Best iPad apps: The ultimate guide

Many intuitive and useful iOS apps are available specifically for the iPad.

While most iOS apps do support the iPad, there are thousands of great apps in the Apple App Store that are meant to run on bigger screens (aka the iPad). Whether you want one for illustrating or writing essays or gaming, you have a multitude of options. There are so many it can be hard to decide which are worth trying. But we at Pocket-lint have been using the iPad (in its many sizes and models) faithfully since 2010.

That means we know which apps are amazing. To help clue you in, we've assembled this ultimate guide of the best iPad apps. We've arranged everything by category, too, so it should be easy to find the perfect app for your tablet.

If you want to know find great apps for the iPhone, we have a guide on that here.

Best iPad apps

AR and VR (non-games)

IKEA Place

IKEA Place lets you virtually see 3D, true-to-scale IKEA products in your space. It includes most of IKEA's catalogue, like sofas and chairs, and helps you to better understand the furniture’s size, design, and functionality in your home.

Try it now: Ikea Place

Ink Hunter

AR can help you plan your next tattoo! InkHunter lets you preview what a tattoo might look like on your skin. Just draw a marker on yourself, and point your device camera on marker, and the app will show the design at every angle.

Try it now: Ink Hunter

Giphy World

This AR-powered app lets you overlay GIFs onto the real world and share your creations with friends. Imagine drawing in the air with cat GIFs. 

Try it now: Giphy World

MeasureKit

Although Apple now offers a Measure app directly in iOS, there are alternatives, like MeasureKit, which has nine AR tools: Ruler, Magnetometer, Trajectory, Face Mesh, Marker Pin, Angles, Person Height, Cube, and Level.

Try it now: MeasureKit

Star Walk

Star Walk is a popular stargazing app. It's an interactive guide to the night sky, following your every movement in real-time and allowing you to explore over 200,000 celestial bodies and get access to information about anything you find.

Try it now: Star Walk

Vuforia Chalk

Vuforia Chalk combines live video, audio, and the ability for a remote person to annotate their live view. Annotations accurately stick to real-world objects, even when people move around. Imagine, for instance, using this as a field technician.

Try it now: Vuforia Chalk

Cloud storage

Apple iCloud Drive

This is Apple's own cloud storage service. Documents, media, and folders that you store in iCloud Drive stay up to date across all of your Apple devices, so you can access them from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC, and on iCloud.com. You get 5GB of space for free to start.

Try it now: iCloud Drive

Dropbox

Dropbox lets you store files and folders to the cloud and share them, scan docs, and collaborate with others, with everything safely synced across all your devices - so you can access it anytime, anywhere. You get 2GB of space for free to start.

Try it now: Dropbox

Google Drive

Google Drive is similar to Dropbox, only you get 15GB free to start, and it directly supports Google's entire product portfolio. You can see your Google Photos or Google Docs files, for instance, and invite others to view, edit, or leave comments.

Try it now: Google Drive

Microsoft OneDrive

Those of you who are more tied to Microsoft's ecosystem (maybe you have a Windows 10 PC or use Office apps), should get OneDrive. It lets you access and share your documents, photos, and other files from your iOS device and computer (PC or Mac).

Try it now: Microsoft OneDrive

Dating and relationships

OKCupid

OKCupid is all about rich profiles, where you can show off your personality and interests. You can answer thousands of questions about yourself, or just a few, and it algorithm will helps you connect with people who share your passions.

Try it now: OKCupid

Grindr

Grindr is a social networking and chat app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people. It's not as fully featured or pretty as, say, Tinder, but it's still the No. 1 option for the LGBTQ community.

Try it now: Grindr

Finance

YNAB

YNAB claims to help you "break the paycheck to paycheck cycle, get out of debt, and save more money". Apparently, on average, new users save $600 in the first two months, and more than $6,000 in the first year. First 30 days of use are free.

