The apps your new iPad needs. Useful applications for iPad Necessary programs for ipad mini
According to statistics, the iPad Air has become the most unwanted gift for Christmas. At least, this is the gadget that Americans most often tried to resell after the holiday. Perhaps these people just really needed money, or they didn’t know how useful an Apple tablet could be if you installed the appropriate software on it. We have compiled a selection of the most necessary and useful applications that will turn your iPad into the ideal tool for work and entertainment.
Reading
iPad is, first of all, a convenient reading tool. The ultra-sharp Retina display is easy on the eyes and makes text look great, while the screen size and ease of reading make e-readers of little use.
iBooks
The most convenient application for reading books on iOS was developed by Apple itself. Some users still miss the old version of iBooks with its “wooden” bookshelves, but the appearance of the program, updated for iOS 7, is also pleasing. The text in the application looks perfect, Apple has thought through every detail. Downloaded books are saved in the cloud, so they can be synchronized with any other device: iPhone, iPod or even Mac.
The program has a built-in book store where you can quickly buy the works you need. True, there is little Russian-language content. But iBooks easily opens ePub files if you try to download them using the Safari browser from any popular, including pirated, online library. In addition, iBooks can open e-book files stored in your cloud from Dropbox, Yandex.Disk or other similar applications.
Among the disadvantages, it can be noted that the application only supports ePub and PDF formats. The program will not understand other formats, for example, the popular FB2. The app is free, and Apple will prompt you to download iBooks when you first visit the App Store.
The app can be downloaded for free from the App Store.
Pocket
An app for delayed reading that allows you to select and organize all the interesting content found on the Internet. It often happens that when you go, for example, to the Vesti.Hitek website, you see a large review that you want to read, but at the moment you simply don’t have time. If you're a Pocket user, all you have to do is press one button and the interesting text will be securely saved in your Pocket account, waiting until you have an extra minute to read it.
The Pocket app is available on desktops, iPhone, iPad, Android devices, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, Web OS, S60 - that is, everywhere. To save browser pages in Pocket, you just need to install the appropriate browser extension. Many other applications, for example, Twitter, have integration with the service.
In Pocket you can save not only articles, but also, for example, videos from YouTube; the content can be organized with various tags. It is more convenient to view materials transferred to Pocket than from the web - the application optimizes pages for reading, enlarges the text, and removes advertising.
If you join the Pocket ecosystem, the application gradually becomes almost indispensable, allowing you to always keep all your most important materials at hand. The program can load content in the background. This way, you can read articles, for example, on subway lines when the mobile Internet is not working. Pocket is integrated with many applications. For example, you can save links from tweets to the service from the official Twitter iOS client.
If the functionality of iBooks does not suit you, we can recommend a very high-quality alternative “reader” (although it also works only with ePub).
Air Video HD
If you like to watch movies and TV series from your iPad while at home, then you don’t have to worry about transferring videos to your device and filling up the tablet’s memory. The Air Video HD application allows you to conveniently “stream” videos from your computer via Wi-Fi in any format without conversion.
The program is very easy to use. It is enough to download the client to your computer (PC or Mac) from the developer’s website, open it and specify the folder in which the films are located. After that, launch the application on the iPad, select your computer and see this folder. That's it, you can watch the video.
The old Air Video program can be downloaded for free from the App Store (there are certain restrictions that can be unlocked with an in-app purchase if you wish). A more advanced and modern version of Air Video HD will cost 99 rubles.
TuneIn Radio
The iPad has very loud and high-quality speakers (the iPad Air even has stereo sound available). This allows the tablet to be used as a radio that can fill a medium-sized room with sound. TuneIn Radio is perhaps the best application in the App Store for listening to Russian-language radio stations.
In the program you can find a huge number of different stations - all of them are divided into categories. Under the station name it is written which track is currently being played on air. You can add channels to your favorites so you don’t have to search for them again every time. The built-in player is also very convenient, the design is pleasing to the eye.
In addition to Russian-language stations, you can listen to radio in dozens of other languages in the application. Not only is live radio available, but also a wide variety of podcasts.
SpbTV
The best applications in the App Store for watching Russian TV channels. Its interface is quite nice and, what is much more important, you can watch a large number of domestic channels for free. The app also has subscription-only channels ($5 per month for all). However, for most users, the free offers will be enough. There are many channels in other languages.
If you don't like SPB TV, try downloading Crystal TV - a very good application. True, it has fewer free channels, but the TV program is clearly displayed.
News
Reader 2
It is inconvenient to download and use separate applications for all your favorite media. It's much better to just subscribe to their RSS feeds and view the feeds using one good program. We recommend Reeder 2.
Reeder allows you to browse a huge number of RSS feeds with maximum speed and convenience. The application was originally a client for Google Reader, and after its sudden closure it began to support analogues from Feedly, Feedbin, Feed Wrangler and Fever. These services allow you to synchronize your news feeds across any devices.
If desired, Reeder can also work with individual RSS feeds, just enter their address into the application, but in this case synchronization - for example, between Reeder 2 on the iPhone and on the iPad - will not be possible.
The program is really very convenient and saves a huge amount of time. It’s very pleasant to use the service; you feel that the developers have carefully thought through every detail.
The only negative is the cost. The program is sold in the App Store for 169 rubles.
Feedly
A free and very worthy alternative to Reeder 2. The program boasts a stylish, minimalistic interface. Everything looks juicy, functionality is also at the level. And even though the application is somewhat behind the above-mentioned paid analogue in terms of sophistication, using the program is still pleasant and convenient. Download Feedly on the App Store
Creation
iPad is not only a device for consuming content, but also a tool for a wide variety of creativity. A great variety of excellent software has been created for artists, composers, and designers; these are topics for separate reviews. We will tell you only about a few of them.
