Best iPad Apps

http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/best-ipad-apps

Best iPad Apps

On this page, you will find the best 102 iPad apps for all your needs. We’ve taken the effort to categorize the apps and picked only those we believe to be the best ones and which will most likely be useful to you.
Use these quick links to jump to each section:
Movies | Audio | Browsers & Internet | Drawing | Photography | Finance | News & Reading | Educational | Productivity | Remote Control & Remote Access | Social | Travel | Health | Games | Other

Movies

4oD Catch Up

Catch up on all the latest from Channel 4 (UK only).
Download

Netflix

Definitive US-only streaming movie rentals.
Download

TED

Truly inspiration talks with the power to change the world.
Download

Sky News

Innovative way to stream the latest news reports. (UK-only)
Download

AVPlayerHD

Plays any format movie you can throw at it.
Download $2.99

IMDb Movies & TV

Movie info at your fingertips.
Download

BBC iPlayer

Free HD catch-up streaming from BBC (UK only).
Download

ABC Player

Catch-up for the US channel ABC (US-only).
Download

Air Video - Watch your videos anywhere!

Stream movies stored on your PC or Mac in any format.
Download $2.99

Plex

iOS client for the PC and Mac Plex Media Server.
Download $4.99

Showyou

Innovative video browser with tons of free content, pulls from various channels and social sources.
Download

HBO GO

Stream HBO content if you're alreadya subscriber. (US-only).
Download

Audio

GarageBand

Apple's own superb music making software, now on iPad with full suite of interactive and intuitive instruments.
Download $4.99

Pandora Radio

Streaming radio as it was meant to be done (US-only).
Download

SoundHound ∞

Live music identification through the microphone, and lyrics for you to sing along!
Download $6.99

Loopseque Lite

Easy, free, and simple sequencer that makes music accessible.
Download

Browsers and Internet

StumbleUpon!

The ultimate time waster for browsing random websites.
Download

eBay for iPad

A great way to view this popular auction site, with clear visuals and notifications of auctions ending soon.
Download

AppShopper

Keep up to date with new free apps and price drops / app sales with this useful app.
Download

Opera Mini Web browser

An alternative web browser that compresses pages for faster browsing.
Download

Instapaper

Save website pages to read offline anytime.
Download $4.99

Drawing

Adobe Ideas

Gorgeous vector-based auto-smoothing drawing tool from the makers of Photoshop.
Download $5.99

Draw for iPad

Fabulously simple and feels just like a drawing pad with pencils, perfect for kids.
Download

SketchBook Pro for iPad

The ultimate drawing app for professional artists, with a wide variety of brushes. Results can be stunning.
Download $4.99

SketchBook MobileX

Free version, still feature packed.
Download

Photography

Adobe Photoshop Express

Photoshop on the iPad does exactly what you'd expect it to. Fully featured photo editing!
Download

The Guardian Eyewitness

A stunning new image everyday that showcases photography talent and events the world over. A visual smorgasbord.
Download

Photobucket for iPad

Great way to browse and upload to the Photobucket service, focusing on the photos as it should.
Download

FlickStackr for Flickr

Simply the best way to browse Flickr on your iPad, period.
Download $1.99

Finance

BudgetBook

A beautiful way to simply and easily track your finances.
Download $2.99

XE Currency for iPad

Currency conversion, stats and graphs for anyone into playing the exchange rates.
Download

News / Reading

BBC News

The only news worth reading, globally.
Download

Reeder for iPad

Hands-down best Google feed-reader on the iPad, so simple yet feature packed.
Download $4.99

MobileRSS HD FREE ~ Google RSS News Reader

A free alternative to Reeder worth considering.
Download

Flipboard

A personalized experience that grabs news from feeds and social connections, and displays it beautifully.
Download

Zite Personalized Magazine

Another personalized news reader that learns your preferences the more you use it.
Download

Taptu

Similar to FlipBoard in style, but highly customizable news streams.
Download

Comics

Comic store and reader, but the interface is a little slow
Download

Stanza

Most reliable multi-format eBook reader on the iPad yet.
Download

Kindle

A must-have for Kindle owners, but otherwise lacklustre.
Download

Pulse News for iPad

A visual artboard style RSS reader.
Download

iBooks

An essential for all iPad owners. Store your MakeUseOf PDF guides in this app easily!
Download

The Daily

The first designed-for-iPad daily newspaper. Free for 2 weeks!
Download

Educational / Reference

Qwiki

Like a sci-fi movie - search for anything, and it will read a description to you, including images if it finds some. Wikipedia on steroids.
Download

Productivity

Evernote

The de-facto standard for note-taking and organisation. Hundreds of amazing features too numerous to list.
Download

Wunderlist

A simple, free to-do list app that syncs with the desktop and web.
Download

PlainText - Dropbox text editing

Pure plain text editor that does what it says on the can. Also, can edit directly from your Dropbox.
Download

Pages

Apple's own feature rich word processing and desktop publishing app.
Download $9.99

Dropbox

Easy and secure access to your Dropbox, on your iPad.
Download

Dragon Dictation

Top quality speech recognition from the industry leaders, at a price you cannot beat.
Download

Nebulous Notes (for Dropbox)

