A Random Life In Review: Top 10 iPad Apps – August 2012

Now its time for my personal top 10 must have iPad Apps , once again its in no real order:

1. Evernote

The great thing about having a iPad is its integration with my MacBook, and so when I work on my iPad I kinda work on my MacBook – or that I can see my work on my Mac, and yes there are loads of note taken apps that will let you do just that, the great thing about Evernote is it does all this and more. With integration within other apps (so you can take notes directly from them) and a Chrome app its by fair the best note taking / sharing app going and all the different Evernote apps are Free.

 

Price: Free.

2. BigOven

The great thing about the iPad is its screen, yes you can get cooking apps on your iPhone but you know what – reading from a small screen when your working just isn’t fun. Big Oven is a great app, it has 1000’s of recipes from every style of cooking but whats more, you can also tell Big Oven what you have in your kitchen and it will bring back recipes

Lastly you can add to your shopping list and use the handy planner to plan your meals before you shop – it’s a great time saver.

Can’t remember the price but I think its £10.00 a year so cheap as chips.

 

Price: £10.00 (a year… I think) 

3. Netflix / Lovefilm / Blinkbox

 

 

 

 

These 3 Video Streaming services cover the best of them, the great thing about the iPad is its screen size, watching a HD film on the go is great and much more enjoyable than on the small screen of the iPhone – I will often use the different services apps on the iPad to browse whats on / available as and when I’m in the mode to watch a movies and its often quicker to open the open then turn on the TV / Computer to check the main site.

If you don’t know BlinkBox is like your cloud based film collection, if you create an account and then link it to your club card any Blue rays / DVD’s you purchase in Tesco’s will appear on you Blink Box account – aka a free digital copy that’s stored in the cloud.

Price: All Free (require a subscription service for Netflix and Lovefilm).

4. Spotify

Yep its a music streaming app, and yep it works on the PC, Mac, iPhone and iPad (and more) but for the iPad I like to keep my storage free for editing photos and videos I may need to watch to on the go so using a service like Spotify is great – endless music over the internet (recommend you use WiFi) with out taken up space on the iPad.

 

 

Price: Free (with options to upgrade). 

5. Zite

I’m note going to say this again, ok one last time – Good apps for the iPad make use of the extra screen space and Zite is a great app that does just this but for news – just let Zite know the subjects you interested in and it will bring news to you about said subject for free. With the ability to flip from story to story you have a real tactile feel to using the app (like the iBooks app)

 

 

 

Price: free. 

6. Numbers

Numbers is Apples version of Excel, it’s not a heavy as Excel but you can do most of the daily work you would want to run in Excel within numbers – it’s not the same as the Mac version but it will sync with the Mac version as well as allow you to store documents within iCloud and share via email.

Some basic functions Number will do: Vlookup, Sum, Graphs, Charts

What I love about numbers – if you need to create a nice looking report for a customer than Numbers is the App for you – it’s so easy to make even the standard chart look interesting (as possible)

Price: £19.99

7. Pages

Just like Excel has Numbers, Word has Pages, again its a light version but do let that put you off, perfect for written letters, blog posts, meeting notes and any other day-to-day word processing need you may have. I use Pages every day for customer meeting notes, why – because I can email a copy direct to the office from within the app, it syncs and stores copies on iCloud and has all the feature you need.

Including: Spellchecking, Left, Centre and Right hand align, Tab, Column, Images, Bullets / Lists and more.

Oh and whats more if you have the Mac version then yep you can start a document on your Mac and complete it on the go or the other way round.

Price: £19.99

8. Keynote

This is the last app that makes up iWorks and its Apples version of Powerpoint – now this is one app that I think is better than the MS Office version, again its light so don’t expect to do massive presentations on this app however if you need to do a 10 / 20 slide presentation then this is the app for you – it’s so easy to create great looking slides with animations that don’t look like you’ve done them on a cheep powerpoint template.

Very quick and easy and as with all the iWork apps it fully sync with the full Mac Version via iCloud and can be emailed as well as being able to open MS documents.

 

Price: £19.99

Alternative to the above iWorks Apps – CloudOn

No matter how good the iWorks apps are – some times you need the MS version, thats when CloudOn comes in handy – it was free when I downloaded the app and it basically lets you use all the MS Office programs via the Cloud so no massive app but all the power – down side is, you need a decent internet connection and as its Cloud based it’s not the most secure platform.

On the up side – all the function of the main programmes with very little space taken up .