Tayasui Sketches
One of the best drawing programs for iPad. Even the basic version is very functional.
The application is distributed according to the freemium model. You can download it for free, but additional features are available only in the PRO version, which sells for 129 rubles. But to get a complete impression of the program’s capabilities, the free basic version is quite enough.
In the iPhone version, five tools are available to the user by default - pencil, pen, brush, felt-tip pen and eraser. The main advantage of the application is its simplicity. When you launch Tayasui Sketches, you will see not a lot of confusing interface elements, but just a blank slate that inspires creativity.
The standard palette consists of twelve primary colors. To get unique shades, just double-click on the selected color, after which you can accurately select the desired color scheme by adjusting the brightness and saturation
Drawing is very simple, nothing distracts from the most important thing. This is the main advantage, which is so lacking in other similar applications that are overloaded with unnecessary elements and menus. The main competitor is Paper, which is also a great finger painting app with a simple interface and intuitive controls. Tayasui Sketches has one important advantage - it is available not only on iPad, but also on iPhone.
It should also be noted that Tayasui Sketches is beautifully designed. During loading, we see the cover of the virtual notebook. The application interface is minimalistic and goes well with iOS 7. We especially note the gesture control of the program. To save a drawing, just “pinch” the picture; the color is changed with a double tap; to cancel the changes, just drag two fingers to the left to return it back to the right. You can move the canvas by holding two fingers. This is very convenient, and, moreover, it allows you to do away with on-screen buttons that clutter the interface.
You can work with several canvases at once, save your work in “Photos”, send them to Twitter, Facebook and e-mail. It is also possible to change the color of the paper or even imitate checkered and ruled notebook sheets.
Paper
Another "drawing app" for iOS. In 2012, Apple named the program "the best app for iPad." Paper can be used for both drawing and making quick sketches or notes.
Paper pleases with many small features. For example, the “mixer” allows you to mix paints and also create your own sets of palettes. Using a magnifying glass, you can “pinch” to enlarge not the entire picture, but a certain part of it.
The standard set includes only two tools - a pencil and an eraser. To get additional attributes you will have to pay $2 each. The program has been completely translated into Russian.
iMovie
Recently, Apple is allowing anyone who owns an iOS device to download its iWork and iLife app packages for free. This offer is indeed very generous, especially considering the previous cost of these programs. Hidden among them is the excellent video editing tool iMovie.
If you have tried to edit video on your computers, then you have noticed that Adobe Premier or the same Final Cut from Apple are complex programs that require a long learning curve in order to be able to edit a video well.
iMovie is literally the “flesh and flesh” of the tablet, a simple but functional application that even a complete beginner in video editing can handle.
The application is in many ways similar to iMovie for Mac, so users of Apple computers will not have to relearn.
You can trim, separate, and drag pieces of the video directly with your fingers. You can add music from your library to your video. iMovie also has a whole library of sound effects, and various templates are available for creating trailers.
Directly from the application you can upload videos to Facebook, YouTube and Vimeo. Overall, iMovie on iPad is the best tool for non-professional editing. However, the functionality of the program is largely sacrificed for simplicity.
Photoshop Touch
The capabilities of the tablet version of Photoshop largely replicate what the desktop version of the editor offers. Thus, you can do almost anything your heart desires with a photograph.
There are so many different functions in Photoshop Touch that it will take weeks to learn them - this is a truly professional tool that can satisfy almost any need of a professional designer, photographer, artist, and so on. In some ways, Photoshop Touch is even superior to the desktop version - for example, you can take a photo directly from the iPad camera and immediately begin processing it.
Moreover, the Photoshop Touch interface is perfectly adapted for touch control. It is more convenient to perform some actions by touching the tablet screen with your finger rather than moving the mouse. Most filters and effects can be applied almost instantly.
Adobe has done a great job of making highlighting easy to use. Even without any styluses, a person with thick fingers can quickly and easily mark the section of the photo he needs - there is an automatic selection, which can then be slightly corrected manually.
The program can be downloaded from the App Store for 329 rubles (for a professional Adobe product, this is, one might say, a ridiculously low price).
If it is important for you that professional processing be fast, I can recommend the Filterstorm Neue program - it has fewer capabilities than Photoshop, but still has a lot. But learning to use the program is much easier, the editing speed is also higher, and it costs less - 129 rubles.
Job
Pages
One of the best text editors on iPad. New tablet owners can again download it completely free of charge. Mac users have known Pages for a long time. For those who prefer a PC, it can be noted that Pages is a kind of analogue of Word, although it has a little less functionality, but everything is more convenient and thoughtful.
The program has an excellent interface in the style of iOS 7. It automatically synchronizes all text files from iCloud. There are many advanced editing methods available - you can embed images, charts, tables, geometric shapes, and so on into the text.
The created documents do not have to be saved in the Pages format. They can be sent immediately in Word, PDF format, or even turned into an e-book in ePub to continue reading in iBooks.
It's especially convenient when you have Pages installed on your computer and save documents in iCloud - in this case, any file will always be at hand.
You can download Pages from the App Store
iA Writer
If you often write texts without resorting to advanced editing, the simple and minimalistic iA Writer may be the best option. The program is especially loved by journalists, bloggers, and other representatives of the writing professions. There is synchronization not only through iCloud, but also with Dropbox, which allows you not to think about transferring documents between different devices.
The app's design is perfect for focusing on the text. No unnecessary menus are displayed, nothing distracts. Everything is concise, simple and functional. One of the minuses that can be noted is the absence (hopefully temporary) of a redesign for iOS 7. However, the program interface fits into the appearance of the operating system anyway, and some people like the old look of the keyboard even more.
