Did you know some of the best apps for the iPad are already on your device? Apple includes a number of apps with the iPad including a music player, a calendar, maps, reminders, etc. So before you hit the app store in search of the perfect app, you will want to familiarize yourself with what apps come with the iPad.

Siri

We’ll start with an app that is not even on the Home Screen. Siri is the voice-recognition assistant on the iPad, and, unfortunately, when you consider how much Siri can boost productivity, it is often overlooked by new users. Activate Siri by holding down the Home Button for a few seconds and interact with her through normal language. For example, “What is the weather like outside?” will get you the forecast, and “Launch Calendar” will open the Calendar app.

Apps on the Home Screen

These apps are loaded onto the iPad’s Home Screen. Remember, the Home Screen can have multiple pages, so to see all of these apps you may need to swipe to page two. You can do this by placing your finger on the right side of the screen and moving it to the left side of the screen without lifting it. Because you probably won’t use all of these apps, you may want to delete those you will never use or simply move them to a folder.

Apps on the iPad Dock

The dock is the bar across the bottom of the iPad’s display. The iPad comes with four apps on the dock, but it can actually hold up to six. Moving an app to the dock allows you to have quick access to it even when you are scrolling through pages of apps.

  • Messages. The Messages app will allow you to send an instant message to anyone with an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch for free. Messages is a great way to cut down on your text messages bill if you aren’t on a monthly plan.
  • Safari. This is the default web browser for the iPad. As such, it makes a great candidate for remaining on the dock. You’ll find that the iPad makes a great way to browse the web.
  • Mail. The mail application can be set up through settings. It supports Gmail, Yahoo mail, Hotmail, AOL mail and most other forms of email. The Mail app has a universal view that shows all of your incoming email, as well as the inboxes, broken out by the specific client. It is also a great candidate for remaining on the dock.
  • Music. The music app will let you play music downloaded from the iTunes store or synced from your computer. You can also play music on your PC without syncing to iTunes by using Home Sharing.

Additional Apps You May Have Installed

Not all iPads are created equal. Apple began giving away its iWork and iLife suite of apps to new iPad owners several years ago, but instead of using up precious storage space with these apps, Apple only preloads them onto devices with higher storage capacity. But if you have bought a new iPad within the last few years, you can still download these apps for free from the App Store.

  • Pages. The Pages app is a word processor similar to Microsoft Word. It is quite capable of most personal and light business uses.
  • Numbers. This is Apple’s Excel equivalent, but don’t dismiss it out of hand. It has many of the same features as Excel.
  • Keynote. The last app in the iWork suite is the presentation software package called Keynote. Like Pages and Numbers, Keynote is tied into iCloud Drive, so you can create a spreadsheet on your Mac, edit it on your iPhone and show it on your iPad.
  • Garage Band. Apple’s music studio is fun enough to let you play virtual instruments and powerful enough that a band can record a song with multiple tracks into it.
  • iMovie. Perhaps the best app for personal use, iMovie lets you edit and splice together your home videos or create a fun movie trailer out of the video taken on your iPad.

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