5 ms·

Ask HN: just bought my first iDevice (iPad) - essential apps?

6 points by zensavona 14y ago

My first iDevice since my (now unused) 1st gen iPod touch. Right now I just have fb, twitter, spotify, pandora, gmail and Dropbox. What am I missing? Also: best HN app?

leff_f 14y ago
Angry birds.
randomchars 14y ago
As in apps for developers or just apps in general?
- zensavona 14y ago
  Just apps in general - I am a developer though, so geeky stuff interests me. Not necessarily apps _for_ development though.
wsc981 14y ago
Well, if you want a "hardcore" game that works really well (user-interaction wise) on the iPad, get "Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition" - a game originally released for the PC about 15 years ago and one of the best in it's genre (CRPG). One word of warning though: this version is still quite buggy and might be considered an alpha release. Very enjoyable game though and I'm confident Beamdog will release updates in the coming months to further improve gameplay and reduce bugs. Might also want to download the "12 days" app by Apple. Near the end of the month they will give some apps / music / books / etc... away for free. Last year got (among others) a "Broken Sword" (adventure) game this way.
- achompas 14y ago
  +1 to Baldur's Gate. It's the right mix of nerdy humor, deep gameplay, and play-for-15-minutes you want in a thoughtful iOS game. It's also sold me on picking up Baldur's Gate II from Good Old Games once I'm done.
eduardordm 14y ago
What I use: chrome, flipboard, iSSH, sketchbook pro, pages, evernote, kindle, iBooks, dropbox, AvPlayerHD, garage band
- denharsh 14y ago
  Any good app to learn programming language??
tstegart 14y ago
I just started using Textastic to code the next issue of our iPad magazine and I LOVE it. Freaking awesome app, can't say enough good things about it. On an iPad 1, never crashed, always smooth, its just a blast to use.
lewisgodowski 14y ago
Penultimate Paper by 53 ^^my inner designer coming out^^
- achompas 14y ago
  I also like Note Taker (forget if it's HD or Pro) for notes. It lets you zoom in on a part of the page and write there, which gives you a ton of control over how your page is laid out. Great app for going paperless.
ronyeh 14y ago
Recently, I've been addicted to Ticket to Ride (board game). If you like music (or have kids), check out Tiny Piano (shameless plug, as I'm the developer). For typing notes, I like Daedalus. Also consider checking out the Anomaly graphic novel. You get the first chapter for free. It's interesting to see if this could be the future of graphic novels. (It's a big download.)
evanh 14y ago
Prompt for SSHing into servers. ia Writer for writing.
nekopa 14y ago
Three must have apps: Goodreader: PDF reader which also plays audio and video, it's like having a proper file system on the iPad. I use this endlessly Awesome note: great note taking app with todo features, link to calendar and great organizing features. iThoughtsHD: mind mapping par excellence, and the author is really responsive to new ideas; he implemented a feature to automatically number sections so I could use the software for work breakdown structures
- achompas 14y ago
  Yes on Goodreader. It's amazing if you're constantly trying to manage a collection of textbook PDFs or academic papers.
achompas 14y ago
Twitterrific for a no-frills Twitter client with a clean interface. The antidote to Tweetbot. NextDraft is a great "summary of the day's news" app. No frills, no Newsstand subscription, and it's free. The NYT app is a bit unstable, but it's arguably the best Newsstand app (yes, better than The Magazine, which is too barebones for me). You also get top stories for free. Check The Weather gets you hourly rain forecasts (using the Dark Sky API) as well as daily/weekly weather. Xbox SmartGlass is great for the 360 gamers here. The second screen is useful for, say, checking challenges or K-D ration in Halo 4.
rdl 14y ago
Instapaper, Google Authenticator and Google Chrome and Youtube Player, 1Password. There is no good HN reader app
Rev55 14y ago
Chrome

6 points by zensavona 14y ago

My first iDevice since my (now unused) 1st gen iPod touch. Right now I just have fb, twitter, spotify, pandora, gmail and Dropbox. What am I missing? Also: best HN app?

leff_f 14y ago

Angry birds.

randomchars 14y ago

As in apps for developers or just apps in general?

zensavona 14y ago
Just apps in general - I am a developer though, so geeky stuff interests me. Not necessarily apps _for_ development though.

wsc981 14y ago

Well, if you want a "hardcore" game that works really well (user-interaction wise) on the iPad, get "Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition" - a game originally released for the PC about 15 years ago and one of the best in it's genre (CRPG). One word of warning though: this version is still quite buggy and might be considered an alpha release. Very enjoyable game though and I'm confident Beamdog will release updates in the coming months to further improve gameplay and reduce bugs. Might also want to download the "12 days" app by Apple. Near the end of the month they will give some apps / music / books / etc... away for free. Last year got (among others) a "Broken Sword" (adventure) game this way.

achompas 14y ago
+1 to Baldur's Gate. It's the right mix of nerdy humor, deep gameplay, and play-for-15-minutes you want in a thoughtful iOS game. It's also sold me on picking up Baldur's Gate II from Good Old Games once I'm done.

eduardordm 14y ago

What I use: chrome, flipboard, iSSH, sketchbook pro, pages, evernote, kindle, iBooks, dropbox, AvPlayerHD, garage band

denharsh 14y ago
Any good app to learn programming language??

tstegart 14y ago

I just started using Textastic to code the next issue of our iPad magazine and I LOVE it. Freaking awesome app, can't say enough good things about it. On an iPad 1, never crashed, always smooth, its just a blast to use.

lewisgodowski 14y ago

Penultimate Paper by 53 ^^my inner designer coming out^^

achompas 14y ago
I also like Note Taker (forget if it's HD or Pro) for notes. It lets you zoom in on a part of the page and write there, which gives you a ton of control over how your page is laid out. Great app for going paperless.

ronyeh 14y ago

Recently, I've been addicted to Ticket to Ride (board game). If you like music (or have kids), check out Tiny Piano (shameless plug, as I'm the developer). For typing notes, I like Daedalus. Also consider checking out the Anomaly graphic novel. You get the first chapter for free. It's interesting to see if this could be the future of graphic novels. (It's a big download.)

evanh 14y ago

Prompt for SSHing into servers. ia Writer for writing.

nekopa 14y ago

Three must have apps: Goodreader: PDF reader which also plays audio and video, it's like having a proper file system on the iPad. I use this endlessly Awesome note: great note taking app with todo features, link to calendar and great organizing features. iThoughtsHD: mind mapping par excellence, and the author is really responsive to new ideas; he implemented a feature to automatically number sections so I could use the software for work breakdown structures

achompas 14y ago
Yes on Goodreader. It's amazing if you're constantly trying to manage a collection of textbook PDFs or academic papers.

achompas 14y ago

Twitterrific for a no-frills Twitter client with a clean interface. The antidote to Tweetbot. NextDraft is a great "summary of the day's news" app. No frills, no Newsstand subscription, and it's free. The NYT app is a bit unstable, but it's arguably the best Newsstand app (yes, better than The Magazine, which is too barebones for me). You also get top stories for free. Check The Weather gets you hourly rain forecasts (using the Dark Sky API) as well as daily/weekly weather. Xbox SmartGlass is great for the 360 gamers here. The second screen is useful for, say, checking challenges or K-D ration in Halo 4.

rdl 14y ago

Instapaper, Google Authenticator and Google Chrome and Youtube Player, 1Password. There is no good HN reader app

Rev55 14y ago

Chrome