Includes: MS Word, MS Excel, MS Powerpoint and MS Access.

 

Price: Free

9. Skype

 

Not sure what there is to say but if you like to call people, see a nice big pitcher of them but can’t use the iOS app (as well not every one has a iPad) then Skype is the best there is, every one knows it so there isn’t much I can say… Oh you could act out a scene of trigger happy, you know the one, with the big phone… yep “I’m on the phone…”

 

 

Price: Free

10. Flipboard

There is nothing better than keeping up to date with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or any other RSS feed then being able to read it like a magazine, that’s what Flipboard lets you do, follow the BBC or news source on twitter and Flipboard will open the link so in effect you’ve created your own living newspaper.

You can post, like, unlike, re-tweet etc all you want within the App as well as add additional subjects that flipbard will find and create your own news feed.

 

Price: £0.69

A Random Life In Review: Apps

Ok so its been a long time coming but its time for my Apps review, and I hope the wait will have been worth it as I’ll be covering every thing from Chrome to iPad and iPhone as well as MacBook and some Window 7 programmes that are great as well:

Chrome:

There is one advantage using Chrome apps over say a MacBook app of the same name that is if its a Twitter App, Facebook App etc etc and so you need internet connection to use them so you can save space on your computer by using the cloud based version of the same app.

And here is the list and what they do:

 

Facebook / Twitter and other Social Media Apps:

AddThis – Share & Bookmark – Share to Facebook, Twitter and over 300 other services with the most popular sharing tool in the world.

Cortex – Just hold down on the text / image you want to post on Facebook / Twitter and a little wheel will appear – select the rout of up load and type your post there and then – great for quick little posts.

Facebook Mod –  Makes the blue bar at the top scroll like everything else.

Persona – makes all your news and social streams from Facebook and Twitter as easy to surf through as TV channels.

TweetDeck – Your personal browser for staying in touch with what’s happening now

TwitterWatch – Watches Twitter for interested terms, with real time update! Works nicely with other Twitter clients too.

WordPress Checker – Checks WordPress blogs for unmoderated and spam comments.

WordPress Stats – Addicted to numbers? Get the daily statistics of your blog in your chrome browser.

WordPress.com Extension – Brings features from WordPress.com to your browser.

 

General: 

+Photo Zoom0 – Just hover over the photo and it will zoom – no more clicking on Enlarge or Zoom and waiting for the page to re-load or for a pop up.

AdBlock– Feed up with Ad’s on the web – this App is free and blocks them all – its great.

After the Deadline – Check spelling, style, and grammar in your browser.

Awesome Screenshot – More then just a screen print – this little app lets you take a screen dump of the whole page, the visible page or a manual part of the page – you can then add text, lines, shapes and blur out parts you don’t want others to see – very helpful.

Bookmark Buttons Startpage – A startpage replacement that allows quick access to your apps and bookmarks

Browser Clipboard – Very quick tool – just highlight the text or image and drag it to the box that pops up at the top of the page – you can then change tabs and drag the text / image to Facebook, WordPress etc etc – makes blogging so much easier.

Evernote Web Clipper – Use the Evernote extension to save things you see on the web into your Evernote account. It even lets you search through your notes.

FastestChrome – Save time and enhance your productivity! Get quick definitions, auto-load next pages, search faster, and more.

SearchPreview – Adds preview images (thumbnails) to your Google™ search results.

Speed Dial 2 –  Fast and clean extension for your favorite pages and quick access to your apps, bookmarks and browsing history.

Split Screen – Prompts the user for two URL addresses and then displays both in one window!

WOT – Web of Trust shows you which websites people trust for safe surfing, shopping and searching on the web.

 

Music:

Spotify Chrome Extension –  Spotify Chrome Extension

Spotify Search – Adds context menu item to search selected text in Spotify.

Shopping:

Add to Amazon Wish List – Again a great time saver, one click add it to your wish list in Amazon and complete your shopping later.

InvisibleHand – Automatically get the lowest price on whatever you’re buying.

The Best Price  – Always get the best deal! The Best Price will make you save time and money by comparing prices in real time, while shopping online.

 

Video:

FilmEnhancer for LOVEFiLM – Extension for LOVEFiLM (DVD Rental service) adding info to film pages.

IMDb Info – Quickly get movie-related information, like casts, ratings, plots, bios, and much more.

Rotten Netflix– Overlays Rotten Tomato reviews when browsing Netflix.