Try it now: YNAB

Mint

Want to see how you spend your money? Mint is the free money management and financial tracker app that brings together your bank accounts, credit cards, bills, and investments and see what you’re spending and where you can save money.

Try it now: Mint

Robinhood

Robinhood lets you buy and sell stocks and exchange-traded funds without paying a commission. You can start a portfolio and invest in your favourite companies. Like Acorns, it's meant for novice investors who want to buy and trade.

Try it now: Robinhood

Venmo

Venmo is like Square Cash, but with a social layer. You can add notes to your payments for others to see, and like or comment on friends’ stories.

Try it now: Venmo

Games

Leo's Fortune

Leo's Fortune is an adorable platforming game with gorgeous stages and graphics, smart puzzles, a whimsical story, and a little fluff ball you can make float or sink to reach gold coins. It's a refreshing break from side scrollers.

Try it now: Leo's Fortune

Invisible, Inc.

Invisible, Inc. is a turn-based stealth game that generates complex levels you must navigate through to evade enemies and complete objectives. You control 10 different characters on various missions, with loads of customisation options.

Try it now: Invisible, Inc.

Minecraft: Pocket Edition

Microsoft's hugely popular Minecraft game is available on every console and platform, including the iPad. With it, you can explore, mine, and craft away in a blocky 3D pixelated environment, letting your imagination run wild.

Try it now: Minecraft

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery

This is an adventure game with an odd, spooky story as well as a great soundtrack. It's pitched as a game where you traverse a mythic little realm, battle, and evoke sorcery - all while cooperating with friends via Twitter. Seriously.

Try it now: Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery

Stranger Things

Love the Netflix Original series? Us too. Now, with the game, you can travel through Hawkins and use characters' weapons to battle enemies, do quests, and solve the latest supernatural mystery in everyone's favourite 80s town.

Try it now: Stranger Things

Mini Metro

Now you can finally fix the subway. Well, technically, Mini Metro will let you try to create your own subway system. It's a minimalist, yet complex, game with mind-boggling, head-scratching puzzles you got to figure out.

Try it now: Mini Metro

Red's Kingdom

Red's Kingdom is an adventure puzzle game with a sweet story and wonderful gameplay. Mad King Mac has kidnapped your father and stolen your golden nut! You need to explore and battle your way through the kingdom.

Try it now: Red's Kingdom

FTL: Faster Than Light

In FTL, you run a spaceship and try to save the galaxy, with every encounter presenting a unique challenge with multiple solutions. Each play-through will feature different enemies, events, and results to your decisions.

Try it now: FTL

Sid Meier's Civilization VI

It's Civ! You can have the full Sid Meier’s Civilization experience in your pocket. Download now and play your first 60 turns for free.

Try it now: Sid Meier's Civilization VI

Darkest Dungeon: Tablet Edition

Darkest Dungeon is a challenging turn-based RPG about the psychological stresses. You must recruit, train, and lead a team through twisted forests, crypts, and beyond, all while battling stress, famine, disease, and the dark.

Try it now: Darkest Dungeon: Tablet Edition

The Room: Old Sins

Here is another challenging puzzle game with a captivating story: the sudden disappearance of an engineer and his wife provokes the hunt for a precious artifact that leads to the discovery of an old, unsettling dollhouse.

Try it now: The Room: Old Sins

80 Days

With this game, you race around the globe in 80 Days or less, traveling by airship, submarine, mechanical camel, steam-train, and more.

Try it now: 80 Days

Hitman GO

Hitman GO is a turn-based strategy game where you navigate fixed spaces on a grid to avoid enemies and take out your target.

Try it now: Hitman GO

NEO Scavenger

NEO Scavenger is a game where you must survive in the wasteland. And with each passing minute, you weaken and must choose your starting abilities carefully, "because they and your wit are the only tools you have".

Try it now: NEO Scavenger

The Witness

Ever wonder what it'd be like to wake up, alone, on a strange island? Now you can, but with puzzles that will challenge and surprise you.

