My favourite iPad apps for business

Like many other users of the iPad, I have found it to be a great tool for both business and pleasure.

But focusing for a moment on the business apps that I use most effectively day to day, these are a few that are worth a mention.

Keynote

This is almost a must for iPads, as one the best uses for a tablet is as a visual presentation aid. Although the iPad version of Keynote has a little less functionality than the full version, you can still develop and deliver impressive presentations. Or you can simply use presentations developed on PC or Mac (it also works with Powerpoint slides).

GoodReader

Although I prefer iBooks for storing and viewing PDF files, GoodReader is great for getting files of various types from the web, such as PDFs or presentations. One of the newer features which is quite useful, is annotations, which allows you to mark up PDF documents (text/notes/highlights etc) and save/send them.

Evernote

This is a great note taking application. The notes aren’t incredibly pretty as the app lacks a formatting function, [edit 24 August 2011 – the latest upgrade includes basic formatting options – a great improvement] but the ease of taking notes, tagging them, and finding previous notes is excellent. Additional features that I have found useful include adding photos or audio to your notes. You can also use your assigned evernote email address, which means you can email tweets, weblinks or notes directly into your evernote account for later retrieval or tagging. The app synchronises online as well, so you can access or edit your notes from your iPad, online or on your iPhone.

Docs to Go

This app (Documents to Go) allows you to view or edit a wide variety of files, including Microsoft Office Excel or Word documents. You can also sync files to online services such as Google docs or Dropbox.

Dropbox

This is an online file storage or ‘Cloud’ service. The app allows you to access these documents locally, with the option of saving or just keeping online. When installed on a PC, a local Dropbox folder is setup, which automatically synchronises to Dropbox online. This allows almost instant access to your files online or via the iPad or iPhone application. If you need to access a file from wherever you are, this is a great option.

Airsketch

Who needs a whiteboard on the wall when you have a mobile version on your iPad? AirSketch is one of many great apps which allow you to take hand drawn notes or draw on your iPad, and then save locally or send as a PDF or image.

FlightTrack

This app allows you to search for flights, check for delays, save your itinerary, and even check which seat looks best on your flight! You can follow flights on a map as well as a few other nifty features.

Echofon

I tend to use a few different apps for Twitter, but Echofon is the one I use most often. The interface is pretty clean, and commonly used functions such as retweets, work a little better than some other apps I’ve tried (and been disappointed with).

Flipboard

After sitting unused on my iPad for some time, I’ve just started using this app – and it’s very impressive. Its another way to look at various social media content, such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. But it does this very differently than most. The content is presented in a beautifully crafted format, much like a flash-style magazine. Although it presents content in a great way, it can mean a fair bit more time to scroll through posts or status updates.

So there it is. Not an exhaustive list, but certainly a few to get you started.

Feel free to let me know of any other apps that you find useful for business!