In the months since the iPad’s launch, App developers have been hard at work making use of the extra size and features of Apple’s largest iOS device. In that time the iPad has seen wide adoption, from consumers using iPad for browsing and entertainment in their homes, to being deeply integrated into forward thinking businesses. With people using iPad in so many different ways, the array of Apps available to iPad users is staggering. Amidst the smorgasbord of software for sale on the App Store, there are some Apps that stand out in their utility, functionality, and ease of use that have made their permanent home on my iPad.
Jump Desktop - $19.99 – iPad / iPhone
Jump Desktop is one of a growing stable of Apps designed to let you control remote computers over the internet. Managing a desktop operating system like Mac OS X Snow Leopard or Windows 7 on a touchscreen device can be frustrating, but Jump Desktop makes it easy with one touch connections and secure automatic login to your Atomic-powered virtual server. With just a tap to launch the app and one to select your connection, a few seconds later you’ll be logged in and looking at your remote computer’s desktop. Jump is only able to connect to one server at a time, but multiple connections to many different machines can be stored and accessed as easily as just one. For the $19.99 price you get both the iPad App and the iPhone / iPod App, but the extra screen real estate and larger keyboard on the iPad make working with remote servers far easier on it than using your iPhone. Installing this App on my iPad allowed me to leave my laptop behind and travel lighter much more often, confident that I can still access any resource I need in a far more portable, user-friendly manner.
Penultimate - $2.99 – iPad only
When I first picked up my iPad, one of the Apps I searched for almost immediately was a virtual legal pad or notebook that I could sketch out ideas or make handwritten notes in easily and quickly. Multiple Apps came and went trying to fill that need, until Penultimate appeared early this summer. Working best in portrait mode, Penultimate gives you a notebook page ready to take whatever notes, drawings or scribbles you want. If your page fills up, simply add another one and keep working. Each virtual notebook can have countless pages, and each page or the whole book can be instantly shared via email to anyone you like. You’re also able to keep multiple notebooks, to help you keep individual groups of ideas separate. The best feature has to be wrist protection, allowing you to write normally on the display using a capacitive stylus (like the Pogo Stylus, available at the Apple Store) without having to worry about your wrist or palm making stray marks all over your document. Using Penultimate, I’ve been able to replace the multitude of physical notepads that used to clutter my desk with my iPad; so wherever I go my notes come along, ready to be added to or shared with anyone at a moments notice.
Photoshop Express - Free – iPad / iPhone
Most of the functions people need an image editor for day-to-day are quite simple: rotating, cropping, color and exposure correction. Adobe brings those tools, plus basic filters, borders, and FaceBook uploading to the iPad with Photoshop Express. Easy, finger friendly controls and nonexistent price make it an attractive companion to the iPad Camera Connection Kit and your digital camera; making it simple to edit, store and share photos using only your iPad on a vacation or short trip. And if you want to get a little more creative, another free Adobe Ideas app allows you to paint and draw over your photos after you’ve edited them.
The iPad is still young, and it’s ecosystem of Apps is growing larger every day as people find new and innovative ways to use it. Look for iPad Apps to reach a new level when iOS 4 comes to the device later this year.
