Category: Gadgets

My Top 5 iPad Apps

John

I was talking with a friend about my iPad use the other day and in the course of the conversation I came up with a list of the apps I use most on the iPad. (this list is not ranked)

iPadTop5

1) OneNote

I use OneNote on every computer and device I own. the iPad app is somewhat limited, but overall OneNote is the best digital notebook available in my opinion.

2) GoodReader

GoodReader seems to be without peer in the mobile and tablet world. It is the best PDF reader I’ve found, with amazing annotation functions, page spreads, left-to-right page scroll, and more. It also opens MS Word docs (read-only), images, and zip archives.

3) Bible

I use two Bible apps fairly heavily, the YouVersion and Olive Tree apps. Both offer many downloadable versions. YouVersion has more free versions available offline and has a cleaner interface, but Olive Tree has better search and left-to-right page scrolling. I think I use YouVersion a bit more than Olive Tree.

4) Flipboard

Flipboard is an amazing news reading app. it’s hard to explain, but it is something like a customizable digital magazine. Flipboard curates some streams based on subject or you can add any RSS feed, Twitter stream, or Google+ …um.. stream (or whatever it’s called).

5) iBooks

I dump EPUB books into iBooks which is a decent ereader.

Honorable Mentions

I didn’t include any of the built in apps, but I use the Safari browser and the Mail app a lot.

Dropping iCloud

John

I decided this week to drop iCloud, so I needed to find new solutions for syncing Contacts, Calendars, Tasks/Reminders, and Notes across my devices.

I’ve ended up with the following:

Contacts

I moved my Contacts to my main Google account and I sync them with Outlook on my laptop via GO Contact Sync Mod, with my HTC phone via the built in Android People App, and with my iPhone and iPad via Exchange ActiveSync (instructions).

Calendar

I moved my calendar to Google Calendar. I sync GCal with Outlook on my laptop via Google Calendar Sync, with my HTC phone via the built in Android Calendar App, with my iPhone and iPad via Exchange ActiveSync (instructions).

Tasks/Reminders

For my tasks I’ve moved to Wunderlist (link). It’s very simple (which means slightly limited), but free and available on Mac, Window, iOS, Android, and online. There’s no ability to create recurring tasks currently, but if I have a recurring task I make a recurring event on my calendar anyway.

Notes

I’m a Microsoft Office user and I love the flexibility of OneNote. I started using the mobile OneNote apps a while back and it has become my go-to notes app everywhere. OneNote ships with all Microsoft Office 2010 suites and there’s a free WebApp at SkyDrive.com. Android and iOS (iPhone, iPad) versions are available free. (Notes: 1). The first couple versions of OneNote for iOS were horrible, but the current one is quite usable. 2). The mobile apps are free unless you want to sync more than 500 notes).

Gadget Expiriment, Update 0

John

Here’s a quick update on life without a laptop:

I miss my ThinkPad. Sure, I like my iPad a lot and it’s an amazing piece of tech, but it is much more of a consumption device than a creation device. Yes, I know you create content with it (I’m typing a blog post on it now), but it’s sort of like using a large wrench to drive in a nail. You can probably get the job done, but it would be a nicer experience all around if you had a hammer.

I do have an app recommendation. Gusto is an HTML Editor with syntax highlighting, FTP/SFTP support, and more. It’s been reliable and easy to use for me and if you do work in HTML I suggest you take a look at it.

$9.99
iTunes link here.