You can download the application from the App Store for 169 rubles.
You can learn more about various text editors for iPad and choose the ideal option for yourself by reading about such applications.
KeyNote
If you often have to create presentations at work, we can again recommend a standard program from Apple called KeyNote. The application allows you to easily create high-quality presentations. We find it much easier to use on a tablet than using PowerPoint on a PC.
You can use photographs, different font styles, different types of graphs, and so on to design your slides. You can add comments to slides, customize transitions, and there are many different templates that make life easier. Presentations from the application can be sent by email, printed, or transferred via iTunes, iCloud.
You can also link a presentation to a projector directly from the application or display it via AirPlay on Apple TV. By downloading KeyNote, you will receive a complete and very simple tool for creating presentations, which can completely replace its “desktop” counterparts.
Haiku Deck
Many users don't like creating presentations. The abundance of possibilities in editors such as Power Point or Slides frightens them, confuses them and encourages them to overload the slides with unnecessary information. The free Haiku Deck iOS app allows you to create a stylish presentation in just a few minutes.
What is the secret of most mobile startups? Maximum simplicity and absence of unnecessary functions. Instagram was one of the first to set this trend, then it was picked up by services such as, or. The developers of Haiku Deck followed a similar path. They removed everything possible from the functionality, leaving only the bare core of the presentation - text and photos.
You won't be able to add a complex schedule or add music or video through the app. The program will not allow you to fill one slide with a lot of information. A few words of beautifully designed text plus an image is all Haiku Deck has to offer. However, presentations created in the program look and are perceived much better than most projects created in such “monsters” as Power Point. The program simply will not allow you to do something bad - this function is not provided in it, so even users with not the most, so to speak, straight hands will get quite convenient and readable presentations.
A person opens the application, enjoys the beautiful, smooth, thoughtful design for a few seconds, then presses the “+” button and creates his project. He writes several lines of text into each slide and chooses its style and location.
When creating a presentation in Power Point, the most time is spent on finding the necessary images, downloading them from the Internet and integrating them into the project. Haiku Deck does this in a few seconds. The main feature of the program is that it automatically searches for beautiful photographs and pictures for each word of the text. Haiku Deck will ask which word in the slide best represents its essence. The user clicks on the desired word or enters his own, and within a second hundreds of high-quality images that are freely available appear in front of him. Even though some of the images found are not very relevant, it is very convenient.
Of course, you can upload your own photos and pictures into the application, and this function is implemented very conveniently. Images can be added not only from the camera and from the iPad photo album, they can be selected directly from the album on Instagram and Facebook, or uploaded from Dropbox, Flickr, Picasa or Google Drive.
The free version of the program offers three text design themes. In general, they are quite sufficient. However, for those who want variety, the application allows you to purchase many other original themes for two dollars each.
To summarize, we can say that the application is truly indispensable, but in its own way. It is not suitable for creating complex presentations, but only allows you to pull out a few points on the screen, which is actually enough to visually support most speeches. To create more complex presentations using a tablet, you'll have to download another program, such as Apple's $10 Slides app.
Unlike its competitors, Haiku Deck allows you to create a stylish presentation in just a few minutes. This process has never been so simple. No training required. As soon as the user opens the program, he immediately intuitively understands how it works. An Australian startup has truly made the world a little better by eliminating many of the ugly and unreadable Power Point presentations created by inexperienced users.
You can download the application for free in the App Store.
Numbers
In addition to a tool for creating presentations and for typing text, many users need spreadsheets in the spirit of Microsoft Excel. The best "spreadsheet" service on the iPad is, again, Apple's Numbers app.
This is a very simple and high-quality program. Some professionals may find its capabilities insufficient, but it satisfies the needs of 99 percent of users perfectly.
The program supports complex formulas and can create a variety of graphs and diagrams. Numbers can handle graphs in Excel format. Thus, you can, for example, start making a table in a familiar Microsoft application, and finish it on the iPad.
You can download Numbers for iPad from the App Store.
Useful little things
For most of the services familiar on desktop computers, the iPad has convenient applications that will allow you to practically stop logging into the browser. Firstly, you should be sure to download the clients of the social networks that you use. Push notifications will allow you to always be in touch and know what’s going on with your friends.
For the VKontakte social network, it is best to download the official VKontakte for iPad program. It lags behind the iPhone client in terms of quality (it has already been adapted for iOS 7), however, the App Store does not offer anything better. You can console yourself with the fact that the iPad version, unlike the smartphone version, can cache songs for offline listening.
Also download the Facebook client, it is convenient and quite functional. The best solution for Twitter on iPad is still
If you recently bought or received an Apple tablet as a gift, you probably wondered: What apps should I download on my iPad? Whether it's the iPad Air, iPad mini, or any other model, the possibilities are incredible. In this article I will look at the most interesting and necessary applications for the iPad, and for convenience, I will divide them into thematic categories.
There are, to put it mildly, a lot of applications in the App Store, and choosing the right ones from such a variety is really not the easiest task. In addition, each age category has its own needs and what is suitable for a small child will be completely uninteresting for a teenager.
What to download on iPad if you are a child?
This category is the easiest to understand - developers pay special attention to children's applications, making them as interactive and vibrant as possible. Browse the Kids category in the App Store to find new apps, but for now I recommend the following:
Angry Birds Go! - fun arcade racing with the heroes of the Angry Birds universe in the lead roles. Great replay value, funny characters and several different game modes. Angry Birds Go! is rightfully considered one of the best games for children, despite the fact that it was released quite recently.
Swampy the Crocodile 2 is a puzzle game designed to develop children's thinking. The main character is familiar to all fans of Disney cartoons without exception, which means that playing will be much more fun.