Try it now: The Witness

Papers Please

The communist state of Arstotzka has just ended a six-year war with its neighbor. Your job as immigration inspector is to control the flow of people entering while also deciding who will be turned away or arrested.

Try it now: Papers Please

Alto's Odyssey

This is a sequel app to Odyssey Adventure. You play the role of a snowboarder, flying down an endless, gorgeous landscape. While Adventure had players on a cold mountain, Odyssey throws in some pastures and desert landscapes.

Try it now: Alto's Odyssey

Clash Royale

Clash Royale is a tower rush game in which you can duel players from around the world in real-time in both 1v1 and 2v2 Battles. The objective (three minutes into the game) is to destroy opposing towers as well as the "King tower".

Try it now: Clash Royale

Fortnite

This is a Battle Royale game where you squad up and compete to be the last one standing in 100-player PvP. You're supposed to build cover, battle your opponents, and survive the longest to earn your victory.

Try it now: Fortnite

HQ Trivia

HQ Trivia a popular live game show where you can win real cash prizes. Every day, you tune into the HQ live show to answer trivia questions, which range from easy to hard, and see if you can win cash.

Try it now: HQ Trivia

Hearthstone

With this card battler, you're the hero who uses cards to "sling spells, summon minions, and seize control" of the battlefield. You can jump right in, build your deck, hone your skills, and fight for glory in the Arena and duel players.

Try it now: Hearthstone

LEGO AR Studio

LEGO AR Studio is an AR app that lets you play with virtual LEGO toys and sets in your real-world environment. You can move and position everything, learn details about your set, and try movie-making. You control the entire experience.

Try it now: LEGO AR Studio

Monument Valley

This is a sequel to 2014's Monument Valley. It's an indie puzzle game, where the goal is to guide Ro and her child through mazes, optical illusions, and impossible objects in order to complete the puzzle.

Try it now: Monument Valley

Pokemon Go

This game put mobile AR experiences on the map in 2016. It allows you to be a Trainer who can search for Pokemon in the real-world, as well as do catching, hatching, evolving, and more. You can even compete in epic gym battles.

Try it now: Pokemon Go

PUBG Mobile

This is a Fortnite-like Battle Royal game in which 100 players parachute onto a remote island. Players have to locate and scavenge their own weapons, vehicles, and supplies, and defeat every player to be the last one standing.

Try it now: PUBG Mobile

Threes

Threes is an indie puzzle game where the player slides numbered tiles on a grid to combine addends and multiples of three. The game ends when there are no moves left on the grid and the tiles are counted for a final score.

Try it now: Threes

Health and fitness

Glow

Clue on the iPhone is our No. 1 suggestion, but Glow is a nice alternative on iPad. It has a menstrual and ovulation calculator that also helps women learn about their fertility, whether avoiding or attempting pregnancy.

Try it now: Glow

C25K

C25K is another Couch to 5K program. Like the others, it mixes running and walking, gradually building up your strength and stamina.

Try it now: C25K

Fertility Friend

Fertility Friend is another fertility tracker. It has an advanced ovulation calculator, menstrual calendar, fertility chart, and period tracker. Its aim is to help you get pregnant, with personalised trying-to-conceive tips and analysis.

Try it now: Fertility Friend

Headspace

Headspace is a guided meditation app. The basics course is completely free and will teach you the fundamental techniques of meditation and mindfulness. After that, with a subscription, you can access the full Headspace meditation library.

Try it now: Headspace

Lose it!

Lose It! is a weight loss program. You simply download the app, set your goal, and track the foods to lose weight.

Try it now: Lose it!

MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal, which is integrated with Under Armour's apps and devices, helps you track food, create goals, log exercise, and get support.

Try it now: MyFitnessPal

Pocket Yoga

Pocket Yoga will guide you through an entire Yoga session. It offers different ones with varying difficulty and helps you to learn all the poses.

Try it now: Pocket Yoga

Sleep Cycle

Sleep Cycle is an intelligent alarm clock that tracks your sleep patterns and decides to when to wake you up in light sleep - the natural way.

