The App store is a great place to find many different apps for your iOS devices. While some use their iPads for a multitude of things, some choose to utilize it only for productivity purposes.
When it comes to writing, the iPad is great. I myself use my iPad all the time, and it was one of the first things I purchased for my next four years of college. After many purchases, featuring great successes and some utter failures, here is my list of five apps that every writer needs to have.
Dictionary.com
This app is by far the cheapest and most essential app for any writer! You always need a dictionary when writing any kind of document, speech, blog or movie script. The same goes for a Thesaurus, because one always needs to know at least 10 different ways to say a word and make your pieces sound a bit more intellectual at times. This app is free, and a must have for not only writers, but for all who own an iPad.
Notes Plus
This app is a must have for those who prefer to write things out and still want to utilize their iPad. It offers SO many features, and I have yet to find another app that performs as well as this one. One of my favorite features is the “Write Close Up” feature, which allows you to zoom in on a spot and write, rather than try and cramp your hand from writing so hard. More than that, this app provides so much; fonts, colors, folders, the ability to record, images, shapes, and the ability to save in a few formats. It’s a great app, and for the low price of $2.oo, you cannot beat it. All one will need to purchase is a stylus, and my recommendation is the Pogo Sketch.
Rhyme
Available for the iPad and iPod/iPhone, this app is great for all of you who were a poet and didn’t even know it (see what I did there?). Very simple to use, Rhyme is exactly what it looks like, an app that will take a word that you type in and find words that rhyme with it for you. Users can rhyme it based on the first or second syllable, as well as rhyme it with words or 1/2/3 syllables. Very simple, very clean, very cheap. Costing only $0.99, Rhyme is a must for any poet or future rap star out there.
iA Writer
Those who prefer to type out their documents and such need to check out this app. iA Writer is an amazing word processor that is very clean, basic, and focuses on productivity. It doesn’t have all the bangs and whistles that other word processors have, but it’s usefulness comes from it’s simplicity. This doesn’t mean it slacks in features though, offering the user to type in fullscreen with a Bluetooth keyboard connected, Dropbox synchronization, a FocusMode (allowing users to focus on a specific part), punctuation available at the top of the keyboard, and a handy word counter. For the cheap price of $0.99, this app stands among the greats with a very small price tag.
Pages
I’m sure that all of you saw this coming, but pages is, hands down, the best word processor for the iPad. Although I myself am a PC, Pages is great for writing things in my classes and not having a laptop sit in-front of you so awkwardly. Pages offers so many useful features, offering everything that you laptop/desktop word processor can do. Add your images, use one of the many great templates, and make sure your sentences don’t have any fragments, Pages is best out there. It may cost a little more than usual, with a price tag of $10.00, but it is certainly worth every penny, and is a great investment.
Want to see even more essential iPad apps? Check out Flash On iOS? A Gift From The Gods? and Things You Need to Know About The iPhone 5.
