Pros & Cons
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- Sleek design.
- Gorgeous, sharp, accurate touch screen.
- Improved iPod, Safari browser, photo and e-mail apps.
- iBooks look fantastic and titles are easy to purchase and download.
- A plethora of downloadable apps.
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- Lacks Flash support.
- No camera or video recorder.
- No multitasking capability.
- Cover Flow is missing from the iPod app.
- Doesn't ship with a case.
- Earbuds aren't included.Watch our Apple iPad video review
Apple iPad (Wi-Fi only) Specs
| Dimensions: | 9.6 x 7.5 x 0.5 inches |
| Networking Options: | 802.11b |
| Networking Options: | 802.11g |
| Networking Options: | 802.11n |
| Screen Resolution: | 1024 x 768 pixels |
| Screen Size: | 9.7 inches |
| Storage Capacity (as Tested): | 64 GB |
| Weight: | 1.5 lb |
Just blew your entire budget on an iPad, and don't have money for apps? Let us help out with that.
Granted, there's no easy way to, say, install Linux on an iPad. (Yet.) But this thing can play games—real, 3D ones.
In compiling this list of the 20 best free iPad apps, I focused on the ones that aren't just larger versions of iPhone apps, but deliver unique and compelling tablet-based experiences all their own. In other words, they're a lot more than just oversized iPhone apps with more pixels.
I'll leave out iBooks, since it's a given. (Trust me, you want it; it's an eye-opener, and could easily convert you into an e-book fan.) A few other notes: because it's early in the iPad's life cycle, some key apps—notably Facebook and LinkedIn—aren't available yet. I also noticed some stray bugs here and there. Give it a few weeks, and (hopefully) developers will work out the kinks, now that they can actually test their work on a real iPad instead of in an emulator.
With that, here are 20 gloriously free programs available now in Apple's App Store. I'll rank them in order, starting with #20, and then count down to the best free iPad app out there. But really, there isn't a dud in the bunch, so you might as well just grab 'em all—because they're free! Enjoy.
20. Citrix Receiver for iPad
Citrix Systems; www.citrix.com
This one isn't for everyone, but Citrix Receiver lets enterprise users access secure, Windows 7 virtual desktops from the iPad. Apple purists may sneer at the idea, but the app provides an interesting, roundabout way to multitask or even run Flash on the iPad. Citrix Receiver hooks into Microsoft Office, Firefox, Photoshop, GoToMeeeting, and other professional software running on a separate Windows 7 machine. The app offers secure communications, plus a custom, icon-oriented Workspace view, as well as a standard virtual desktop view—complete with a Windows taskbar.
19. Loopt Pulse
Loopt Inc; www.loopt.com
On its own, Loopt Pulse helps you find interesting places and events near any location, including concerts, restaurants, and bars. It hooks into Facebook Connect, letting you share recommendations or learn what places your friends like to frequent. Depending on the location, the database is either comprehensive or spotty. The photo view was less impressive; the screenshots look gorgeous in iTunes, but the actual app used stock photos for many of the nearby New York City events during the review period. Still, having this app could mean the difference between a fun night out, and one on the couch in front of the TV.
18. Reuters News Pro
Thomson Reuters; www.reuters.com
Reuters News Pro delivers the venerable newswire's core product, news and market data, with a broader experience than either NPR's magazine-style app or Bloomberg's finance-heavy app, albeit one that's arguably not as deep as the others. Reuters News Pro also runs a little slow in its current iteration (1.0.3). That said, the app features dozens of customizable categories, a personalized watch list for business news, and geographic-specific news views. Nifty touches include a currency converter and a surprising amount of video coverage.
17. Zinio
Zinio LLC; www.zinio.com
What iBooks and Kindle do for books, Zinio does for magazines—with a few caveats. Again, the iPad's neither-here-nor-there form factor ends up being just right. It's large enough and sharp enough to display accurate content in full color, while being much more portable and prettier than a bookshelf full of dog-eared 'zines. Those caveats: rendering pages should be much faster, and there are limits to the number of issues you can archive or even read in the first place. But plenty of top-quality magazines live here digitally: National Geographic, Spin, Car and Driver, BusinessWeek, The Economist, and PCMag, to name just a few.