Tap the Frog HD is not a children's game at all, but it will captivate the child from head to toe. The idea of the game is simple - you need to solve various puzzles, the meaning of which often boils down to chaotically clicking on frogs. Delight guaranteed!
What to download on iPad if you are a teenager?
There is nothing special to advise teenagers - they themselves will tell anyone about all the new products in the App Store. However, it would be wrong to bypass this category and I will mention a few applications that may be useful for teenagers:
Procreate is an app for girls and guys with artistic abilities. Procreate allows you to create amazing images, process them with various filters and effects, and then share them on social networks.
Minecraft Pocket Edition is one of the most fun (or even addictive) games on the iPad. The seemingly unimpressive graphics are compensated by the incredibly interesting gameplay, during which you have to build your own unique world and protect it from the zombie invasion.
Star Walk HD is a fantastic educational app that will captivate anyone of any age. Just think - you hold your tablet up to the starry sky, and the location of stars and celestial objects appears on the screen. Amazing app.
What to download on iPad if you are 20 years old?
People in the 20-25 age category are incredibly lucky. After all, right now, ported games from your childhood appear on the iPad almost every month. See for yourself:
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a game that needs no introduction. I just want to say that the port from the PC turned out to be more than successful - you get used to the controls in the game instantly.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is a port of one of the best RPGs in the Star Wars universe. Plunge into the world of whirring lightsabers, explore planets and complete a huge number of tasks. Everything is like the good old days.
Tomb Raider I - the original Tomb Raider recently appeared on the iPad and left two opinions. On the one hand, this is the very first Tomb Raider, which children of the nineties played for days on end. On the other hand, the terrible implementation of controls makes you suffer. But in any case, it’s definitely worth a try!
What to download on iPad if you are 30 years old?
The choice of applications for this age group is not limited by any limits, but there are several interesting applications that are best not to be missed:
Things is an organizer that has been considered the absolute best in the App Store for several years. Convenient to-do lists, customizable calendars, iCloud support and much more. Things will be the ideal solution for organizing dozens of things and will not allow you to forget anything important.
AutoStat is an application that allows you to keep track of your car expenses. An excellent interface, a lot of useful functions and statistics, and most importantly - not a single competitor in the App Store.
Machinarium - it is, of course, necessary to conduct your business correctly, but you should not forget about entertainment. Machinarium is a game for absolutely any age, but it is the 30+ category that can experience all the advantages of the game: magnificent steampunk graphics, fascinating puzzles and an interesting plot will help you forget about your problems at the end of a long day.
What to download on iPad if you are 40 years old?
World of Tanks Assistant is an application that is an indispensable assistant for all fans of the World of Tanks game. Directly from it you can find out detailed statistics of battles, receive information about updates, compare the achievements of other players and much more.
Call of Duty: Strike Team brings true Call of Duty to your iPad. Multiplayer battles, various game modes and quite adequate controls will provide many exciting evenings.
Notability is an app that lets you jot down ideas, make sketches, fill out spreadsheets, and more—the range of features in one app is truly amazing.
What to download on iPad if you are 50 years old or older?
Again, there are no restrictions - it all depends on your preferences and area of employment. However, there is a set of applications that will be as universal as possible for you:
Skype - the most famous video calling application will allow you to always be aware of the lives of your family members, no matter where they are.
Magazines from the Kiosk - it would be wrong to single out any particular newspaper or magazine from the Kiosk. Choose the publications you are interested in, subscribe and find out the latest news before others.
Voice translator is an ideal travel assistant. The application will help you instantly translate a phrase into 25 languages and help you out in any situation that happens to you abroad.
Of course, these lists do not claim to be the ideal choice for each individual user, but I am sure you will definitely find something interesting for yourself.
Every app is pure gold.
Thanks to Apple, 2017 was marked by a revolution in the field of mobile applications. Apple has extensively updated the App Store and made available unique tools for developers to create applications using augmented reality, whose potential has only just begun to unfold. However, in addition to applications with augmented reality, many cool applications have been released in the App Store over the past 12 months. Which iPhone and iPad apps stood out the most in 2017? This article has collected the best applications that every user needs to know about.
Affinity Photo (RUB 1,150)
Affinity Photo is a powerful photo editing tool released in 2017 exclusively for iPad. Affinity Photo is a graphics editor designed specifically for artists and photographers who enjoy working on the iPad. The application is distinguished by the highest speed, intuitive interface and a huge range of professional tools.
Moreover, the latter is not an exaggeration. Every tool you'd expect to find in a photo editing app, be it unlimited layers, RAW format support, histogram information, and more, is available in Affinity Photo. In addition, the application includes tools for quick retouching, support for an advanced brush engine with support for custom brushes, and a wide range of painting tools. All this allowed Affinity Photo to receive the title of the best iPad app of 2017 according to Apple. And we will not argue with this statement.
IKEA Place (free)
2017 turned out to be an incredibly important year for the mobile application industry due to the launch of Apple's developer tools - ARKit, which allow you to create amazing applications with support for augmented reality. After the launch of ARKit, thousands of applications using augmented reality appeared in the App Store, but due to the novelty of the technology, not all of them turned out to be useful to use.
The IKEA Place application from the Finnish company IKEA can definitely be called really useful. It gives users the opportunity to see how a particular piece of IKEA furniture would look right in your home. Yes, IKEA Place is not a perfect application and cannot be used every day, but an application with augmented reality support had to be on the list of the best applications of the year. Although, one is probably not enough.
AirMeasure (free)
In 2017, the developers of the AirMeasure application, a universal set of tools for measuring real-world objects using augmented reality, distinguished themselves greatly. The application allows you to measure anything from small objects to people and buildings. Using iPhone!
