As a zealous iPad user I often get asked by iPad newbies what apps they should check out or install. I’ve decided that to make it as easy as possible on me (and them), I will keep a list of some of my favorite apps here. I’ll try to keep it updated as I get experience with a broader universe of apps. You’ll see that the list is rather information consumption heavy, and not so game orientated. I don’t do a lot of gaming on my iPad – although if I had more time I probably would. I’ve tried to identify the apps that are not free at the time of posting.
Al Jazeera for iPad
Amex for iPad
CNN for iPad
Flight Control HD (Not free, but fun game.)
Fox Business for iPad
Good Reader (Not free, but HIGHLY recommended.)
Kcast Gold Live
Khan Academy
NPR for iPad
The Onion Tablet
Paper by FiftyThree (App is free, but to really make it cool you have to buy extra “brushes” which gets a bit expensive.)
Skitch for iPad (Only worthwhile if it’s still free.)
Slate Magazine
The Wall Street Journal
App Shopper
Find My Friends
Google Earth
Echofon Pro for Twitter (Not free, but free version available here.)
Facebook
Jumbo Calculator
Instapaper (Not free but highly recommended if you take the time to learn what it is, how it works, etc. If you won’t learn about it, don’t bother installing it.)
Bloomberg
The Economist
NFB Films for iPad
iBooks
Skype for iPad
Currency
Remote
Dropbox (This is a very, very handy app. If you don’t have a Dropbox account yet, you should get one right away for free. If you use the link http://db.tt/1PvME9u to download and install the app on your home computer you and I will both get a 500MB bonus.)
Soundhound ∞ (Also not free. They have a free version here, but believe me – you’re going to end up paying for it anyway, so you may as well just get the paid one to start with.)
WebMD
TED
Also, if you think you will use them: Pages, Numbers and Keynote, although they are $9.99 each at the moment. I use numbers a lot. The others, much less.
I hope this helps you find some useful apps. If you have a favorite that you’d like me to check out, leave it in the comments and if I find it useful, I’ll add it to the list.