My Favorite iPad Applications - Free and Paid Apps for the iPad

I recently purchased an Apple iPad and was pleasantly surprised with some of the applications that are available for the device; for free or for very low prices.

The iPad comes loaded with several apps that are extremely useful. These preloaded apps include:

• iBooks
• Photos
• Mail
• Maps

iBooks:

You can read books in epub format which are downloaded from iTunes on this application, you can also read pdfs and text files.

Photos:

This where you access your photographs that you might have loaded onto your iPad from iTunes or images you have saved from the web.

Mail:

I managed to set up my Gmail account quickly in mail and find it much nicer to use than the Gmail website. The only drawback is you don't have access to all the Gmail apps through mail.

Maps:

I love the maps application. You can center the map to your current location. If you ask for directions it will act as a gps and tell you which way to go. It will even give you bus routes, tell you which bus to take and even the time the next bus is due.

For a list of all the pre-loaded applications, visit the Apple website.

I quickly half-filled my 32Gb iPad with mostly free applications; I have bought two so far, Bejeweled and Boggle. Both were $1.99 each.

Game play on the iPad is lots of fun, the colors are excellent and there is none of the hanging that I have experienced playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. You can also connect your Bejeweled Blitz to Facebook and compete with your friends who play the game. You get 4 different versions of the game on this application; classic Bejeweled, action Bejeweled, endless Bejeweled and Blitz.

With Boggle, you shake the iPad to simulate shaking the Boggle board. Up to 4 people can play the game. You can choose between quick play and advanced play. Quick play give you a straight up Boggle game. Advanced play lets you play with friends, create challenges and even gives you a self scoring game where you write down the words you find. You can also choose the music you wish to play with the game, if any. For more challenge you can choose the letter orientation of the board.

Below you will find three of my favorite free applications.

Twitterific Lite:

This app makes me believe that the iPad was made for Twitter and vice versa. It makes twittering so easy. I haven't tried the other Twitter apps yet. The full version gives you access to more tools as well as letting you control more than one Twitter account.

NPR

This app gives you access to all the news reported by NPR, it lets you stream live radio programs and allows you to download podcasts for the various programs.

NFB Canada

This app allows you to watch full versions of National Film Board documentaries.

I usually search for new apps every day or when I hear about an application I would like to try. I will limit myself to buying one once a month or less. Sometimes it takes a few days to decide if an app is worth the download. I am currently trying out a couple of free drawing apps, one from Adobe.