Try it now: Sleep Cycle

Daily Yoga

Daily Yoga offers over 500 asanas, 200 guided classes of yoga, pilates, and meditation, 50 workout plans, and even coaches workshops.

Try it now: Daily Yoga

Music

Apple Music

This is Apple's music subscription service built into its devices. With it, you can stream practically any tune you've ever wanted to hear.

Try it now: Apple Music

GarageBand

Apple's GarageBand turns your iPad and iPad into a recording studio, so you can create and mix music - or even be a DJ - while on the go.

Try it now: GarageBand

Pandora

Pandora is a classic music app that's basically a digital radio. It lets you create stations from your favorite songs, artists, or genres.

Try it now: Pandora

SoundCloud

SoundCloud is a music and audio streaming platform, with over 180 million tracks. It lets you upload audio and find new music, all in one place.

Try it now: SoundCloud

Spotify

Spotify is like Apple Music, only it's not tied to Apple devices, and there is a freemium tier that lets you listen to stations and playlists with ads.

Try it now: Spotify

Security

1Password

This is a password manager. It remembers all your passwords for you, lets you generate passwords, and easily signs you in to sites and apps.

Try it now: 1Password

NordVPN

Traveling to a foreign country? Or just want to browse in peace at home? With this app, you can enjoy safe and private internet access and secure your Wi-Fi connections against various cyber threats. There's a free trial to start.

Try it now: NordVPN

Onion browser

Onion Browser is the original free and open-source Tor-powered web browser that helps you access the internet with more safety and privacy.

Try it now: Onion browser

Shopping

Amazon

We all know what Amazon is - and with this app, you can easily shop it from your mobile device. It even lets you access Alexa and scan products.

Try it now: Amazon

ASOS

The ASOS app claims to be home to more than 850 brands and over 85,000 products (mostly clothing). It offers free delivery and return options.

Try it now: ASOS

Etsy

Interested in buying or browsing handmade, vintage, and one-of-a-kind goods? Then you need to use Etsy.

Try it now: Etsy

Houzz

Houzz is your one-stop shop for improving and designing your home. Browse inspirational photos, view and buy products, hire and collaborate with professionals, get advice, read articles, and more with this handy home decor app.

Try it now: Houzz

IKEA Catalogue

Want to browse IKEA's latest product catalogue, create a mood board, and test out IKEA furniture in your space? Look no further.

Try it now: IKEA catalogue

Overstock

Overstock is like Amazon, but it's Overstock, obviously. Shop sales, try out furniture in AR, check-out with Apple Pay, and more.

Try it now: Overstock

ShopStyle

ShopStyle enables you to buy clothing, shoes, sneakers, and entire outfits - from practically every designer you've ever heard about.

Try it now: ShopStyle

Wayfair

If home goods is your thing, Wayfair claims to house the world’s largest selection of home goods - with prices ranging from cheap to wow. It also has a new 3D View in Room feature that lets you see virtual items in your space.

Try it now: Wayfair

eBay

Love eBay? Then you’ll love the eBay app. It lets you use your camera to search for items, scan barcodes, and manage your account.

Try it now: eBay

Smart Home

Amazon Alexa

Own an Alexa device? Then you need this app to set it up, manage your profile, find skills, and do just about anything Alexa related.

Try it now: Amazon Alexa

Google Home

What the Alexa app is to Alexa devices, the Google Home app is to Google Home and Chromecast devices. It's a must-have for Assistant users.

Try it now: Google Home

Apple Home

This is Apple's smart home app, built directly into iOS. Use it to control all your accessories, put your smart house on autopilot, and more.

Try it now: Apple Home

IFTTT

IFTTT is less relevant now that Apple has the Shortcuts app, but with it, you can essentially connect and automate all your online services.