16. Harbor Master HD
Imangi Studios LLC; www.imangi.com
Harbor Master, now in high resolution on the iPad, lets you direct boats to docks, watch them (quickly) unload cargo, and then direct them off the screen—hopefully without hitting other boats in the process. This expansive version looks sharper, and offers a better playing experience thanks to the larger board. The game comes with six docks, two cargo types, and a new Treasure Island level. If you liked Flight Control on the iPhone, but don't want to pay $4.99 for the iPad version, this is your game. The pace picks up very quickly, though; better grab some coffee first.
15. WeatherBug Elite for iPad
AWS Convergence Technologies; www.aws.com, www.weatherbug.com
WeatherBug Elite is a supersized information panel for weather geeks. It offers animated radar maps, plus current conditions, real-time cameras, a six-day forecast, and an hourly forecast all on the home screen. Flick the right bar down, and you'll see active weather alerts plus up-to-date video forecasts. Tap any one widget, and it will blow up into a bigger pop-up view on the main screen. The interface could use some fine-tuning. But even so, this weather app blows the stock iPhone widget into the pollen-filled weeds.
14. Wikipanion
Robert Chin; www.wikipanion.net
Wikipanion for iPad distills Wikipedia content into a more iPad-readable fashion. Wikipanion sifts through all of the HTML and metadata, sorting it into a beautiful, content-driven interface. The left side displays the table of contents at all times, and the app always remembers your preferred font-size setting. The search box includes a type-ahead feature for common terms; you can also bookmark favorites. The app even tracks page history by visit date, plays back embedded OGG audio, and saves images to the iPad's photo library. Most folks will be very happy with the free version, but researchers will love the $4.99 Plus upgrade, as it quickly queues up links for later reading, and saves pages for offline perusal.
13. Aurora Feint 3
Aurora Feint Inc, www.aurorafeint.com
Aurora Feint 3 gives iPad owners their first crack at the popular iPhone-based puzzle game. The new version hooks into the same OpenFeint mobile social gaming network as before. The game itself features gorgeous graphics and a beautiful soundtrack. It's billed as a massively multiplayer online game, but it's really a puzzle game at heart, not a World of Warcraft clone. Though the game is free, you can buy packs of four "lives" for 99 cents—and you'll probably need to sooner rather than later.
12. Epicurious
Condé Nast Digital; www.condenastdigital.com
While the site has been around since 1995 and the iPhone app is a year old, Condé Nast's first iPad app for foodies—and mourning Gourmet readers—is well ahead of both. Epicurious features a gorgeous interface that feels and reads like a luxurious, fully searchable cookbook. You can find recipes by main ingredient, course, cuisine, dietary consideration, and dish type, and even by season or occasion. You can also drill down with several search terms at once. Mark recipes as favorites, or add the ingredients for a recipe to your shopping list for the next grocery store trip, all with a single tap.
11. NPR for iPad
NPR; www.npr.org
NPR went for a magazine-style approach with its iPad app, which emphasizes news, arts & life, and music coverage in three sliding panes. The app also delivers hundreds of NPR live stations (searchable by GPS or ZIP code) and on-demand streams. Radio content is always a single tap away, thanks to a persistent audio bar. In addition, NPR for iPad features photojournalism with full-page zoom, plus the ability to share stories over e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook. It's a solid example of how publishers can deliver content in new and compelling ways.
