The iPad often catches a bad rap for being nothing more than a consumption device. This may be true for some but I think it takes finding and using the right applications to really show off the power of the iPad. Not only is the iPad convenient because of its light weight and small size, it has tremendous battery life that you are not going to find with a laptop or netbook. I have put together a list of iPad applications that I use on a daily basis. Most of them are paid applications, I am not sure if there are any free applications that will substitute for these apps, all I know is these are 10 must have iPad applications!
- iA Writer
- GoodReader
- Markdown Note
- Downcast
- Reeder
- Dropbox
- Evernote
- iWorks (Keynote, Numbers, Pages)**
- Procreate
- Splashtop
[box]Technically there are 12 apps, I have included iWork's as 1 application. They are sold individually but are essential to your blogging needs. Well, at least Numbers is, never know when you need to mock-up a chart or graph. I will explain why I think each is important. [/box]
iA Writer – This is what I am using to write this thread, I feel this is hands down the best app for writing on the iPad. It is clean and works well, you can use iCloud and Dropbox to get your content out to where you want to share it.
iA Writer - Information Architects, Inc.GoodReader – I would say this is probably the best overall app that you could buy for an iPad, this should be the first app you buy or download. Just like a PS3, it only does everything! It has FTP access, you can download files, transfer files, edit .pdf’s and so much more. It offers easy access to Google Docs or your web server, you can also upload documents to iCloud or Dropbox as well as a few other cloud services.
GoodReader for iPhone - Good.iWare Ltd.Markdown Note – This app is just what is sounds like, it is Markdown text language. If you need to format your content then this is the app I recommend that check out. It is easy to use and it works great if you want to work between your iPad and your Mac as Markdown Note also has an OS X application.
MarkdownNote - CodingRobotsDowncast – This is a Podcast viewer and manager. I know what you are thinking? "What does this have to do with blogging?" Well, you can gather great thoughts or listen to your favorite podcast while you are working, it will stream in the background, you can subscribe and also download a podcast for listening when you are offline.
Downcast - Jamawkinaw EnterprisesReeder – Much like Downcast this is an app for gathering great ideas. Reeder is a Google Reader application and it allows you to import your RSS feeds from Google Reader into this application. There are other apps that are free like Flipboard or Pulse that are similar and are free. I prefer Reeder though as I can pick which source and which story I want to read. Plus the layout is clean and it syncs and updates perfectly from Google Reader.
Reeder for iPad - Silvio RizziDropbox – I am sure everyone with an iPad already has downloaded the Dropbox application. This is cloud storage at it finest. Easily share documents, music, pictures, etc., between your iPhone, iPod, iPad or your Mac. The application is free and once you set up your account Dropbox will give you XXX amount of free storage. You can also pay for extra storage if you need it.
Dropbox - DropboxEvernote – Like Dropbox, Evernote syncs perfectly with all your iOS devices and your Mac. Evernote is great for webclips or audio notes. I may have an idea pop in my head when I am out and about, I grab my iPhone, do a quick voice note, put my spoken words into written words later when I get home. Evernote is more than that, though. It is a robust and feature packed application which lets you take pictures, videos, and create quick typed notes to go along with voice notes.
Evernote - EvernoteiWorks – Numbers, Pages and Keynote are Apple’s version of Microsoft office. Numbers is probably my most used app of the 3. You can easily create spreadsheets or charts, write formulas and organize data. Keynote is great for presentations, if you want to add a slide show to your blog this is your app. Pages would probably be my least used app, at least in terms of needing it for my website/blog. Pages is perfect for resumes or reports, you can also create brochures and flyers. I guess if you have a professional blog then adding a resume would be a good idea, this is the app you would want then. All 3 of these sync perfectly with iCloud and you can easily share them to your Mac. In other words, build that spreadsheet on your iPad, fire up your Mac, open Numbers and your spreadsheet is already there via iCloud sync.
Pages - Apple /
Keynote - Apple /
Numbers - AppleProcreate – This is like a mini Photoshop (which is also a great free app), I am talking about the desktop version of Photoshop though. If you want to add pictures to your blog or webpage, this app is great for editing pics you may have or cropping out things you may not want to show on your webpage. An example, I do a lot of posts about the iPad and I take screenshots on my iPad to use as examples. Sometimes my personal email is showing, so I fire up Procreate and black out my email address. There are many other uses but that is something that I use Procreate for almost daily.
procreate - Savage Interactive Pty LtdSplashtop – This is not really a blogging tool, but it can be a very handy app if you are blogging away from home. Splashtop is a Remote Desktop app and will allow you to connect to your Mac when you are away from home. This can be useful if you are writing about something and you would like include a document with your post, but your document is at home on your Mac. Fire up Splashtop, connect to your Mac, locate your file, add it to your Dropbox folder and it is now on your iPad in a matter of seconds!
Splashtop Remote Desktop for iPad - Splashtop Inc.The one type of application I have left off of here was an actual blogging application, and I did this for a reason. Most of the blogging apps are for iPhone only, from what I can tell only the
WordPress application is native to the iPad. Some of the others: Blogger, Tumblr, Google+ and Posterous were all iPhone only at the time I wrote this, that may change in the future. This blog is powered by Wordpress even though it is hosted on my own server, so I use the Wordpress application.
Normally what I do is create my content and save and share it using Dropbox, open it up in the next application, then copy and paste to Wordpress app. Most of the time I will leave my post in "draft" status until I am at my iMac then I will proofread it and publish it. I could publish from the iPad and it would work the same but I like to check my images and links when I get home on my iMac.
*UPDATED*
I originally wrote this post about 8 months ago on my personal blog. I figured this would be a good place to share it as well as update it with a few more apps that I am using on a day to day basis to blog or write on my iPad. You will notice how I ended this original post saying that I could not find a decent blogging app for the iPad, well that has changed and I found and love Blogsy for the iPad, I even had the Blogsy devs on my weekly podcast to talk about Blogsy.
My updated apps:
Blogsy - Fomola - This is now my go to blogging app on my iPad. It does everything I need it to do and then some. It even allows me to push to both my blogs as well as my Tumblr site.
iPhoto - Apple - iPhoto was not out when I originally wrote this post, with iPhoto now I can share entire albums/journals and paste links to share my photos with the world as well as make a few edits to images I may want to include in my post on the fly. Great app, universal and very affordable at $4.99.
SoundCloud - SoundCloud Ltd. - This is another app that was not available when I originally wrote this post or if it was I did not know about it, with SoundCloud now I can share audio in my post and grab the links right from the app, or if you use Tumblr you can post it right in the application. Best of all, this app is free.