Try it now: IFTTT

Shortcuts

Shortcuts is Apple's built-in iOS tool that lets you easily get more tasks done with your apps. For example, Apple said you can build a “Surf Time” shortcut that grabs the surf report, gives an ETA to the beach, and launches your music playlist.

Try it now: Shortcuts

Writing

Apple Pages

Pages a free word processor made by Apple. It's available on all Apple devices and syncs to iCloud, so you can continue editing on any device.

Try it now: Apple Pages

Microsoft Word

Word is the gold standard of word processors and is often used in the workplace. But it does require an Office 365 subscription on the iPad.

Try it now: Microsoft Word

Google Docs

Simply put, Docs is a cloud-based alternative to Word. Use it to create, edit, save, and even collaborate on documents while on the go.

Try it now: Google Docs

Evernote

Evernote is a popular note app. You can input typed notes or scan handwritten notes. You can also add to-do’s, photos, images, web pages, or audio, and it syncs across your devices, so your information is always with you.

Try it now: Evernote

Bear

Bear is a focused writing app that puts tools out of the way. Better yet, it lets you dictate and append to recent notes with your Apple Watch.

Try it now: Bear

iA Writer

iA is another distraction-free, minimalist notepad. It only shows text in plaintext, and it has useful organisation tools like search and sort.

Try it now: iA Writer

Notability

Complete, sign, and share documents in Notability. You can bring in photos, GIFs, web pages, and more from other apps into Notability.

Try it now: Notability

Books, audiobooks, and podcasts

Apple Podcast

This is Apple's built-in iOS Podcast app that lets you discover audio stories. It offers over 550,000 shows with nearly 19 million episodes.

Try it now: Apple Podcast

Audible

Audible, an Amazon company, claims to be the largest selection of audiobooks. You can buy and listen to them with this app.

Try it now: Audible

Chunky Comic Reader

This is a clean comic book reader. It promises smart upscaling to make even low-res comics look great, complete with auto contrast and tint fixes.

Try it now: Chunky Comic Reader

Comixology

Want to explore over 100,000 digital comics and graphic novels? This app has titles from Marvel, DC, Image, and more.

Try it now: Comixology

Flipboard

Flipboard is a well-known app that curates and serves up news stories in an easy-to-digest, audiovisual way that reminds us of a magazine.

Try it now: Flipboard

Google Play Books

Google's Play Book app lets you browse millions of book titles, from audiobooks to ebooks, and enjoy them, all in one central place.

Try it now: Google Play Books

Kindle Reader

Amazon's Kindle Reader lets you turn your iPad into a Kindle. It allows you to download and carry all your ebooks with you, wherever you go.

Try it now: Kindle Reader

Kobo

Kobo is an alternative ebook and audiobook store, with over six million titles to choose from. It lets you listen to and read books, too.

Try it now: Kobo

Libby

Did you know your local library has thousands of ebooks and audiobooks? You can borrow them, instantly, for free, using Libby.

Try it now: Libby

Overcast

Overcast is a "modern, fully featured" podcast player that aims to let you better control your listening experience, with custom playlists, shrinked silences, an intuitive interface, and more unique features.

Try it now: Overcast

Education

EasyBib

If you're a student, you need this app when writing bibliographies for papers. It's basically an accurate citation generator.

Try it now: EasyBib

Duolingo

If you're looking for an app that's for learning new languages, Duolingo is a great option. There's a free version, as well as a Duolingo Plus tier, for $9.99, which cuts the ads and gives you the ability to download lessons for offline studying.

Try it now: Duolingo

Memrise

This is another easy-to-use language learning app with an entertainment layer. Learn everything from French to Norwegian.

Try it now: Memrise

StudyBlue Flashcards

StudyBlue is a crowdsourced materials library meant to help you crush exams. It has over 10 million students and over 500 million flashcards.

Try it now: StudyBlue Flashcards

TED

Designed to "feed your curiosity and expand your world", this app has over 3,000 free videos from the world's most remarkable people.