10. AIM for iPad
AOL Inc; www.aim.com
At first blush, AIM for the iPad seems pointless, since you can't leave it open while doing other tasks (at least until
9. ABC Player
ABC Digital; www.abc.com
ABC Player turns your iPad into a TV by delivering full episodes of Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Desperate Housewives, V, and Dancing With the Stars, and many more popular shows. In portrait mode, you can browse episodes or view the schedule; then watch actual episodes in landscape mode. Full-screen video looks sharp and smooth, with only limited commercial interruption. This app is almost good enough to make us forget we can't watch
8. Pocket Legends for iPad
Spacetime Studios; www.spacetimestudios.com
This 3D MMO lets you crawl dungeons, attack monsters, and get treasure with thousands of other players online. The iPhone version was already pretty popular; the iPad version takes it to the next level, with immersive full-screen graphics, attractive cartoon-style artwork, and a smooth frame rate. You can play one of three classes, but you still can't change the 3D model for each class; everyone looks the same. Mind the intro screen; when you first get started, the game blasts you with over a dozen tooltips at once. Turn 'em off by tapping the X in the top right. $1.99 in-app purchases let you buy gold, items, or quests, but you can play for free for hours on end.
7. Air Hockey Gold
Acceleroto; www.acceleroto.com
It's tough to beat air hockey—especially when it's free. Air Hockey Gold offers three play modes: 1 player, 2 player, or Bluetooth 2 player. Six levels of difficulty, from "Kiddie" to "Insane," keep things interesting in single-player mode. You can also switch on a second puck. But even a basic game is fun; sit the iPad down on a table, grab a friend, and be thankful the iPad's screen is much bigger than the one on the iPhone. Smooth animation and realistic physics get the job done. First player to seven points wins.
6. Bloomberg for iPad
Bloomberg LP; www.bloomberg.com
At first glance, this app doesn't look like much; the home screen contains some news stories and stock prices. It's an illusion. Tap the news icon; you'll find dozens of categories on seven separate screens you can swipe between. Tap the other home screen icons to track and graph individual stocks, currencies, futures, and bonds. A separate podcast button lets you get the full rundown of the day's news with on-demand radio. The individual stock pages are especially nice; prop the iPad up on your desk, and you'll feel like a Wall Street trader from the future.
5. Kindle
Amazon Inc.; www.amazon.com
It's too early to say if the iPad will save the publishing industry, but Amazon's ubiquitous
4. Marvel Comics
Marvel Entertainment; www.marvel.com
Here's yet another example of something you can't do with a Kindle: read comics in their colorful, crisply drawn glory. Marvel's free iPad app offers a standard page-by-page view with zoom and pan controls, as well as a panel-by-panel, animated guided view. There's also a fully integrated store for buying your favorite Amazing Spider-Man or Wolverine: Origins issues. Hundreds of comic books are already available for $2 each, complete with blurbs and previews, while six free books get you started.
3. TweetDeck for iPad
TweetDeck Inc.; www.tweetdeck.com
TweetDeck is one of the best Twitter clients available on the desktop. Virtually the entire TweetDeck experience remains intact in the iPad version, which also adds the ability to scroll up and down individual columns with simple flick gestures. You may not want to type a novel with the iPad's on-screen keyboard, but, for 140-character tweets, it's plenty fast. TweetDeck supports multiple Twitter accounts, displays profiles, shortens URLs, geotags tweets, and uploads photos. It also lets you monitor searches and trending topics. Facebook integration isn't there yet, but the company promises it for the next version.
2. Pandora Radio
Pandora Media; www.pandora.com
Netflix
(Requires a Netflix subscription, which starts at $8.99 per month), Netflix; www.netflix.com
Netflix already has movie rental giant Blockbuster on the ropes, and also got started early with online video streaming. Nowhere does the latter make more sense than on the iPad, where Netflix strikes a shrewd balance between screen size, portability, and unlimited movie watching. Videos play back smoothly and flicking through your queue and category recommendations feels natural. You can also manage your queue or resume playback on another device later. The occasional odd aspect ratio sours the experience somewhat, and the handoff between the movie player and the browser interface still needs work. Even so, this is one killer iPad app.
For more Apple iPad coverage, check out PCMag.com.
Final Thoughts
The 20 Best Free iPad Apps - ExtremeTech
A difficult-to-pinpoint target customer and a few pesky omissions are overshadowed by the excellent overall experience you get with Apple's iPad. And it sets the bar high for competing products in this nascent Internet tablet category.