The number of iPad apps in the the iTunes App Store has rocketed past 10,000. It took the iPad just over two months after its US launch to reach the milestone. By comparison, the original iPhone had to wait 5 months for a similar stable of 10,000 apps back in 2008.
After a few weeks with the Electricpig iPad, we’ve got together a list of our 5 most frequently used iPad apps and we’re after your recommendations. Read on for our current favourite 5 iPad apps and head to the comments to let us know what gems you managed to uncover among the 10,000 iPad apps currently jostling for attention in the App Store…
First up is GoodReader (59p on the iPad App Store). Choosing a PDF viewing iPad app might seem a little utilitarian but Goodreader does a whole lot more. It makes it easy to get at files from your computer and you can transfer them over Wi-Fi or from emails as well as through the excellent DropBox integration. One of our big niggles in our iPad UK review was how it handles file transfers and GoodReader eases the pain.
Our favourite timewaster is Pinball HD (£1.79 on the iPad App Store). There’s a great selection of levels available and the Pinball HD has one of the best (and worst) qualities you can find in an iPad game. It’s super-simple to pick up but incredibly hard to put down. No wonder the Pinball HD page on iTunes claims it’s found its way onto 1 in 10 iPads.
While we’ve been terribly intellectual reading iBooks, the Marvel Comics app (£free on the iPad App Store) still has a major place in our hearts. The ease with which you can buy new comics and old issues from the archives isn’t doing our bank balance any good but the iPad’s LCD screen and the filmic transitions in the Marvel Comics app are pretty much the perfect way to read a graphic novel.
Meanwhile our artist side has been given full reign with SketchBook Pro (£4.99 on the iPad App Store). The ability to add layers, adjust your brush side and select from a huge range of colours with HSB and RGB colour wheels has got us daubing some pretty decent drawings but it’s worth grabbing a stylus (as recommended in our iPad Artist accessories list) if you want to get some precision.
Slightly cheekily, our fifth most used iPad app is a tie between two services that aren’t in the iTunes App Store. The BBC iPlayer iPad interface and iPad TV Catchup are both free and available through Safari. They’re still our go-to apps when it comes to catching up with shows or getting live TV on the iPad.
So there are our five favourite iPad apps (oh, alright, six favourite iPad apps) at the moment but with 10,000 iPad apps out there we’re sure to have missed some. Hit the comments to share your iPad app recommendations.
If you’re still after some iPad app suggestions try our guide to the 10 must have iPad apps and, with iPhone 4 on the way, check our our top 100 best iPhone apps of all time too.
