Yet another iPad app recommendation filter
December 6, 2010 6:12 AM   Subscribe

Just bought an iPad! What are some good iPad apps for a diligent student, such as myself?

I recently purchased an iPad about two weeks ago and I love it! I have been using it for pretty much everything. I want to get some good quality apps to help me with schoolwork, studying, notes, organization, the works! I currently keep everything in Dropbox, but sometimes it can be so limited. I have checked around on Google, but I want to see what the brilliant Hive Mind is using. Thanks!
posted by Junior687 to Computers & Internet (25 answers total) 36 users marked this as a favorite
 
Goodreader is a fantastic app for dealing with PDFs
posted by exogenous at 6:17 AM on December 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


Angry Birds, without a doubt.
When it comes to procrastination, you want the very best.
posted by 8dot3 at 6:17 AM on December 6, 2010 [6 favorites]


I love the WolframAlpha app. It basically just front-ends the website, but it's fun as hell to use and very nice to look at. Seconding Goodreader, too.
posted by jquinby at 6:24 AM on December 6, 2010


Oooh.

AppShopper (Free, Universal) - This app tracks price changes on the App Store and lets you set up alerts when something on your wishlist drops in price. Great for old yankees and students alike who don't mind waiting for inevitable price drops.

SimpleNote (Free, Universal) - A simple note taking app that synchronizes over a cloud to your Mac, PC, or other devices. Just simple and clean. Great for jotting down quick notes and them being available where ever you might need them.

Papers (14.99, Universal) - A research-oriented app that allows you to set up a Proxy to access your school's databases from anywhere (may require a little fiddling sometimes). Otherwise it lets you access and search all accessible databases, view, download, organize and annotate any papers you find.

Penultimate (3.99) - The best free-hand note taking tool I have found. Lots of choices of paper and templates. While it is very sensitive and accurate it does lag slightly.

That's what I got in the minutes before work. Good luck and I hope you continue to love your iPad!

P.S For what it's worth, Target.com has $60 iTunes Gift Cards for 20% off.
posted by iheijoushin at 6:35 AM on December 6, 2010 [2 favorites]


2do is pretty amazing. I don't have an iPad, but the iPhone version is SO GOOD. I love having different calendar tabs. One for work, one for home, etc.
posted by ACN09 at 6:39 AM on December 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


What's On TV? is an awesome GPS based TV listings app.
posted by knowles at 6:46 AM on December 6, 2010


Instapaper.
posted by neushoorn at 6:56 AM on December 6, 2010 [4 favorites]


Reeder, Dropbox, and Evernote.
posted by Silvertree at 7:02 AM on December 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


The iPad apps for the NYTimes, WSJ, WashingtonPost, Economist, Slate, and Financial Times.
posted by jchaw at 7:07 AM on December 6, 2010


Also Pulse
posted by jchaw at 7:07 AM on December 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


Plants vs Zombies. Because you will get tired of Angry Birds at some point.

1Password saves my life on a daily basis.

The Kindle and Borders reading apps, so you can get more reading variety than just iBooks.

I have BBC, Newsy and Reuters, for different sources on news stories.

Simplenote on your iPad and Notational Velocity on your computer= perfect note-taking harmony.
posted by misha at 7:08 AM on December 6, 2010 [2 favorites]


I'm a huge fan of Instapaper, the Kindle app, Flipboard, IM+ (the free one), Springpad, TED talks, and Netflix. My favourite twitter app is osfoora HD.

The canadian NFB app has tons of free content, including fascinating documentaries, available for free.

Also, seconding Goodreader (it beats the hell out of ibooks for PDFs and you can access remote shares with it), Dropbox, and Angry Birds. Also, check if your favorite magazine/newspaper has an app.
posted by hylaride at 7:18 AM on December 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


Omnifocus, and something that will work with Anki decks.
posted by mecran01 at 7:18 AM on December 6, 2010


Evernote is a handy and well-designed way to organize info.
posted by aka burlap at 7:26 AM on December 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


River of news for RSS (syncs with google reader), Pulse with a cup of coffee for news in the morning, Simplenotes as mentioned above (though I prefer JustNotes to Notational Velocity for the Mac), the TED app, AirVideo for streaming videos on your laptop to your iPad (esp useful if you have limited storage - it can stream over the Internet too), Wordbook XL for your dictionary needs, and the Remote app for controlling iTunes.
posted by amrangaye at 7:48 AM on December 6, 2010


I use Mental Case on the iPhone for flashcards. You can make your own flashcards, or import from Flashcard Exchange.
posted by backwards guitar at 8:01 AM on December 6, 2010


Audiotorium Notes is a very nicely made note-taking app that also includes audio-recording, and supports Drop-Box functionality.
posted by eas98 at 8:50 AM on December 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


I'll second River of News.
posted by dobbs at 8:58 AM on December 6, 2010


I've been shocked at how good Dragon Dictation has been.

Twitter's official app is really good.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:00 AM on December 6, 2010


I Am T-Pain, if you have ever wanted your singing auto-tuned.
posted by sninctown at 9:25 AM on December 6, 2010


In addition to what's been recommended above, check out the New Yorker app, Informant HD, and Atomic web browser for a better browser than Safari (although Youtube recently broke on it, which is frustrating).
posted by painquale at 9:38 AM on December 6, 2010


Let me nth a few things already listed:

Evernote is super useful for syncing notes, syllabi, etc. on multiple computers.

Goodreader is probably the most useful student-y app I have, as I get a ton of PDFs to read. Instead of printing them all out, I just read it on Goodreader. What's more, you can annotate on the app, making it even more useful. Highly recommended and super cheap.

Reeder is a good RSS reader, but admittedly, it's my procrastination app, not my productivity app.
posted by carpyful at 9:48 AM on December 6, 2010


Docs to Go will work with your dropbox account. Pretty good doc & excel editor.
posted by kestrel251 at 9:50 AM on December 6, 2010


iStudiezPro has a goofy name but is wonderful for keeping on top of your school schedule, homework and assignments, etc. There is another app called InClass which looks to be a good-quality, free app with similar functionality plus a basic note taking feature.

Flashcards Deluxe is a good flashcard app if your studies could be helped by rote memorization work. There are other good flashcard apps out there and I have tried just about all of them, but this one comes out on top because it is highly customizable, frequently updated and its developer is responsive to feature requests.

Seconding ACN09's 2Do suggestion. Lots of features, looks great, and has a more student-friendly price than other well regarded to do apps like OmniFocus, Things, etc.

I look forward to reading other MeFites' suggestions in this thread. I am an iPad education app fiend, but hate wading through dozens of preschooler math games to find the occasional app appropriate for college-level students.
posted by madforplaid at 11:04 AM on December 6, 2010


Simplenote on your iPad and Notational Velocity on your computer= perfect note-taking harmony.

Quoted for truth!!
posted by grapesaresour at 2:16 PM on December 6, 2010


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