Before this year closes, make sure you get all of at least most of these really useful apps on your iPad. Currently there are more then a million apps listed on the App Store and you will find a couple of lists around the web listing some essential apps in different categories. In this article I have compiled a list of apps categorically put in News, Music, Gaming, Reading and a bunch of other categories. If there’s an app you think is missing from the list and should be added in the essentials list then do suggest!

Social Media

1. Twitter

twitter official app for ipad

How can you ever miss out on Twitter? If you have an iPad there’s a healthy chance that you already have this app but in case you missed out on it, get it right now! There are a couple of 3rd party Twitter clients available but when you have the official Twitter app then why go for others? And yes, it does support Push notifications for @mentions and messages

2. Fliboard

social media app for ipad flipboard

Flipboard is Apple’s App of the year for iPad and is also in the TIME magazine’s Top 50 Innovations of 2010. Isn’t this motivation enough to download this app right now? In short, Flipboard combines all your social media stream from Facebook, Twitter, Google reader and Flickr and compiles them into a unified stream where you can see every update that pops up on your social media universe. It’s like turning all your social media updates into a digital magazine!

3. Friendly

friendly social media ipad app

If you’re not looking to compile all your online social media life into one digital magazine with Flipboard then this is for you: The alternative way to experience Facebook on your iPad. Friendly was also in Apple’s top 10 apps of 2010 list. Friendly is a 3rd party app and not an official Facebook app. You can view your News stream, browse through Photos in full-screen, chat with online friends, customize the color layout of the UI among a bunch of others features which makes it a better alternative to the official Facebook app for iPad.

Utilities

1. Dropbox

file sharing app for ipad dropbox

Dropbox is your Disk storage on the cloud. It give you 2GBs of absolutely free storage with no strings attached. We have been using it as our Software Repository for quite a while now and it’s File management is absolutely amazing. If you’re already using Dropbox then you can put this app in your iPad and add another node to your Disk Smile You can put files into your shared Dropbox folder and also sync to the latest version. In short, it’s one of the most innovative and yet easiest way to share files across multiple computers.

2. Instapaper

read webpages and books offline app instapaper

This app lets you save web pages, blog posts, news articles in a very readable format for offline reading. You can save whatever you find interesting with Instapaper and then read it whenever you get time. It reformats the text in the blog post or a news article for enhanced reading experience. This is a must-have utility for readers!

3. LogMein

remote pc desktop mac access with ipad

This app will definitely take your breath away! With LogMein you can access your home PC or Mac remotely. We’re not talking about any limited access but a full-blown native experience. The desktop appears on your iPad as through you’re sitting on your Desktop and not using iPad! You can access everything from your Desktop PC/Mac, copy files, run programs, in short a complete remote PC access solution right inside your iPad. Put this app just in case you needed a very important presentation that’s only on your Desktop PC, you’ll never regret it!

4. Evernote

note taking and reminder app for ipad evernote

There’s little chance that you still do not have this app. Evernote has already made it to Apple’s Hall of Fame. If this is not something then do you know that there are a couple of books in Japanese that teaches how to take maximum benefit out of Evernote?

Evernote has to be the best note taking app. It lets you arrange all your thought stream into a meaningful way. You can create notes through speaking (audio), recording (video) or the old fashioned writing. What’s really technologically advanced feature is the ability to search text within images. Take this for example:

road_sign

Evernote will index all the text (SLOW ROAD AHEAD) contained within this image so that you can search it later.

News

1. BBC

breaking news app bbc for ipad

This is BBC’s offical iPad app. Without much guessing, you can get latest news (I am not sure whether Push notifications for breaking news is enabled or not), breaking news and about almost everything you would get from BBC’s website. It’s just a nice way to browse BBC

2. NPR

free radio stations on ipad npr app

NPR (National Public Radio) app for iPad is a clone of their iPhone version but in magazine style. You can listen to radio stations in a whole bunch of different categories. You can create playlists, search for radio stations among other features and not to mention the awesome magazine style UI of the app.

3. WSJ

wall street journal on ipad app

This is the official iPad app of the Wall Street Journal. If you’re regular reader of WSJ then there are thick chances that you already have this app. This app would require you to first subscribe to WSJ in order to view exclusive content.

4. NYTimes

newyork times news app for ipad

And yet again, this is the official app of NYTimes for iPad. You can get access to the full features and exclusive content of NYTimes for free until early 2011 (Their iTunes description mentions that). You can view top news, breaking news, most emailed etc. right from within the app

5. The Economist

financial news app for ipad economist

Want to keep an eye on the economy and the financial horizon while on the move? The Economist will give the essential dose of everything finance. This is also the official app of The Economist for iPad. Besides the regular feed, you also get access to their every week’s top picks.

6. Big Picture

big_picture_boston_app

If you are a fan of the Boston’s amazing high-quality photo essay like this one then you’re definitely going to enjoy this delightful app that lets you browse through the archive of Boston’s high quality photo-essays in full screen.

7. Huffington Post

huffington_post_news_app_for_ipad

If you already read HuffPost then you will find this app delightful and addictive. It updates news items every minute which means you can follow news as it happens right in your iPad. You can do just about everything you could do on Huffington Post’s website but in a more delightful mobile experience.

8. Sky Grid

sky_grid_news_app_for_ipad

Sky Grid is like Fliboard of the News. You get to follow just the news that you care about. Sports fanatic? You can follow just the news related to your favorite team with every news item beautifully integrated into a news stream where you can access everything you’re following. It’s a nice way to stay up to date while on the go. Besides just viewing, you can also share news items on Facebook and Twitter and if you find something interesting and want to read it later on, you can always use Instapaper app for caching the webpage for offline reading!

Part 2 will be published soon, make sure you become ProgrammerFish’s fan on Facebook to stay up-to-date!

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