And measure with high accuracy. Every iPhone user will definitely need the AirMeasure app at least once.
Things 3 (749 rubles)
Things 3 is the latest version of the popular task list app. However, Things is not only a popular application, but also, perhaps, the best of its kind. In 2017, the developers of Things once again improved their brainchild by reworking the design. Moreover, they did it in such an amazing way that literally not a single user had any complaints about the update.
On the contrary, users were delighted with Things 3. A clearer and more beautiful interface, a quick search function for content throughout the application and a unique “magic” button for adding new tasks in the fastest way did not leave fans of the utility indifferent.
Astro Mail (free)
Most likely, you have not heard of Astro Mail. The application has not (yet) gained much popularity in the CIS countries, mainly due to the fact that it has not been translated into Russian. However, Astro Mail is a unique application. It is an email app that uses artificial intelligence to separate important emails from junk emails. The idea of the Astro Mail developers turned out to be not only original, but also effective. Artificial intelligence actually manages to track letters that are not at all important and does not bother the user by displaying them.
By the way, even without this artificial intelligence supervision, Astro Mail is an excellent email application. It has all the necessary functions, from tracking specific conversations and sending scheduled emails, to the ability to unsubscribe from mailings, archiving messages and Slack support.
Spark by Readdle (free)
On the other hand, it will be very difficult for Astro Mail to win the love of users. The company Readdle, adored by millions, has powerfully updated its own email application Spark, which also added a feature for tracking important and not so important emails with artificial intelligence.
This feature, coupled with a refreshed interface, lots of new features, and an incredibly beautiful design, makes Spark one of the best email apps available for iPhone and iPad.
Telegram X (free)
At the end of the year, the developers of the popular Telegram messenger pleased users with a new version of the application created specifically for iOS devices. Written in the Apple Swift programming language, Telegram X is the fastest and most energy-efficient Telegram client that will forever remain exclusive to iPhone and iPad.
The difference with the regular Telegram application is huge. Telegram X not only quickly responds to every user action, but also has minimal impact on the battery. the site conducted testing and experimentally found that for the same time, regular Telegram consumes 15% of the iPhone’s battery charge, and Telegram X only 2%. If you use Telegram, then installing it is a must.
Clips (free)
Apple also announced a great new application in 2017. The Clips app lets you create fun little videos with artistic filters, emojis, music, stickers, animated text, and most importantly, live titles and subtitles. Users can create live titles and subtitles for videos using voice. The text is generated automatically as the user speaks the phrases, perfectly following the rhythm.
The Clips application is very simple and convenient to use, which is what distinguishes Apple's development from other similar editors.
Selfissimo! (for free)
At the end of the year, Google presented a great surprise to selfie fans, and just photography lovers. Google has released the Selfissimo! app for iPhone and iPad, offering a very original way to take pictures - something never before seen in any app.
Selfissimo!, which is based on a specially trained neural network, takes a photo of a person with the front camera every time he poses. The app very accurately tracks the movements of a user or even a group of people in a frame, and automatically takes a photo when people pose for a photo. What's most amazing is Selfissimo! knows how to identify animals in the frame! Breakthrough of the year in the selfie genre, no less!
Alice (free)
Fortunately, the list of the best applications did not include the developments of domestic developers. Yandex launched its own voice assistant, Alice, which became part of the Yandex branded application. “Alice” can answer various questions or simply communicate with the user in the best traditions of leading voice assistants. But she does it “our way,” which is why every user is recommended to try “Alice.”
Alice has not been released as a standalone application. It can be accessed from the main Yandex application.
iPad is one of Apple's major technological achievements. A tablet computer for which there is no worthy alternative yet. What makes a device perfect is not only its excellent hardware (excellent IPS screen, battery that lasts 10 hours of video viewing, powerful dual-core processor), but also wonderful software. Very often on forums and social networks you can come across the question “I bought an iPad, what should I install?”. Below you will find useful iPad apps that we recommend. The list is not complete, add your own suggestions.
Reading news
My main way of using the iPad is to read the news. There are a little more than enough RSS clients (both traditional and not so traditional) in the Eppstor. And they all look alike. Here's what I chose:
In my opinion, this is the best RSS reader right now. It seamlessly integrates with Google Reader, synchronizes read and unread news, supports almost all the functionality of Google Reader (you can share articles, mark them with a star, etc., but does not allow you to unsubscribe from the RSS feed from your iPad), allows you to save long and especially valuable texts in Instapaper for delayed reading. It is possible to send a link to Delicious, email and other services. Reeder is clear evidence that Google is not very good with user interfaces: when you read news in Reeder, you read 2-3 times more notes compared to reading through the web interface. [Review | Download ($4.99)]
. Flipboard is a colorful magazine for iPad. You indicate your Twitter and Facebook data, the program “sucks up” all the links that your friends/friends/followers publish and forms a damn attractive magazine from these links. Flipboard has grown a lot lately. Publisher “channels” have appeared here: the best newspapers in the world provide content in an already formatted form. Google Reader support has appeared: now you can read RSS in the form of a magazine. [Review | Download for free)]
Zite. The ambitious startup has set itself a difficult task: to offer the reader only those articles that are personally interesting to him. Zite closely tracks what you read and like. A lot of parameters are taken into account: the topics you prefer, your activity on social networks. Taking these “signals” into account, Zite “lays out” the magazine for you. If you are a reader of Gizmodo, Engadger, Lifehacker, then you have probably noticed that every day blogs write about the same thing. As a result, you have to read one news item several times. Zite actually solved this problem. Minus of Zite - it does not support Russian. [Review | Download for free)]
Everyone faces the problem of lack of time. It happens that in the middle of the working day they send a link to an interesting but long article that you cannot read now. In this case, it is better to add it to the ReadItLater service (you can do this in one click). ReadItLater is not the only such service. Many people use Instapaper. The following points can be attributed in favor of ReadItLater: the presence of a free version (the developer Instapaper removed the free version from the App Store), lower cost of the paid version ($2.99 versus $4.99), the ability to save multi-page articles (Instapaper does not do this for fundamental reasons), brighter prospects (ReadItLater has received funding and is forming an all-star team of programmers). [ | ($2.99)]
The second most popular pattern of using an iPad is communicating with friends. Everything here is quite simple and predictable:
There is still no official Facebook for iPad app. So the choice comes down to two things. Or use a browser, or one of the unofficial clients. Friendly is one of the most successful applications for active Facebook users. The program offers basic features: reading news feeds, changing status, uploading photos from iPad to a social network, chat. Friendly is available in two versions - paid ($0.99) and free. The latter displays advertising. [ | ]
Twitter. Twitter is a very popular microblogging service and social network. There are many clients created to work with it. The official application flaunts an interesting interface; third-party developments offer other features. For example, Echofon Pro ($4.99) automatically syncs unread messages between different devices (iPad, iPhone, Mac - you'll never read the same tweet twice).