Simple text writer that edits straight from your Dropbox.
Download $3.99

Remote Control / Remote Access

Air Display

Turn your iPad into a secondary display for your PC - amazing!
Download $9.99

Connect My Mac

Simple remote control of your Mac, free.
Download

Parallels Mobile

Free for registered desktop users, this lets you access your virtual machines anywhere.
Download $4.99

TeamViewer HD

The choice of technical support professionals everywhere due to ease of use on both ends of the connection.
Download

Splashtop Remote Desktop for iPad

Performance so good you can stream graphically intense games from your PC, no problem.
Download $1.99

Mocha VNC Lite

Free, cross-platform standard client for open-source VNC-based connections. Reliable, but slow.
Download

Social

IM+

Messaging app for basically every platform around. Essential!
Download

Twitter

The official Twitter client for the iPad does it best.
Download

Skype for iPad

Take advantage of that Facetime camera with free video chat over Wifi and 3G
Download

Vtok - Google talk (Gtalk) video calls, text chat + Google Voice phone and SMS

Another free video caller, the one works with GTalk.
Download

MyPad - for Facebook & Twitter

The best combined Facebook and Twitter client, with both games and chat chat too.
Download

FriendCaster for Facebook

Innovative friend-stream mode gives you live updates in a photoframe style.
Download

Gorgeous location sharing app with nice clear maps of check-ins.
Download

AIM for iPad

The swiss-army of social apps: chat on multiple networks, checkin with FourSquare, and status updates all over. Phew!
Download

GetGlue for iPad

Social check-in for movies, tv and books. Collect badges and discover new content.
Download

Travel

KAYAK HD - Flight Hotel Search Flight Status Tracker Vacation Explore Cheap Travel Deal Finder

Searching for hotels and flights has never been easier.
Download

FlightTrack Pro – Live Flight Status Tracker by Mobiata

Fly a lot? Use this to track your flights and keep informed with helpful notifications.
Download $9.99

Google Search

For iPad 2, Google Googles can help you identify places and buildings.
Download

Google Earth

Zoom to your current location and see what's around, with user photos.
Download

Ask a Nomad

Get advice from locals and travellers about any part of the world.
Download

London Cycle Deluxe

Map of London's cycle hire scheme with stations and live updates. UK-only.
Download

Yell

Comprehensive local directory from Yellow Pages, UK-only.
Download

Urbanspoon for iPad

Find somewhere great to eat with this no-nonsense app.
Download

Thrillist for iPad

Hand-picked restaurant and bar reviews for London and various US cities. Innovative carousel interface.
Download

Health

WebMD for iPad

Complete medical reference on your iPad, for free.
Download

Diet & Fitness Tracker by SparkPeople for iPad

Fantastically visual version of the popular health tracking website.
Download

iPeriod Free for iPad (Period Calendar)

Period and fertility tracker with community site access.
Download

Pampers Hello Baby Pregnancy Calendar

Track your baby's development from week 4 to 40.
Download

Fitness Free HD

Details 700 exercises to target those troublesome areas exactly.
Download

Games

Flight Control HD

An addictive game that sees you landing aircraft in an ever increasingly packed airspace.
Download $4.99

Harbor Master HD

Similar to Flight Control, but free, and with boats.
Download

Hunters: Episode One HD

Top-down turn-based action/RPG. If you liked X-Com, you'll love this.
Download $4.99

Pocket Legends (3D MMO)

Free to play massively multiplayer online RPG for when you fancy a break from World of Warcraft.
Download

Fruit Ninja HD Lite

Slicing fruit has never been more satisfying. Multiplayer too!
Download

Angry Birds Rio HD Free

Catapult birds at the pigs and try to topple their house. What doesn't sound fantastic about this game?
Download

Air Hockey Gold

The reason touch interfaces were made! To play Air Hockey!
Download

Aurora Feint 3

Symbol matching frantic puzzle game, and you can't argue with the price.
Download

Plants vs. Zombies HD

Be prepared to lose a week to this game - it's that good.
Download $6.99

Peggle

This game sees you release a flurry of metal balls to hit all the pegs. Supremely satisfying.
Download $2.99

Geometry Wars™: Touch

The hit console game feels just as great on the iPad
Download $0.99

Labyrinth 2 HD Lite

Tilt and rotate your way out of the maze. Great for kids and adults alike, and free.
Download

iStunt 2 HD - Insane Hills

Snowboarding platformer, free.
Download

Frisbee® Forever

Frisbees on the iPad? You bet!
Download

Cut the Rope Lite

Cut the rope to deliver candy to the little monster. Not as easy as it sounds!
Download

Words With Friends

Multiplayer/social scrabble, basically
Download $0.99

Atari's Greatest Hits

Retro gaming at it's best. In-app purchases.
Download

World of Goo HD

Iconic game of structure building with goo. Better than it sounds.
Download $4.99

SNOOD for iPad

Casual puzzle game, rated very highly. Similar to puzzle bobble.
Download $4.99

Other

AccuWeather Free for iPad

Gorgeous weather app, free - enough said.
Download

Auto Trader

A great way to find your next motor - UK only.
Download

LivingSocial

Daily deals, with an average rating 4.5 stars it's a must-have for many.
Download

Disclaimer: All iPad applications listed here were thoroughly reviewed. MakeUseOf is not responsible for any damage and/or data loss
that might result from use of any of the above mentioned applications.