What can I do with my iPad?

28 December 2010 · Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

’Tis the season. A friend of mine was gifted an iPad for Christmas. After “32 hours of playing Scrabble,” she asked me what else she can do with it. This is the list I sent her.

Now, I don’t own an iPad myself. However, I do own an iPhone and I build iPhone apps for a living, so you could be forgiven for assuming that makes me an authority on the best on offer in the App Store.

Truth be told, when faced with the task of making recommendations, I had a few ideas, but many of the apps listed below are ones I dug up in the course of a little research. I’d be curious to hear what apps you can’t live without.

• TED – This app is the primary reason I would consider buying an iPad. If you love TED talks, there is no better way to consume them.
• NPR – Great content, great format.
• Kindle – The best books app.
• Flipboard – I haven’t used it myself, but this innovative news consumption app caused quite a stir when it was first released.
• Instapaper – I love, love, love Instapaper. When I see an interesting article on the web and don’t have time to read it right then, a click of a bookmarklet and, bam, it’s saved for later.
• Pandora – Music discovery engine par excellence.
• Epicurious – More recipes than you can hope to follow in a lifetime, organized along numerous facets.
• Kayak – Kayak.com is my first stop when planning a trip. The iPad app looks nicely done.
• Google Earth – You could argue that some of the novelty has worn off, but Google Earth is still great fun for exploring far off lands or checking in on the street where you grew up.
• Point Inside – Maps of malls isn’t really my thing, but I can see how it would be handy.
• Bento – Life organizer. I could use a little of this.
• Evernote – I’m a recent convert to Evernote. I use it as my outboard brain.
• Dropbox – I love Dropbox. It’s the simplest way I’ve seen to share files across multiple computers.
• Wikihood – History and photos of where you live. This is a great fit in a place like San Francisco. I’m not sure how useful it would be in places with less coverage.
• Howcast – How-to videos on every imaginable topic.
• Sketchbook Pro – Real artists ship. And use Sketchbook Pro.
• Sally’s Spa – Every female I’ve seen pick up Sally’s Spa has been immediately engrossed. I don’t make the news. I just report it.
• Angry Birds – This game is #1 on the paid apps ranking for a reason.
• Flight Control – An iPhone classic, this beautifully crafted game is even better on the “big” screen.
• Tap Tap Radiation – OK, this one’s here mainly because my company built it. Still, we must be doing something right considering the success of Tap Tap Revenge!