IMO.im. There are many instant messaging clients. I use different ones, I don’t have any strong preferences. Lately I’ve been launching IMO.im more often. This messenger supports not only MSN, Jabber/GoogleTalk, Skype, Facebook, ICQ, but even the exotic Steam (communication with gamers) and the popular VKontakte in Russia. [Download for free)]
Skype- official client for the Internet telephony service of the same name. Quite limited in possibilities, but we are happy with this. You can now make calls and chat from your iPad. [Review | Download for free)]
Classmates. Odnoklassniki also has an official iPad application. However, it is far from ideal. We can only hope that the developers will develop the program. [Download for free)]
Reading books and magazines
I mainly use the standard Apple e-reader to read books. I both download books (already immediately in epub) and buy them. The Apple iBookstore is not open in Russia yet, so I use American accounts (I top up my account with Gift cards). [Download for free)]
Unfortunately, the iBooks Store library is weaker than Amazon's. Sometimes I buy books there too. The coolest thing is that the book is on your iPad within a minute after purchase. This is how e-books compare favorably with paper books (hello, Russian Post!). [Download for free)]
Zinio. Client to the service of the same name. Allows you to buy/subscribe to glossy magazines. I haven’t used it lately, but I included it in the selection - the service is useful. [Download for free)]
Education
The iPad is great for self-education. I use the following applications:
TED. TED (which stands for Technology Entertainment and Design) is the most prominent example of education, a form of entertainment that seeks to educate and educate. Among the speakers at the TED conference are Nobel laureates, famous politicians, and stars. They talk about common problems and offer their own solutions. Many people pay thousands of dollars to listen to TED lectures. However, over time, the videos are posted online for free. The official TED for iPad app offers access to a huge archive. You can even download the video in advance so you can watch it on the go, for example. It's also worth paying attention to the TED+SUB app. This program allows you to watch videos with subtitles.
Star Walk And Solar Walk. The Novosibirsk company VITO Technology is developing electronic “space encyclopedias”. The Star Walk program is a digital planetarium. This is the best astronomy reference book available for iPad. Solar Walk is dedicated to the planets of the solar system. Both programs were completed at a high level. The Novosibirsk residents even won the Apple Design Award for their developments. [Star Walk ($4.99) | Solar Walk ($2.99)]
MoMA AB EX NY. I'm far from art (I'm not at all proud of it), but I downloaded the app. I wanted to see what a program produced by one of the leading museums in the world looks like. MoMA offers access to a small portion of its collection of works by abstract expressionist artists. Photographs of the paintings are given in high resolution. You can “zoom in” by looking at the details. Many paintings are provided with audio commentary by the museum curator. There are several videos that explain the basics of art, drawing techniques, and explain basic terms. [Download for free)]
As a child, we don’t like chemistry, preferring physics. However, if I had such an application then, everything could have turned out differently. The Elements is a reimagined periodic table of the elements. Interactive textbook about chemical elements. Colorful illustrations and a huge amount of valuable information fade somewhat against the background of the fact that there is no Russian language. [Download ($13.99]
You can read Wikipedia, of course, without any applications. But from an aesthetic point of view, Wikipedia articles do not look very good. All these endless footnotes are useful to researchers. And when you just want to read articles from the encyclopedia, they are of little use. Articles turns Wiki into an encyclopedia that's fun to read. The application once won the Apple Design Award, and deservedly so. [Download ($4.99)]
Skeleton System Pro II. The company 3D4Medical produces applications that help better understand the human structure. This company's programs use 3D visualization. As a result, you can examine every organ, every vertebra. [Download ($19.99)]
Job
A simple application for writing texts. The main feature is synchronizing documents between devices using the Dropbox service. Support for the Russian language and its free nature make the program even more attractive. [Download for free)]
iWork. For those who need more text editing capabilities and who need document design tools, it is worth paying attention to the iWork application suite. Numbers, Keynote, and Pages are available on the App Store for $10 per app. [Numbers | Pages | Keynote ]
For iPad/Wunderlist. We cannot ignore the topic of task managers. There are many of them for iPad. The most advanced, in my opinion, is Omnifocus. The main advantage of the application is the Forecast mode, which shows your employment for the coming week. Parting with $40 for a task manager is not easy. As a free alternative, we recommend Wunderlist, which has versions for iPad, iPhone, OS X, Windows and Android (note that it has cloud synchronization). [ ($39.99) | Wunderlist (free)]
Evernote has a pretty good iPad version. You can make text and audio notes, all data is synchronized between different devices. [Download for free)]
Watch video
OPlayer HD. When watching videos on an iPad, things are not entirely simple. If you want to watch a video that is not encoded in H.264, then the files will have to be re-encoded. But there is a second option - to use a player on the iPad that understands different file formats and codecs. There are really a lot of players in the App Store that promise to play absolutely everything. Most of them either have a monstrous interface (a real disaster) or lack some important functionality. As a result, if you need to upload a video file with one track and no subtitles to your iPad, then you should pay attention to Azul ($1.99). You won't waste time recoding. If it's important to you to be able to switch between tracks and subtitles on the fly, then OPlayer HD ($4.99) is worth purchasing.