Try it now: TED

Wolfram Alpha

Whether you need to perform high-level mathematical computations or search for facts and statistics, WolframAlpha is worth trying. It's essentially a powerful tool for finding information on math, science, and other topics.

Try it now: Wolfram Alpha

Film and TV

Apple TV app

Try it now: TV app

HBO Now

With HBO Now, you can watch our favourite episodes of HBO’s series (think Game of Thrones and Westworld) for a monthly subscription fee.

Try it now: HBO Now

Hulu

Hulu offers up an entire library of movies and shows (including Seinfeld, South Park, and Fear the Walking Dead) for a monthly subscription fee. For an additional cost, you get over 50 live channels, like ABC, NBC, CBS, and ESPN.

Try it now: Hulu

IMDb

IMDb, an Amazon company, is an authoritative source for all-things Hollywood. Explore popular movies and TV shows and their casts, and get access to trailers, behind-the-scenes clips, and showtimes (plus buy tickets) near you.

Try it now: IMDb

Netflix

Netflix is the king of streaming services. For a monthly subscription fee, you get access to Netflix Originals, plus many more movies and shows.

Try it now: Netflix

Prime Video

Prime Video is included in an Amazon Prime subscription. With it, you get access to Amazon Originals, plus many more movies and shows.

Try it now: Prime Video

YouTube TV

Like Hulu's Live TV offering, YouTube TV offers cable-free live TV, so you can stream major broadcast and networks, from ABC to ESPN. It also has cloud storage, and is a monthly pay-as-you-go membership you can cancel anytime.

Try it now: YouTube TV

YouTube

YouTube is the original source for online video. Use it to watch beauty tutorials, game streams, music videos, and more - for free, with ads.

Try it now: YouTube

Food

Grubhub

Grubhub is like Doordash, though it promises to have "the largest selection of restaurants" - from KFC to your local burger haunt.

Try it now: Grubhub

OpenTable

This app has more than 43,000 restaurants around the globe. It's the perfect travel app for finding local restaurants and booking a reservation.

Try it now: OpenTable

Seamless

Like Grubhub and Doordash, Seamless lets you access local menus, with fast, easy online ordering. But it's only available in New York City.

Try it now: Seamless

Uber Eats

Hungry? Get the food you want, from the restaurants you love, delivered by an Uber, and you can even track your order in real-time.

Try it now: Uber Eats

Messaging

Facebook Messenger

If you use Facebook, you definitely use Messenger. But it can be tied to your number, allowing you to text anyone in your friends list or contacts. You can also do video chats, complete with filters, play games, access biz chatbots, and more.

Try it now: Facebook Messenger

Slack

Slack is a communication and collaboration app. Designed primarily for businesses, it's a must-have messenger for teams.

Try it now: Slack

Photo and video

Apple Clips

Clips is Apple's app that allows you to easily splice together a polished video without a lot of effort. Apple already offers several video creation tools, from the high-end Final Cut Pro to iMovies. Clips is an alternative, free option.

Try it now: Apple Clips

Snapseed

Snapseed is a photo editor developed by Google. It's not Photoshop, but it's still feature-rich with tools like healing and brush. It also lets you open RAW files, use filters, and refine aspects like curves with precise control.

Try it now: Snapseed

Google Photos

Google Photos is an app that lets you store and view all your photos and videos, and even create custom animations and GIFs.

Try it now: Google Photos

Photoshop Mix

Adobe has several photo-related apps, but we think Photoshop Mix is interesting because it has some of Photoshop's most powerful tools. It still appeals to a broad range of users, however. You can create simple collages or do more hardcore Photoshopping, whichever you prefer.

Try it Now: Photoshop Mix

Premiere Rush CC

This is Adobe's answer to Apple Clips. It lets you shoot, edit, and share online videos, and is designed for short-form clips versus longer ones.

Try it now: Premiere Rush CC

Prisma

Prisma is a photo editor app that creates amazing photo effects by transforming your photos into paintings using so-called art filters.

