Productivity Apps for iPad

In this post, we will see some of the important productivity apps for iPad. Anybody ever handled an iPad never doubted the fact that it excels as a device for content consumption, it just excels!. But what about content creation using iPad? There are lots of applications available for content creation in iPad. Infact you have too many to choose from that you will get confused and need advice from experienced users. It needs a change in mindset to use iPad for creating content since we are all doing it so far with Laptops and desktops where you have a large sized keyboard, mouse as well as screen. In iPad you need to learn to do the same things with touch control with a relatively smaller screen which is not very friendly for the traditional multitasking you got used so far with large screens or multiple screens. There is a steep learning curve for many of us but believe me; those who are new to computers will pick up much faster than us in creating content with iPad and feels it is the natural way to do it. Just give your iPad to your kids and ask to create something, they will do it much faster than you ever imagined.

Following applications are discussed, the list I recommend from my own experience.

1. Pages
2. Numbers
3. Keynote
4. QuickOffice Pro HD
5. Good Reader
6. Save2Pdf
7. Blogsy

Bento, Note Taker HD, Evernote, AirDisplay for iPad, DropBox etc are some of the very good application which is not described. 

iWork for iPad

iWork is the productivity apps for iPad from Apple. It consists of a word processor (Pages), a spread sheet (Numbers) and Keynote, the presentation software. It cost $9.99/- each. 

Pages

It is the best word processor available in iPad. You can do most of the things which MS Word can do, but it may take some time for you to get comfortable with creating documents using Pages. Some may not like using the touch control for content creation, we are resistant to change or learning new things. Apple has designed many templates which is extremely useful to start. It has got all drawing tools too.

You can import and export World files. You can save it in PDF format. Inspirations Set (http://www.jumsoft.com/pages/ipad/) is a third party template which has many choice for you to start almost 50 easy to use templates for business and personal documents adapted from the acclaimed Inspiration Set for Mac.

It cost you around $9.99/-

Numbers

Numbers is spread sheet program, may be the best available for a mobile platform. It comes with 16 templates and more than 250 functions. It is MS Excel friendly, you can import and export files across both programs.

Keynote

Keynote is a powerful presentation apps for iPad. It has 12 Apple designed themes which is a great help to start. It integrates well with MS Powerpoint. iPad is a great device to deliver a presentation with iPhone acting as a remote control, thanks to Keynote remote control application.

Quick Office Pro HD for iPad 
(http://www.quickoffice.com/quickoffice_pro_hd_ipad/)

Quickoffice is the essential Microsoft® office productivity tool for your iPad, in other words MS office with Touch control. It can export and import MS office files edit it and uploads to various social networking sites or Dropbox.

It can be used for the following :

• Create, edit and share Microsoft® Word, Excel and PowerPoint files
• Get continuous and convenient mobile access to remote storage services
• Access and manage email attachments with the most popular file formats
• Get to your files remotely via cloud storage services (MobileMe, Dropbox, Google® Docs, Box.net, Huddle, SugarSync, Evernote, and Catch)
• Share files using Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Yammer, Docstoc, Slideshare, and Scribd
• Transfer files through WiFi or via iTunes® using USB
• Open attachments from your native iPad email client

Please note that currently it supports only Office 2007 and 2003, not 2010.

For a detailed review visit http://blogs.which.co.uk/technology/tablets-ebooks/edit-ms-office-files-using-quickoffice-pro-hd-ipad-app-review/ 

Save2Pdf 
(http://mobile.eurosmartz.com/products/save2pdf.html)

Save2Pdf is the best pdf editor available in iPad and an immense help to mobile professional who wants to quickly create pdf file. It can create pdf files from most of other formats too- supports MS office files and iWorks files, wireless printing etc.

It lets you select multiple files of different types and merge them into a single PDF file, edit them, add a page to the front or rear etc.. It allows you to download Google Docs , files from DropBox etc and save it as pdf files. The only glaring issue is that the links in webpages saved as pdf is not working. It cost you $9.99/-

Good Reader 
(http://www.goodreader.net) 

I have just reproduced the following from one of my earlier article for easy reference and I consider this as an apps you can’t live without.

Good Reader is one of the best pdf file reader with annotations and Acrobat style mark ups. It can read most of the other formats too.

• MS Office - .doc, .ppt., .xls
• iWork ’08/’09
• HTML and Safari webarchives
• High resolution images
• Even audio and video

It can transfer files as well as sync files just about everything, namely iDisk, Google Docs, Dropbox, SugarSync, box.net and other WebDAV, FTP and SFTP servers. It can manage almost any types of files and if need arises it can even convert them and allows them to open in any application you choose. We are using these properties of Good Reader to transfer any files wirelessly from any locations in the network and open it in any appls of your choice. For a detailed review please read : http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2382542,00.asp

How to transfer any files using GoodReader?

Imagine the situation you have a set of pdf / epub books in your computer which you need to transfer to iPad. You want to do it without using iTunes.

1. Connect your computer and iPad to same Wi-Fi network
2. Open the GoodReader in iPad
3. Press the wireless soft button in the bottom right of Good Reader. It will open up a dialing box shown below.
   
   
4. Open the browser in your computer and type the IP address and port number as shown in the previous dialogbox popped up in your iPad. Once your hit return you will be seeing the following dialog box where you can browse and upload any files which is local to your machine.
   
   
5. Once you upload the files to your iPad press manage files and open in your favorite apps (ex: epub can open in iBooks)

Similary you can transfer a bunch of files at one go, refer to this link http://www.goodreader.net/gr-man-tr-wifi-vista.html

Blogsy 
(http://blogsyapp.com/)

Blogsy is for those who are into posting blogs using iPad. WordPress has an official editor for iPad which is nothing great to talk about. But you are going to love Blogsy which gives an excellent GUI as well as touch control tools to edit your blogs and post it on the go. It is well integrated with many of the iPad applications, so you can drag and drop pictures, videos and it is easy to created text using the builtin editor.