Air Video. If your computer (it doesn’t matter, Mac or PC) is constantly running, then you can stream video from it directly to your iPad. This is convenient because you don’t need to convert the video. Let's say you can watch the new episode of The Big Bang Theory over breakfast. You can organize such a broadcast using Air Video. The program is installed on your computer and iPad. There is a free version. Very convenient application. [Air Video FREE | Air Video]
IMDb for iPad. I love cinema, I rate the films I watch on IMDb, there is also a watchlist - a list of films that I would like to watch. The IMDb app is one of the reasons to love the service. Simple, convenient, functional, free. [
Apple's first tablet turned seven this year. A major milestone in the company's history, it changed the way we look at laptop computing, and Steven Jobs promised the imminent death of the netbook and a formidable new laptop competitor. The revolution took place, but no one intended to give up their position. Well, even the public didn’t know how to react to the “big iPhone,” the meaning of which remained unclear for a long time. Now, in 2017, tablets are losing relevance, increasingly giving way to smartphones, whose screens are becoming larger.
What about the iPad, which sparked the tablet boom? This was the first pancake. It was a large, heavy device, which a year later was replaced by the much more portable iPad 2. Already in 2011, it was announced that the production of first-generation devices would stop. Without having time to really make itself known, the first model was scrapped.
In general, Apple didn't show much respect for their revolutionary device. While the iPad 2 became a landmark device that was supported for several years, the original was not only canceled after a year, but was not supported systemically. Released on iPhone OS 3.2, it could be updated to iOS 5.1.1. And then that’s it. Any person familiar with Apple technology understands that the lack of updates to the operating system of an Apple device leads to its stagnation and death. That's what happened here too. But let's talk in more detail about what happened to the legendary device.
iPad now
Operating system (originally): iPhone OS 3.2
CPU: Apple A4 1 GHz
Flash memory: 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB
Display: 9.7", 1024x768, LED-backlit IPS, Multitouch compatible
Net: WiFi (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR technology
Input Output: dock connector, 3.5 mm stereo jack, speaker, microphone
Battery: built-in, 25 Wh, lithium polymer
Dimensions: 242.8 × 189.7 × 13.4 mm
Weight: 680 g
I have been using the device for a long time, almost from the moment it appeared. There is no doubt that at that time there were practically no competitors. Android didn't seem particularly attractive, and no one could beat the proprietary design and metal body. Well, the screen - it looked bright and clear, and everything else seemed to fade in comparison.
The tablet had many useful applications built into it, in particular from Google. So, there was a proprietary application for YouTube and Google maps, which the company was completely satisfied with. We all remember the fiasco with the launch of the company’s own cards, but then there were no such ambitions. The original application, by the way, still works, albeit slowly. I can't say the same about YouTube.
Simply put, the tablet coped with its responsibilities remarkably well. But every year it looked more and more like an antique. And in many ways, this is the fault of Apple, which did not update the device beyond iOS 5, and therefore the tablet was “cut off” from all modern applications. At first, this did not seem like such a problem for those who had already acquired everything they needed, but soon the situation became difficult to ignore, as one after another, applications began to refuse support for older versions.
Such an aggressive policy in the App Store remains widespread: just remember Skype, which was first updated to a new version that was not accepted with hostility, and then stopped supporting the old one. In general, the App Store often seemed less liberal than Google Play.
What could the iPad be used for? A wide range of applications were available on it. You could use text editors, watch movies, listen to music and surf the Internet. But almost all of this is now either impossible or problematic, especially if you use a modern device. Let's go in order.
Internet
There is no doubt that the majority bought the device in order to surf the Internet comfortably. The large screen allows you to watch full-fledged, rather than mobile versions of sites. The text is clear and understandable - which is important given the unimpressive characteristics of smartphones at the time.
When I started using it, I really noticed that using the Internet is very convenient. There is no need to turn on the computer or wait for it to launch – everything is always open on the tablet. But in 2017, this functionality almost completely ceased to exist. How so? The fact is that while the Internet was developing, the iPad stood still.
For a long time I tried in vain to access the site both from the built-in Safari and from other browsers - for example, Chrome. But I was disappointed. The site loaded almost completely, and then crashed. The same thing happens to many others. Based on some criteria, the tablet decides what it can digest and what it cannot. It “eats” old-fashioned unloaded pages, but everything else is not very good. This means that it can access forums, which, in general, have not changed at all, but social networks and most modern sites are beyond its capabilities. Constant crashes are downright annoying, and soon you completely stop even trying to go anywhere. Browsers also stopped updating, so there is not much choice in this matter.
Thus, we found out that the tablet no longer fulfills its main function. It is a thing of the past, and has not kept up with the fashion trends that have transformed the Internet in recent years.
The problem can be circumvented if applications of certain sites are installed. For example, I can comfortably surf Wikipedia, for which I have the Wikipanion application installed. For news, I have always used two applications - Zite, which died two years ago, and Flipboard, which miraculously continues to work. But you won’t be able to read everything - most sources upload content in the form of a website, which, again, turns out to be too much for a tablet.