Try it now: Prisma

iMovie

Apple's iMovie app is available for iOS and Mac. It lets you browse your video library and create movies in a fast, fun, and easy way.

Try it now: iMovie

Productivity

Apple Mail

This is Apple's built-in Mail app. It's far from perfect, but it's still one of the best options out there. It even beats the Gmail app, in our opinion.

Try it now: Apple Mail

Apple Numbers

Apple's own version of Microsoft Excel is a beautiful spreadsheet app that's designed for a mobile device experience and is free to use.

Try it now: Apple Numbers

Apple Keynote

Next up is Apple's version of Microsoft PowerPoint. It's a free app built from the ground up for iPad. And it makes creating a professional presentation - complete with animated charts and cinematic transitions - very simple.

Try it now: Apple Keynote

Microsoft Excel

Excel is probably the most popular spreadsheet app in the world - used in businesses and schools worldwide. But it requires an Office 365 sub.

Try it now: Microsoft Excel

Microsoft PowerPoint

With PowerPoint, you can quickly create, edit, view, present, or share presentations quickly. Again, you need an Office 365 subscription.

Try it now: Microsoft PowerPoint

Google Sheets

Sheets is a cloud-based alternative to Excel. Use it to create, edit, save, and even collaborate on spreadsheets while on the go.

Try it now: Google Sheets

Google Slides

Slides is a cloud-based alternative to Powerpoint. Use it to create, edit, and collaborate with others on presentations from your iPad.

Try it now: Google Slides

Google Calendar

Google is a powerhouse in the productivity and collaboration space, and Calendar is a prime example. It lets you view, edit, sync your schedule across platforms and devices. You can also create a team Calendar to share with others.

Try it now: Google Calendar

Google Chrome

If you hate Safari, consider trying to Chrome, especially if you use the desktop app. It's a powerful browser that syncs across all your devices.

Try it now: Google Chrome

PDF Expert

PDF Expert 6 lets you read, highlight, sign, and fill out PDFs on an iPad. It also supports editing existing PDF text, replacing images, and more.

Try it now: PDF Expert

Focus Keeper

Focus Keeper helps you "keep your productivity high avoiding burnout using the timer". The point is to help you work with time - not against it!

Try it now: Focus Keeper

PCalc

PCalc is the powerful calculator - pitches at scientists, engineers, and programmers. It includes an optional RPN mode and multi-line display, a choice of button layouts, a huge set of unit conversions and constants.

Try it now: PCalc

Spark

If you don't want to use Apple Mail, consider Spark. It lets you discuss emails privately with teams in a thread, schedule emails, access integrations like Dropbox, use a built-in calendar, and create links to a specific email or thread.

Try it now: Spark

Timepage

Timepage uncluttered, stunning calendar app from Moleskine. We really like the intuitive month heatmap that instantly shows when you are busy.

Try it now: Timepage

Todoist

Todoist is like a reminder app that helps you to keep track of everything, anywhere. Even when you’re offline. It also offers access to over 60 app integrations, including Dropbox, Amazon Alexa, Zapier, IFTTT, and Slack.

Try it now: Todoist

Wunderlist

Wunderlist is an another to-do list and task manager app. It makes it easy to capture, share, and complete tasks, no matter the device you're using.

Try it now: Wunderlist

Social media

Facebook

Facebook almost needs no introduction. It's probably the most popular social network in the world. Use it to connect with friends, old and new. Or, use it to view hidden ads and memes from meddlers spreading propaganda.

Try it now: Facebook

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the social network for professionals. It helps you build an online resume, find jobs, network, and more. It's also owned by Microsoft.

Try it now: LinkedIn

Pinterest

This is the mecca for DIYers. Want to make a lip scrub? Check. Need Halloween party ideas? Check. You can explore over 100 billion pins for every part of your life, and create mood boards to look back on for inspiration.

Try it now: Pinterest

Reddit

Discover top trending topics, breaking news, viral video clips, funny jokes, and hot memes with the official Reddit app.

