Top 10 iPad 2 apps
Our picks of the best free and paid-for apps for the iPad 2 and iPad
Price: £2.99
Rating: 5/5
GoodReader describes itself as an app for reading PDFs on the iPad, but it’s so much more than that. Yes, it’s true that it is excellent at handling and zooming in on PDFs for reading, but you can also annotate and highlight documents in a variety of ways, including marking up areas with your finger, or creating pop-up comments that appear in desktop PDF readers as well. Full text searching is supported, and you can read any type of PDF, whether a user manual, book, map, or anything.
It doesn’t just support PDFs, either: .txt, .doc, .ppt, .xls, iWork 08/09, high-resolution images, plus audio and video files are also supported. One of the reasons GoodReader is so useful is that it doesn’t require iTunes to get those files onto your iPad. It supports synchronisation with a variety of services including Dropbox, SugarSync and iDisk, plus any FTP, WebDAV or SFTP server – either via USB or Wi-Fi.
Last, but not least, you can manage files in much the way you would on a Mac or PC. You can copy, delete and move files, create folders, zip and email documents, unzip them and even send them to other apps.
GoodReader is regularly updated with new features, making the low price even better value.
GoodReader is a fantastic app for managing a variety of different kinds of files on your iPad
Price: £3.99
Rating:5/5
SimCity is a blast from the past, and provides a spot of retro gaming – perfect for most iPad owners who will no doubt have played the game as kids. As Mayor of the city, it’s your job to make sure things run smoothly. You also get to do the city planning, so you can design the road systems and where the residential, commercial and industrial areas go.
As it’s designed for the iPad, this version makes full use of the big screen and the graphics are superb. Better still, you can pinch to zoom and move around your city with the flick of a finger: far superior to a keyboard and mouse!
You can start from scratch, or choose one of seven starter cities, based on famous places, and complete with landmarks. Add scenarios, such as hosting the ‘World Games’ plus classic disasters such as meteor strikes and locust plagues, SimCity should appeal to both serious and casual fans.
SimCity is perfect for reliving those childhood gaming years
1. GarageBand
Price: £2.99
Rating:5/5
For less than the cost of a pint of Guiness, GarageBand is incredible value. It lets you play a variety of instruments – actually play them, rather than program them to play – including piano, acoustic and electric guitars, plus drums and bass. There’s even a sampler, so you can record a sound with the iPad’s mic and immediately play it on a piano.
Initially we were sceptical about how it would transition from the Mac to the iPad, but as soon as we started to use it, it was obvious that it was complete genius. Even if you can’t play the instrument in real life, you’ll be able to in GarageBand. Plus, even if you’re not interested in creating multi-track songs, there’s still an immense amount of fun to be had mucking around with the instruments.
They can all be played ‘manually’ but also automatically play. For example, you can pick a note, strum a chord, or have automatic strumming or picking. There’s a set of chords that work well together for each key, so it’s almost impossible to hit a bum note.
What’s more amazing is the sheer quality of the sounds – almost good enough to release a record with. Whether you’re seriously trying to put ideas together for a song, or just want a bit of fun, GarageBand is the answer.
GarageBand is even more fun to play with on the iPad than on the Mac
We hope you enjoyed reading about this selection of apps… feel free to suggest any we missed.