The main disappointment awaited me with YouTube. The most important video service, for which even a special application was created, worked as expected for a long time, but at some point Google announced the end of support for older applications. This controversial decision led to the fact that thousands of devices unable to update to the latest version were left without support for the service. There was only one thing left to do - go to the mobile version of the site. But this, as you know, is inconvenient. As an alternative, an official application was offered, which, in general, was also decent and worked without any problems. Until it stopped.
This happened about a year and a half or two ago, and now the tablet is left without the ability to watch YouTube at all - not counting the often stuttering mobile site.
Tricks
It is known that if the device is considered inApple too old, it is no longer updated. In this regard, users lose the opportunity to install new applications, which quickly lose support for older OSes. At some point, the company introduced a useful workaround for those who cannot update, but want to install a previously purchased application. It works like this: when you try to install the application, the latest supported version is downloaded. But only if the application has already been purchased.
Thus, even if I update my tablet to version 5iOS, I can't downloadYouTubebecause it no longer supports my version. But there is a trick: install it on your computeriTunes, and there we click “download application”. The application begins to download on your PC, but the download can be canceled. Now if you go toApp Store fromiPad, you can click onYouTube, and the latest available version will start downloading, since the system believes that you have already purchased it before. This is just an example: now on the firstiPad no apps work forYouTube.
Watch video
The iPad's screen looks dated by modern standards (1024 × 768 px 132 PPI), but this is usually noticeable when reading text. In the case of video, no problems are noticed - the screen is still bright and pleasant. But can a tablet be called a convenient device for watching videos? I'm not sure here.
The fact is that the device completely refuses to work with traditional video formats like MKV or AVI. By downloading third-party programs, you can make them work, but certainly with brakes. It's especially bad for high-quality films - programs simply don't support AC3, or require you to pay extra for them. As a result, many videos end up without sound. But it wasn’t always like this: it happened that the application was updated and simply lost the ability to read AC3 - and you can’t get anything back. Another example of how things are sometimes done in the App Store. So how to watch? There are several solutions, but none can be called convenient.
The simplest thing is to download files in the native m4v or mp4 format. These formats are not popular on the Russian-language Internet, but in the West they are quite common. For the rest, you’ll have to use the conversion tool. Personally, I can recommend the free MkvToMp4 for such a task.
Files can be transferred using iTunes to PC. In general, this is a labor-intensive process. However, if you are not lazy, the device turns out to be a good portable player, capable of showing about four films before running out, maybe even more. It displays converted files perfectly – subtitles are also supported.
As for streaming services, you need to look at them separately. Last time I checked, Netflix was supported and showed 720p video without any problems. If you want, you can turn your iPad into a machine for watching Netflix, but it's hard to say when support will end. Iron can, but it's not enough.
Reading
The large screen makes it easy to read both at home and on the subway or train. The iBooks app works great with the epub format. Inside there are font settings, and even a built-in explanatory dictionary - however, only for the English language. I've always loved this app, and after moving from Apple I missed it for a long time.
The tablet can easily digest any book, but for more specific formats like fb2 you will have to look for other applications. But I warn you: after the modern screen, you won’t be able to read comfortably from an iPad. The screen is large, but clearly visible pixels cannot help but catch your eye. This greatly spoils the impression of the whole process, but there is nothing you can do about it. Another problem is the rather noticeable weight of the device - 680 grams. (for the version without 3G) or 730 g. (with 3G). Many people will find it frankly inconvenient to read on the subway while holding the device in one hand. I guarantee you won't last long. Although, over the past three years I have seen several such passengers - the iPad is still alive, no matter what.
Job
Over the life of the iPad, many applications have been released that expand its functionality. For example, there were many decent text editors, applications for drawing, music creation, and so on. At one time, I comfortably recorded lectures on it. All this is possible now, but finding suitable applications can be problematic. The iPad doesn't like heavy tasks - it tends to crash.
Music lovers may find GarageBand, which was released for the iPad 2, but ran here with almost no problems. Otherwise, I have a hard time seeing how anyone would get work done on such an old device. There are many inexpensive alternatives on the market with a wide range of features.
Communication
I immediately draw your attention to the fact that there are no cameras here at all. Therefore, you can’t really play around with photographs, and you can’t shoot a video. You don’t have to think about any Skype - as I already said, support for older versions has long been discontinued. But the Messages app still works if you want to talk to other Apple device owners. If you managed to install the client for ICQ (or did it with a trick), then it will work. Alas, even the omnivorous Telegram only works with iOS 6.0. You can use email - the built-in client is still showing signs of life.
This functionality is, of course, limited.
Conclusion. What can you use an iPad for in 2017?
The iPad is a very durable device that has amazingly preserved not only its appearance after many years of being carried around in a bag, but also its battery, which even now allows you to watch several movies. The screen has not lost its former qualities, and the desktop still works smoothly.
But as far as functionality is concerned, there is little left. It is almost impossible to surf the Internet without constant crashes and the nerves associated with them, and videos require pre-processing. Services like YouTube, Skype and others stopped working. Sometimes there are ways around it, but they cannot be called convenient. The tablet still works as an e-reader - if you don't mind the archaic display and significant weight of the device. This is how Netflix works for now, but this could change at any time.
I know that many people buy iPads second-hand and give them to their children. I understand why: the tablet seems indestructible, although its weight, again, is not something everyone can handle. But even children will be able to do little with it, and cartoons will have to be uploaded to it themselves via cables and iTunes.
Can I use the 2017 iPad? Hardly. It can do some things, but all this can be done on a budget tablet that will not be burdened with the old OS.
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