Turn Off the Lights – The entire page will be fading to dark, so you can watch the video as if you were in the cinema.

iPad2 

There are loads of apps for the iPad and one negative is that you can’t search the App Store by review / rating, some of the below you would have already heard of, but I still recommend them, other may be little gems you’ve not come across before so enjoy.

Books:

Kindle – So you have a iPad but you would rather pay Amazon price then iBooks Prices – this free apps gives you access to the store and works as a e-reader.

Cooking: 

BigOven – This is more then just a huge book, it has elements of social media and a handy little feature that help you use up left overs – also there is a meal planner and shopping list built in to help you plan for any dinner parties.

General:

Pimp Your Screen – Ok you can go on to free websites and download background screens for free, but these and this app equals great lock screen images and backgrounds.

Music:

Spotity – The official app for Spotity.

Notepads and Sharing:

Dropbox – The official app for Dropbox

Everynote – The official app for Everynote

Noteshelf – This is a virtual  note pad, with some added extras – I use it to brain storm every thing from this blog to business ideas, its great.

News:

Pulse News – A great all in one news feed app

Zite – Just select your subject and then this app will turn internet feeds into a newspaper that you can flick thought – very nice.

Office:

CloudOn – cloud based access to MS Excel, Word, Powerpoint, Access – great.

Keynote – Apples version of Powerpoint, personally I find it easier to use then Powerpoint (2010), syncs with iCloud, so you can turn on your iPhone and bang its there, you can (if you have the OS version which is extra) turn on your Mac Book and Bang its there, also syncs the other way.

Keyoobi – A Mapping and Appointment tool – will list all your contacts on a map and plot routes to appointments for the day, very handy for me (being a sales rep like me).

Numbers – Apples version of Excel – easy to use but takes time to get use if your a skilled Excel user.

Pages – Apples version of Word – I use this every day, to draft blog posts (spellchecking etc) and for meeting notes – its great and syncs with iCloud like Keynote.

USB Disk – ok so you have a file on a USB drive and need to open it on your iPad, using the Camera connection kit and this app allows you plug the USB drive in and download the file to your iPad.

Social: 

Facebook – The official App for Facebook – yes there are other apps but this dose the job and its free.

Flipboard – Turns your Facebook, Twitter and other RSS feeds into a magazine / newspaper style layout – much more enjoyable then the standard apps. 

Skype – The official App for Skype.

Twitter – The Official App for Twitter.

Space:

Hubble Top 100 – Great, breaking images from Hubble like this…

Star Walk  – Ok so you have the images but you want to know where in the sky it is, this is a star map with other great features.

Video and TV:

4oD Catch Up – The official Channel 4 catch up app.

BBC iPlayer – The official BBC catch up app.

Blinkbox – The official Blinkbox App – I had some streaming problems but it appears to work ok – only shows the films you have already purchased, there is no store which isn’t great.

Demand 5 – The official Channel 5 catch up app.

Flixster – Great little review app for 1000’s of movies both currently showing or on DVD to rent – also has a great feature to show you your nearest complex showing the film your interested in (and the times).

ITV Player – The official ITV catch up app.

LoveFilm – The official LoveFilm App.

TV Catch Up – A great little app that give you access to all the catch up services and more

iPhone:

Ok so most of the above apps also work on the iPhone, and thats why this list is a little light, however again I hope you find some little gems you may not already know about.

Handy:

Flashlight (free) – Need a flashlight, the free version has every type of light you could ever need.

Readability – Syncs with the Chrome App by the same name – basically read it later, off line.

Navigation:

TomTom  – The official Tom Tom App – I used this as my Sat Nav for over a year – never let me down just as good as a full blown Tom Tom.

Office:

CardMunch – Take a photo of a business card and this app will turn it into a contact for you and link your LinkedIn profile as well.

Photo:

ComicBook – Turn your photos in to a comic book style.

Phone:

0800 Wizard – need to call a 0800 number from you mobile, use this free app to get the standard rate number and use your free minutes rather then pay for the call.

A Randoms Music

Listen to my music via Spotify:

And Enjoy

Just LOL

Oxymoron Positive Feedback

Some times companies don’t read the praise from customers… just like this one on the Spotify Support Forum (Click Here To See The Post)

Heres what it says:

“RECENT PRAISE

• I love the way they keep piling on features whilst ignoring issues.”
  Its the last part i think someone missed… IGNORING ISSUES… in fact the more I read this the more I LOL – its a complaint that proves the rout course of the problem by the fact that Spotify have promoted as positive feedback i.e. Not paying attention.