And so, as promised, my favorite five apps for the iPad. As I noted in my last article, my iPad and I have become best friends over the past three months. I use it for everything from email to appointments to surfing. One of my favorite daily stops is the App Store, where I am perpetually on the lookout for the useful, intriguing, and fun. I’m no techie, and I’m not apt to try everything out there, but my tastes tend toward the eclectic.
Of course, everyone seems to be developing new iPad apps to take advantage of the flexibility and power of this new platform. Print magazines and newspapers (Time, The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, to name but three), game designers, and business software mavens are churning out new apps every week. Recently I learned that House, M.D. producers used iPad to
distribute scripts to the cast and crew of the hit television show via an app made specifically for film and television production.
I’ve tried a few apps just for fun; some I’ve thought might really help me with my work, my organization, my writing. I plan on sharing new apps I try as the weeks go on—and as I try them out myself. But for today, here are five apps I’ve found myself using (or playing with) pretty much every day—beyond the basics of calendar, surfing, and email.
Flickr for iPad: For years, I’ve been uploading photos to Photobucket. Over that time, the upload interface has become simpler and more user friendly and I’ve not had much to complain about. But recently I discovered that my MacBook Pro connects directly to another photo service called Flickr through the Mac’s resident photo handling software iPhoto. I had the chance to test that out not long ago and I really liked it. It made uploading and organizing of nearly 400 photographs easy and seamless. Cool, but this isn’t an article about Mac applications, but about iPad.
Imagine my delight when I noticed a free Flickr app in the iPad app store. Of course I downloaded it and assumed I’d be porting my photographs over from my Mac somehow and I’d figure that out later. The app asked for my Flickr sign in, and as soon as I signed in, lo and behold, there were my photos. Right there. A photostrip preview runs across the top of the screen, but otherwise the photographs take up much of the iPad's generous screen. Touch one of the previews to view the photo in all its glory. Sharing photos is just as easy. Flickr for iPad is a great app and I highly recommend it. It is easily the easiest photo viewing I’ve ever experienced.
Article comments
1 - Mindy
Thanks for your picks! Now I'm going to need to download the NYT Crossword app. The hidden objects game looks neat too.
My faves are:
Words With Friends-a wonderful Scrabble-like game you can play with a friend or someone out there looking for a challenge.
10 Pin Shuffle-Fabulous bowling/shuffleboard app.
Distant Shore-A new twist on the Message In the Bottle game
My Kingdom For the Princess-An addictive strategy RPG.
Pinball HD-Yep, if you love pinball, you'll love this realistic rendering of the classic game. Three richly detailed tables will keep you busy for a long time.
I'm also a fan of Frypaper-Stephen Fry's app. He posts articles when the mood strikes him, and they're always interesting, educational and lo-onng.
I could keep this list going for awhile but I'll stop here. Thanks for the chance to offer my picks. I'm sure you'll get many more.
2 - Hans Meinz
Great article, the typewriter is one of my favorites too, nice app to show off to people.
Here are my favorites:
Terminal Maps HD - Displays airport maps and also amenities, so you can find your way around the airport or find your favorite restaurant when traveling.
Angry Birds HD a fun game that you can get lost in.
Air Video - Stream your movies from your desktop/laptop computer onto your iPad instantly with no wires.
Terminal Maps is my favorite, because I travel so much, but these are must have apps for me.
3 - barbara barnett
Mindy and Hans,
thanks for sharing your favorites. More for me to try out. Are you 3G or WiFi?
4 - Christian
i got to try the typewriter.
my personal favorite is Bento app. It's the port of the personal database software called by the same for the MAC.
I use it for business, time management, schedules etc...
but I can also use it for organizing just about anything I can think of: softwares with their serials, my a/v collection, recipes, and fitness goals.
5 - barbara barmett
I will have to try Bento. I"ve been tempted to buy it for my MacBook Pro (i7 core), but I've not done it yet.
6 - Sarah Leach
I love the new iPad App Eye Know Everything. It was only released a couple days ago, but is great to play alone or with a group of people! Really fun and entertaining.