Try it now: Reddit

TikTok

The basic function of TikTok is that users can film videos of themselves lip-syncing or acting out sketches. Their videos can be up to 15 seconds long, and they can pick from a library of songs, effects, and sound bites to add to their videos. 

Try it now: TikTok

Twitter

Ah, the toxic armpit of the internet. Want to see what the US President is tweeting? How about Kim K or your favourite CNN anchor? It's all here, in real-time, with basically no filters in place. Bring on the alt-right trolls!

Try it now: Twitter

Travel and transportation

Airbnb

Forget hotels. They're expensive and price rigged. Instead, use Airbnb to find an affordable vacation rental, or start earning money as a host.

Try it now: Airbnb

Google Maps

Google Maps is the only maps app you need. With over 220 countries and territories mapped and hundreds of millions of businesses and places on the map, you can get real-time GPS navigation, traffic, and accurate transit info.

Try it now: Google Maps

Uber

Need a lift? Try Uber for a ride. It's a cab service or carpool, where the drivers can be anyone from a lawyer to cop trying to earn extra on the side.

Try it now: Uber

TripAdviser

If you're traveling, you need to use TripAdvisor to find reviews, photos, and maps about destinations. It has over 500 million reviews and opinions.

Try it now: TripAdviser

Waze

Google-owned Waze tells you instantly about traffic, construction, police, crashes, and more, thanks to its cool crowdsourcing technology.

Try it now: Waze

Yelp

Yelp lets you find local food, businesses, and services, with over 135 million reviews available to help you make an informed decision.

Try it now: Yelp

Weather

Carrot Weather

This app uses Dark Sky’s super accurate weather data, but adds a layer of personality. Carrot’s dialogue, characters, and scenery changes are a fun way to get current, hourly, and daily forecasts.

Try it now: Carrot Weather

Dark Sky

Speaking of Dark Sky, it claims to be "the most accurate source of hyperlocal weather information", with down-to-the-minute forecasts and beautiful weather animations and actual storm tracking.

Try it now: Dark Sky

Graphic Design

Paper

Paper is popular sketching app that also supports handwriting notes, drafting, diagramming, and so on.

Try it now: Paper

AstroPad Studio

Astropad Studio allows you to use your iPad to draw directly into Photoshop. So, it turns your iPad into a high-end graphics tablet.

Try it now: AstroPad Studio

Procreate

This is another powerful sketching, painting, and illustration app with over 136 brushes, a layer system, and high-resolution canvases.

Try it now: Procreate

Linea Sketch

If you want a sketching app with a minimal UI, a huge colour palette, layers, a ZipLine, grids and templates, and flexible exporting, look no further.

Try it now: Linea Sketch

Pigment

Those of you who love adult colouring books will want to use this digital version of those. Just 5 to 10 minutes of colouring can reportedly provide the same benefits as meditation, and help you practice mindfulness.

Try it now: Pigment

Affinity Photo

This is the closest you can get to Photoshop. It has full support for unlimited layers, among many other things, and even 360-degree images.

Try it now: Affinity Photo

Adobe Illustrator Draw

If you’re a vector artist, this is your go-to app, with customisable brushes for drawing and designing. You can create on resizable canvases up to a delightfully printable 8K. And all your layered files can be sent right to Illustrator CC.

Try it now: Adobe Illustrator Draw

Autodesk SketchBook

Here is another option for doodling and creating art. It offers creative sketching tools and is ridiculously easy to learn and use.

Try it now: Autodesk SketchBook

Shapr: 3D modeling CAD

Shapr3D is a mobile CAD app that lets you create 3D models. It's fueled by the same geometric modeling engine as Solidworks.

Try it now: Shapr: 3D modeling CAD

Affinity Designer

And here is Affinity's version of Illustrator. It's a precise vector graphic design software that you can use to create graphics for marketing materials, websites, icons, UI design, cool concept art, and more.

Try it now: Affinity Designer