There is a ridiculous amount of applications to pick from. No doubt I have missed some great ones. If you think I'm missing some crucial application, do let me know and I'll check it out. :)
I'm going to iterate through various handy applications I have come across next. Some of them are free, some are not. I consider the not free ones to provide good value, though. Of course this depends on what you need so the list isn't absolute in any way.
As this post began to grow a bit beyond my scope I decided to convert it to a series. In this part I'm going to focus on utility applications. They truly beef up your iPad to become a true Swiss army knife, figuratively speaking of course.
Terra - Web Browser - Free
In the previous post I mentioned I replaced Safari with Atomic Web Browser. Since then I moved on and began to use Terra.It seems to offer more or less the same benefits as Atomic. It feels a bit lighter as well. And most importantly it's free even.
I still use Safari for some development work thanks to its handy JavaScript console. The lack of full screen mode is a deal breaker for me, though.
Twitter - Official Client - Free
I really prefer Twitter's iPad version over its web interface. It just is that much nicer to use. Granted it might lack some of the advanced features some might find handy. It manages to provide the basic features I need.Apparently there are various other alternatives for those not fond of the official client. I have no idea how well those work, though.
Reeder - Google Reader Client - $4.99
I like to use Google's Reader for reading my collection of RSS feeds. The default web interface provided for iPad is quite ok but not so flashy. Reeder on the other hand manages to both look cool and work well.It takes like a couple of minutes to get used to but once you get hang of it you really don't want to use any other RSS reader. It's a simple, beautiful application. The way an application should be. :)
Air Display - iPad as a Second Display - $9.99
Ever wanted a second display for your computer but don't have one yet? Don't worry, Air Display is there just for that.You might find it a bit hard to believe it at first but it does indeed work. Considering it uses Wi-Fi to transmit the data between your computer and the iPad there's some lag. Nothing too bad, however. It's definitely usable.
This actually makes me wonder why doesn't the device come with software like this by default. You would think this is something Apple might want to bundle with it. Perhaps the application has appeal just for geeks. :)
ZumoCast - Stream Data from PC to iPad - Free
Considering my iPad is only the cheapo 16GB model I find it extremely important to have some means to transmit data between my computer and iPad effortlessly. Enter ZumoCast.The application appears to do the trick more than well. No problems so far. Definitely recommended if you need this sort of thing.
Art Authority - Art Museum in iPad - $9.99
If you happen to enjoy art but don't like to drag those huge art books around or cannot afford to fly to faraway museum to view the real thing, Art Authority is the application for you. There's a huge collection of art. It would probably take a shelf or two of art books to cover the same amount of art in real life.This is one of the ways in which iPad seems like a revolutionary device to me. It would be hard to imagine something like this outside iPad or a similar device. It just wouldn't work that well.
FlickStackr Explore - Flick Client for iPad - Free
Flickr is one my favorite web services. FlickStackr Explore takes it to the next level. Browsing Flickr content has never been easier. I really enjoy using the application. Good for some inspiration.Note that there's also a commercial version available. It offers some additional functionality.