iPad App Recommendations

[Rico]

Keep the suggestions coming.  Making this topic stick.

[Jobydrone]

I'll just list the ones I currently have installed, that I use regularly.  I'm not a big app guy, mostly because my iPad is used exclusively for movies, books, comics, and web surfing.  None of those things (except for comics which I already said I use Cloudreaders for) require any apps.

Most if not all of these are free. 

USA Today - digital version of their newspaper

Slacker Radio - internet radio stations

Radio.com - more internet radio, includes some local stations, used to be called CBS radio

CNN - great news site, obviously

Netflix - this was probably the first app you downloaded if you subscribe

ABC Player - free access to a limited number of current ABC shows with some commercials

Crackle - free app with a selection of Sony produced movies and TV shows with commercial breaks inserted in

iBooks - IMO the best book reader for the iPad is the one that comes with your iPad

Cloudreaders - I've talked about this in other threads, the best free comic reader

HBO Go - if you subscribe to HBO, shows a TON of content.  Huge number of on demand movies, all their original series, extras, shorts for on demand viewing through wifi or 3G.  Has the ability to subscribe to complete seasons of shows and it reminds you when they become available for viewing.  Awesome app.

Xfinity TV - For Comcast subscribers, makes all the premium content available to stream instantly on your iPad.  Some bugs but generally works well.

Yelp - I rarely use it, especially wary of the social networking aspects of this app, but I've gotten some good local resturaunt recommendations.  Contains reviews and recommendations of businesses all over the world.

Epicurious - Great, free, huge database of recipes available.  Ingredient lists and recipe instructions integrate with notes, MMS, and email to assist with shopping and sharing. 

Skype - You all know what this is.  I have no idea how good it is on iPad 2, havemt really used it much on my iPad since I have it on my iPhone

TED - neat video database of hundreds of speeches on a wide variety of topics.  Many are interesting and educational as well as entertaining.

Night Stand - Adds a basic, functional alarm clock and stopwatch with a variety of skins.  Dunno if iPad 2 has this, but amazingly, the original iPad did not ship with this functionality.

EGM Digital - very cool digital format for their video game magazine.  Content has been updated weekly so far, very neat interactive articles.

I've tried alot of games, but only a few have been keepers.  Infinity Blade, Need For Speed Hot Pursuit, Dead Space, Plants vs. Zombies, Civilization Revolution, Pinball HD get lots of play from me when I'm on the go. 

[KingIsaacLinksr]

There are many alternative browsers, but Safari has worked just fine for me.  Just search for browsers :).

There are very few if any OpenSource programs on iOS because they believe the DRM violates their policy.  (tbh, I think they are being too picky, but whatever). Pages works nicely, i used it to create four very long papers for this term. there are a few alternative programs that Rick P. uses.  Though I can't remember the names off hand.  QuickOffice I think is one oh and Office2HD, though I found that Office2HD is way too simple to use and buggy.

King

[Jobydrone]

I'm really looking forward to the Safari update in ios 5, for the true tabbed page browsing feature.  I absolutely HATE how the pages refresh every time you switch currently.  This will really improve the functionality of mobile web browing with Safari IMO.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

I'm really looking forward to the Safari update in ios 5, for the true tabbed page browsing feature.  I absolutely HATE how the pages refresh every time you switch currently.  This will really improve the functionality of mobile web browing with Safari IMO.

Yeah, that was the only reason I was looking for an alternative browser so now I'm just going to wait.  :)

King

[Rico]

Great suggestions Joby.  I'll check many of them out.

I'm looking for good magazine type content/suggestions too - beside apps.  Things that have tech content, entertainment news, etc.  I'll probably subscribe to that digital version of the "Star Trek" magazine soon too.  I wonder if Entertainment Weekly has a digital version for subscribers?  That would be awesome!

[Jobydrone]

Wired has a digital edition, never tried it tho.

[RickPeete]

Check out the Zinio app.  It is a magazine reader that many magazines use rather than creating their own apps.  Star Trek is one of their many titles.  I use it a lot.

[RickPeete]

I use Perfect Web Browser.  It is an excellent alternative and supports the ability to report as other browsers (important when some sites check the UserAgent to determine compatibility and this can make a site work with the iPad)

[Rico]

You guys know with that Splashtop App running you can access and use your PC's browser too!  :)

[Jobydrone]

I've got to try that one, does it work with Macs?

[Rico]

I've got to try that one, does it work with Macs?

Well, of course it does.

http://www.splashtop.com/remote/download

[billybob476]

Just started using Instacast on my iPhone. It's basically a way to manage all your podcasts without having to sync via iTunes. It also doesn't suffer from iTunes' caching issues. If you make a change to your feed, it's visible right away.

It allows you to download episodes, stream episodes, has options to only download shows automatically when it's in wifi, etc. I think this is going to be my new way to consume podcasts.

[QuadShot]

SplashTop for the Mac = COOL!!!

[Dangelus]

Just started using Instacast on my iPhone. It's basically a way to manage all your podcasts without having to sync via iTunes. It also doesn't suffer from iTunes' caching issues. If you make a change to your feed, it's visible right away.

It allows you to download episodes, stream episodes, has options to only download shows automatically when it's in wifi, etc. I think this is going to be my new way to consume podcasts.

+1

I've been using this for quite a while now. Its a great app. My podcasts are always there when I want them, you'll never use iTunes to sync podcasts ever again!