design, sciences and business and more are available at Coursera, with video lectures, and teachers and other students to speak to. others courses are free, others you will have to pay for, but they will give you certifications.