Fact: Tablets are nothing without a rich selection of apps. Thankfully, all iPad users can take advantage of the App Store's huge selection. The right app can transform the iPad, regardless of which model you own, into nearly anything you desire. However, with so many options at your fingertips, how do you find those worth downloading?
Look no further than this roundup. PCMag's staff has tested hundreds of iPad apps and highlighted the best of the best. If you're a glutton for punishment, you could dig through the depths of the App Store for user reviews, but that demands a lot of time and little-known apps of high quality may have only a handful of reviews anyway.
What You'll Find in This List
Our list features native iPad apps that deliver unique and compelling tablet-based experiences. Note that these are not just iPhone apps running on a larger screen. For your convenience, we've divided our selections into eight categories and linked the app name to its page on the App Store.
We've also included links to in-depth reviews where available. Rest assured that even those apps that haven't been fully reviewed are included because they've impressed us after some serious hands-on time.
What You Won't Find in This List
The Best iPad Apps doesn't include games or preinstalled apps. The former aren't included because default apps are easy to find—they already live on your iPad's home screen. The latter aren't included because we've broken out the best iPad games into their own dedicated article.
Looking for apps for your other devices? We've got you covered there, too, with our roundups of the best android apps and best iPhone apps.
Best iPad Apps for Communication
Best iPad Apps for Creativity
Best iPad Apps for Entertainment
Best iPad Apps for Productivity
Best iPad Apps for Reading
Best iPad Apps for Reference
Best iPad Apps for Science
Best iPad Apps for Utility
Best iPad Communication Apps
Duolingo
Free
If you're looking to learn or practice a language on an iPad, Duolingo is indisputably the way to go. The app has expanded its pool of languages over the past few year and it now offers a couple dozen choices, ranging from Danish to Vietnamese. You can still use Duolingo for free, but there's now also a Duolingo Plus tier, for $9.99, which removes ads and gives you the ability to download lessons for offline studying.
Free
You can't talk communication without discussing Facebook, the social media giant that's home to annoying family members, a tsunami of baby and pet photos, and brands pretending to be humans. If all of those things appeal to you, download Zuckerberg's app. It brings those elements, as well as live video and games to your 'Pad.
Google Translate
Free
One of the biggest hurdles that people face when traveling abroad is language. You may think that you're asking for directions to a music festival when you're actually insulting the town's sacred goat god. Words can kill, so download Google Translate. The app quickly translates either written text or spoken words. You can even use the app to do the speaking for you, and input text through your camera or handwriting.
Free, with premium subscriptions starting at $9.99 per month
If you need to make a great escape from your soul-crushing 9-to-5 job, consider LinkedIn a must-have app. You can use it to connect with other professionals, receive industry-related updates, and hunt for your dream job. You can use the app for free, as you do the browser-based service, but premium features are available.
Free
140 characters can change your life. It can get you a job (it's happened to me!), help you find love (it happened to a friend!), and even get you fired for mouthing wise (this will likely happen to me, too). Twitter is a social media force, and this iPad app taps its capabilities well: you can read tweets, view video, and even host live video streams using the integrated Periscope functionality. Just use it responsibly.
Yelp
Free
Boasting more than 100 million business reviews, Yelp is the go-to app for people who want the lowdown on everything from local pizzerias to auto body shops. The app lets you filter the community-written reviews by 'hood, distance, rating, and price. You can even contribute with your own reviews and photos. In a nice touch, Yelp lets you make reservations from within the app.
Best iPad Creativity Apps
Adobe Lightroom CC
Free; requires Creative Cloud Photography subscription ($9.99 per month) for access to cloud-based Photoshop and Lightroom features
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Adobe Lightroom Classic is the go-to digital photo workflow and editing application for many of today's professional photographers. But there are times when you might prefer to edit photos sitting on a sofa or a train seat rather than at a desk. The Lightroom CC iPad app lets you do just this, and a major update adds the ability to work directly with raw camera files, perform local adjustments, and use lens-profile corrections. Lightroom CC has evolved into a powerhouse among mobile photo-editing apps
Adobe Photoshop Mix
Free; requires Creative Cloud Photography subscription ($9.99 per month) for access to cloud-based Photoshop and Lightroom features
Adobe has numerous photo-related apps in the iTunes app store, but Photoshop Mix is especially interesting. It brings some of Photoshop's most powerful tools into an easy-to-use iPad app. Photoshop Mix appeals to a broad cross-section of users, from those who simply want to create collages to hardcore Photoshoppers who want to add iPads into their workflows.
Apple GarageBand
$4.99
The iPad became a legitimate music composition tool thanks in large part to its own version of GarageBand, Apple's seminal, entry-level digital audio editing app. GarageBand contains many professional-level features, including piano roll-style note editing, an expanded sound palette, and additional recording tools. You can even record and edit audio from third-party instrument apps using GarageBand.
Apple iMovie
$4.99
If you're going to edit video on a tablet, it's hard to overlook Apple's own iMovie app. The affordably priced iPad app lets you create trailers, whip up studio logos, save video in 4K resolution, and transfer projects between your iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch using AirDrop or iCloud Drive.
Arturia iMini Synthesizer
$9.99
Arturia, venerable purveyors of virtual versions of various Moog models over the years, has released a "real" virtual Minimoog—beating Moog itself to the punch. Fortunately, it's a killer synth app, one that boasts plenty of useful additional features, including an all-important polyphonic mode and arpeggiator.
Procreate
$9.99
Procreate is an excellent option for digital artists who want to make the most of the iPad Pro's capabilities, including the Apple Pencil. Procreate gives you all the tools you need to create the sketches, paintings, and illustrations you can image. Rounding out the list of features are continuous autosave, high-resolution canvases, and 136 different types of brushes to try.
