Happy New Year! It is the time of year where I often like to take stock of my personal and business life. I want to ensure that I am going in the right direction, changing things up, and hopefully, doing a few things better. I also like to challenge the way I have done things in the past and begin incorporating new ways to work smarter, get more information, and enjoy my downtime. So, it is with my good wishes (and a bit of bias) that I offer up my list of those apps that are indispensable and you should start using, if you aren’t already, on your iPad.
One quick caveat….I am an Apple guy and, in fact, am writing this on my iPad. So these suggestions are for iPad users. Many of these apps are also available for Android tablets, iPhones, etc., but this list will be focused in the Apple apps for the iPad.
1. Spring pad (Free)
What it does: Creates a single point of contact for all the information you want to remember including bookmarked pages, movie recommendations, products you want to purchase, and tasks you want to complete.
Why it’s great: First, it organizes information into a searchable database where you can easily locate it. Second, it enhances the information with prices, pictures, reviews, etc. Finally, it syncs everywhere from your browsers tool bar, to your iPhone, and to your iPad. It’s literally like your second brain…only with better memory than your firstJ
Worth noting: I love all the apps mentioned in this blog, but this is, hands down, my favorite. You must try it out!
2. Flipboard (Free)
What it does: Creates a customized magazine of news on the topics you think are important such as business, technology, green, etc. and turns your social media feeds like Twitter and Facebook into a vibrant magazine.
Why it’s great: Flipboard is a truly innovative interface that turns news from the web into “pages” that you can “flip” through. But, the feature that I love is how each Twitter feed of only 140 characters is transformed into a full featured article complete with pictures, video, and full text.
Worth noting: OK…I didn’t get it for this reason, but it was named Apple’s iPad App of the Year, so that must mean something.
3. Friendly Plus (99 cents)
What it does: It’s Facebook for the iPad
Why it’s great: If only Facebook could figure out how to create an interface that is so logical and intuitive. I guess it took a third party to figure that out.
Worth noting: Can’t understand why Facebook hasn’t come out with its own iPad app. In the mean time, I am not waiting and certainly am not missing it.
4. Wall Street Journal (Free- but requires online WSJ subscription)
What it does: Provides the full daily issue of the newspaper in an intuitive digital interface.
Why it’s great: When a publication is designed from the bottom up to work on the iPad, it shows. It is quicker to get through the digital version that the traditional paper. I love the ability to easily forward articles to people and file articles in categories, so I can refer to them later. Finally, the integration of video is excellent. Many times I will listen to the video instead of reading the article.
Worth noting: Since downloading this application, I no longer look at my print version. It is everything that the iPad hopes to achieve in delivering a better experience than the traditional medium.
5. Netflix (Free-but requires a subscription to Netflix)
What it does: Streams movies and videos from the massive Netflix library
Why it’s great: As long as you have a Wi-Fi connection it is easy to catch up on all of the movies and TV shows Netflix has available to view. I am blown away by the quality of the videos. While dependant on the Wi-Fi connection, the images are generally un-pixilated and clear. If you need to stop viewing, you can always resume where you left off…of course!
Worth noting: Netflix has become the source for every device/service looking to provide video on demand on the web. After using this app, I am convinced this is the future and the cable companies should be scared.
Hope you enjoy the list…stay tuned for part 2 next week!
Practical Digital Marketing 
In business app, I’d like to recommend a great one which integrated an interesting concept; saving time from your notes. This app, Beesy, generates automatically a ToDo list from a smart note taking. Also, the advantage is you can esasily send your minutes by email. I love testing new business/ productivity apps such as Evernote, Penutilmate, Omnifocus, Awesome but it’s the first time I see an app so well done. I recommend Beesy for people which often have meetings.
Great post 🙂
Justin