Most readers of Write Thinking already know that I’m a MacHead. I drank the Kool-Aid over five years ago and never looked back. LOL!
Despite my passion for all things Apple, I held off on the first generation of the iPad. For a while, I thought my iPhone and Kindle gave me everything I needed. But further research convinced me that the iPad could serve me really well, especially when I travel, allowing me to leave the laptop at home if I choose. Less weight when traveling is always a big thing for me.
So I was in line at the Apple Store in the Boise mall for the launch of iPad 2. Now that I’ve had eight weeks to use it, I thought I would share some of my favorite apps. Because it really is all about the apps if you want to love your iPad and not just enjoy it or like it.
This list of favorite apps is in no particular order (some are free, some cost a little, some take a subscription):
- My favorite Bible app is from Logos. That’s because I own Logos Bible software on my Mac, and this app syncs with the program on my computer. So when I mark off my through-the-Bible reading on my iPhone or iPad, it syncs that information with my computer. I’m able to download different versions of the Bible to have with me on my iPad wherever I go, meaning no Internet connection required, and I can download many other books from my library as well.
- I have a bunch of different magazine apps that would require me to buy an issue for about $4 each (i.e. O, Shape, Martha Steward Living), but I have yet to purchase any editions. But the free apps are there, should I decide I want to buy a copy. However, as a print subscriber to People Magazine, I get a free digital copy each week. I LOVE reading my People on the iPad. The colors pop, and there are sometimes bonus features like videos and quick internet links.
- Yes, I own Angry Birds HD, but I much prefer word games. The one I open the most is Whirly Word. I love trying to find every possible word from the six letters provided. I’m a firm believer that this type of word game keeps our minds sharper as we grow older. Gotta keep exercising the old thinker.
- I love Apple’s Pages on my iPad. That’s because I use Pages for my preferred word processing program on my Mac. (I try to open Word as seldom as possible, although there is a point in the editing process when I must use Word because of the coding the publisher puts into the copy edited manuscript.) Anyway, I can put my WIP onto my iPad and work on it when I leave the laptop behind.
- Streaming movies from Netflix is great on the iPad. Of course, it requires a WiFi connection and a Netflix subscription.
- My favorite news app is The Daily, a newspaper made just for the iPad. This is my best way to keep up on world events. You have to download the paper daily, and if there is something you want to save to read later, you have to mark it or email a link to yourself because it disappears off your device when the next issue comes out. But no recycling!!!
- Reeder is my preferred RSS feed reader on my iPad. I subscribe via Google Reader to quite a number of blogs. Now rather than opening Google Reader on my Mac, I open Reeder on my iPad and go through the posts rather quickly, and I can star/mark my favorite posts that I think I’ll want to look at again later.
- I use both GoodReader and iBooks to read PDF documents. Each have pluses on their side. GoodReader allows me to make annotations on a manuscript or other document I’m reading. Very useful. iBooks gives a lovely reading experience.
- And naturally, as a book lover with over 450 books on her Kindle, I adore the Kindle app on my iPad. It syncs with my Kindle so I can pick up reading where I left off on the other device.
- I have used Tripit.com for my travel plans for several years. Having the Tripit app on my iPad (and my iPhone) keeps all of that information at my fingertips.
