iPad mini: essential apps

The 7.9-inch Apple iPad mini is here. And it’s great - it’s more compact, lighter, more portable. At $329 for the basic model it is not too expensive. But what apps does it run and which are the ones you should not miss when you first hit the App Store?

Basically, the iPad mini runs the same apps that the more traditional 9.7-inch iPad runs and they look the same, only a bit smaller.

We have picked what we find essential apps, showing off all the possibilities of Apple’s new tablet. But we have skipped through some that we find evident.

Apple has itself released some of the best apps for iPad and they work perfectly well on the mini. That is why you should definitely check out the iLife suite of applications including iMovie, iPhoto and GarageBand. And if you want to use the 7.9 incher for productivity, the iWork suite with Keynote, Pages and Numbers should be your thing. For all the rest, check out the list below.

Skype needs no introduction - it is the most popular VoIP client for a reason, and with both a front and rear cameras, you can enjoy video calling at its fullest with this app. Let’s face it - the 7.9-inch iPad mini is not better than the standard iPad in terms of specs, rather it’s all about the form factor. The smaller tablet is more comfortable for reading and the Kindle app gives you access to Amazon’s huge catalog of books. As reading comes in many forms, reading on the web is probably the thing we all do the most recently. Instapaper allows you to save those in-depth articles for later and strips them off all annoying ornaments, bringing them in a clean text-only envelope. Pocket, earlier known as Read It Later, is a tool to save things for offline reading. They sync across all your devices, not letting you miss the important reads. Flipboard is probably close to visual perfection when it comes to fun and modern pictoral representation of news. With a magazine-like design you just flip the screen as it turns in a page-like fashion. Apple decided to remove the default Google YouTube application in iOS 6, forcing its users to look for an alternative. And here it is - Jasmine, a brilliant YouTube client which works perfectly well on the iPad mini. Watching Netflix movies in bed with your tablet at hand is close to the perfect cozy experience and the iPad mini makes it possible. The Netflix app is free, simple and a direct gateway to movies. If you want to watch more than just movies on the iPad mini, you have Hulu Plus. The brings you the latest TV shows for you to enjoy. In the world of Internet radio, Pandora is one of the biggest names. The personalized Internet radio lets you just type in the name of your favorite artist and listen on as the service builds a playlist around that. Capricious weather is something we’ve all gotten to know lately. Having the most up-to-date and detailed information can mean a lot, and with The Weather Channel for iPad mini you get virtually all the information meteorologists have. There already is a decent Twitter client for iOS, but Tweetbot comes with even deeper functionality. Starting from the interface and going through its smart gestures and multiple timelines, this is one of the best ways to stay informed on Twitter. There are many apps to keep your notes online, craft documents, spreadsheets and so on, but little come even close to Google Drive. Google’s online collaboration productivity suite bests all similar online offerings and is close to being a worthy competitor to the iWork suite. It works only when you are online though. With iOS’ closed system approach, Dropbox brings the straightforward and simple folders and icons, and everything you are used to. It’s all synced to the cloud and up for grabs from any of your iDevices. Siri might have been first, but Google Voice Search was best to the game. The fastest and most accurate voice search from Google is available on the iPad mini. Last but not least come comics. The app that has Marvel, DC and The Walking Dead is free, and you have 500 free comics built in, but for the rest you’d still need to pay.

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Pocket, the Essential App for Offline Reading on Your Smartphone and Tablet

Despite the widespread use of 3G and recent introduction of 4G, reading online content offline is still an important need for many mobile and tablet users, allowing them both to reduce data charges and access web content in areas with poor or non-existent 3G reception. Moreover, with 3G roaming rates still prohibitively expensive in many countries, offline reading can often be invaluable abroad. As a result, offline reading has now been incorporated into Apple’s latest iOS and an ever growing number of apps are available on both iOS and Android that allow users to save online content for offline reading. Pocket sets itself apart from this multitude through its clean interface and ease of use. Perhaps most importantly, Pocket is free, despite boasting a better design and more comprehensive feature list than many of its paid rivals.

 

Pocket is especially useful on Android powered tablets, where its clean interface comes to the fore and users can also benefit from the app’s new text-to-speech feature, a feature that’s missing from the iOS version. Through Pocket, users can save web sites, articles and images for viewing offline, either by integrating Pocket with their mobile browser, using one of the thousands of apps that boast Pocket functionality or emailing a link to the content to add@getpocket.com. Once content has been saved, it will be synced automatically when Pocket is opened, and can then be viewed offline. Usefully, Pocket also offers the ability to save a text-only version of the desires article or web site, perfect for sites with an excess of distracting banner ads.

Pocket also allows you to save video from Youtube, Vimeo or any other video site, although this content can disappointingly not be viewed offline. Still, it’s a great feature if you want to set up a playlist of your favourite videos and have it integrated with your other content. Notably, the Pocket website also includes a blog that lists users’ top ten most saved videos of the week, a great place to go if you’re looking for inspiration.

Some of Pocket’s other useful features include the ability to sort your saved content by type and the ability to star your favourite articles and sites. The app also includes an impressive range of visual options, including the ability to change text size or font, a low contrast sepia mode, and a dark theme that gives the app a dark background and white text. The last of these is especially useful for reading in bed, as the dark theme means that the app gives out less light overall and is less irritating for bleary eyes.

With a great interface, comprehensive features and the ability to save any content for offline reading, Pocket is an invaluable addition to your smartphone or Android tablet.

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