Snapseed
Free
Snapseed can do amazing things with your photos such as localized adjustments, enhancements, and powerful image correction. You can share your tweaked images via email or Twitter when the task's completed.
Best iPad Entertainment Apps
Crackle
Free
Crackle, Sony's streaming video network, lets users stream free, ad-supported Hollywood television shows and uncut movies, as well as original content, from Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Classic, and TriStar Pictures. There's a nice variety of classic and contemporary content here, making it a solid iPad app for anyone who would like to kick back with their tablets and watch a program without needing to open their wallets.
Crunchyroll
Subscriptions start at $6.95 per month
Being a fan of anime used to mean that you were subject to the whims of media importers or your friend who had a high-bandwidth Internet connection and shady IRC contacts. Now you can watch Attack on Titan, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Children, and more than 20,000 other episodes of other shows on your tablet with Crunchyroll. Even better, many programs are available just an hour after they air overseas.
Hulu
Subscriptions start at $7.99 per month
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Hulu no longer offers a free viewing tier, but the service is still an excellent way to watch streaming television shows the day after they air on networks, as well as movies and original programming, on your iPad. The only difference between the $7.99 and $11.99 per month plans lies in the latter option's mostly ad-free experience.
Netflix
Subscriptions start at $8.99 per month
If regular old broadcast TV isn't putting starch in your noodle, Netflix may be the answer to your media dysfunction. For less than the price of a New York City movie ticket, you can watch a decent array of movies and a wide selection of original Netflix schlock that's marketed as premium television, such as Altered Carbon, The Crown, Black Mirror, Orange Is the New Black, and Stranger Things.
Slacker Radio
Free, with premium subscriptions starting at $3.99 per month
Slacker Radio, one of our favorite streaming services, has revamped its iPad app several times over the years, but it continues to deliver the same excellent music content that has made it an Editors' Choice award winner. You can listen to dozens of genre-based stations and live ESPN Radio free of charge, but a premium subscription removes ads and skip limitations.
Spotify
Free, with premium subscriptions starting at $9.99 per month
Spotify is an ear- and eye-catching way to enjoy an Editors' Choice pick for streaming music players on your iPad. The app boasts collaborative playlists, commercial-free listening with premium accounts, on-demand playback, and cool, music-tempo-adjusting features for runners.
Tidal
Subscriptions start at $9.99 per month
Jay Z's 2015 purchase of little-known company Aspiro left many scratching their heads, but when the rapper and an all-star squad of singers and musicians unveiled the fruits of the buy, a music streaming service named Tidal, it started to make sense. Tidal is one of many subscription-based music apps, but it differs from Slacker Radio and Spotify in that it's aimed at music fans willing to pay a premium for exclusive content, quality editorial, and lossless, 16-bit CD-quality sound.
TuneIn Radio
$9.99, with premium sports packages starting at $7.99 per month
TuneIn Radio Pro continues to evolve. Most recently, the live radio streaming service has added an optional $7.99 per month subscription service, TuneIn Radio Premium, that boasts ad-free music, live sports, and other audio content. Amid all the changes, however, TuneIn Radio Pro also maintains its core functionality. TuneIn Radio Pro still lets you fire up more than 100,000 global AM and FM stations, rewind live radio, and record programming to your iPad's storage.
WWE
$9.99 per month
The WWE Network cuts out cable companies and delivers 720p pro wrestling streams directly to fans. Using the app, you can stream shows 24/7, including original content, such as backstage interviews and documentaries. The schedule tab lets you know what's coming on next, and commercials are limited to brief ads in between shows, not during them. You can also set parental controls to keep kids from watching the more violent stuff, although if you're a parent letting your child watch wrestling that genie is already out of the bottle.
YouTube
Free, with a $7.99-per-month premium service
YouTube, the home of bootleg music, conspiracy theorists, Lets Players, ASMR whispering, and cat videos, brings its extensive catalog to the iPad in the form of a free app. Signing up for the premium YouTube Red service lets you enjoy ad-free video streaming, original YouTube video series, and ad-free Google Play Music tunes.
Best iPad Productivity Apps
Apple iWork
$9.99 each for Keynote for iPad, Numbers for iPad, and Pages for iPad
If you had any doubts regarding the iPad's productivity chops, look no further than Apple's own iWork for iPad. There three separate apps—Keynote, Numbers, and Pages—amount to a mobile office suite. They are must-have apps for getting work done on Apple's slate.
FileMaker Go
Free
FileMaker Go, which originally began life as a very solid $30 iPad app, should now be considered must-have mobile database software among desktop FileMaker Pro users. The database program's excellent design, multiple file layouts, integrated search, digital signature capture, and charting capabilities make it a must-download app for FileMaker users. You still can't create new files, but FileMaker Go will keep you productive while on the go.
Microsoft Excel
Free
Microsoft did an impressive job shoehorning the gigantic industrial plant that is desktop Excel into the narrow dimensions of a tablet. You get many essential desktop options—formatting, sorting, filtering, columns, rows, charting styles—in a sleek, intuitive package. Excel for iPad gets the job done more elegantly and efficiently than any other tablet spreadsheet app.
Microsoft Powerpoint
Free
Word processors and spreadsheets are a lot easier to manage on a computer with a full-sized keyboard and mouse, but presentations turn out to be almost ideal for a tablet. Microsoft PowerPoint for the iPad is a pleasure to use, fast, responsive, and well-adapted to a touch interface.
Microsoft Word
Free
Microsoft Word for iPad is the first app that gets tablet-based word processing right. Everything else has been either too weak or too strong, either over- or under-loaded with features. Word for iPad doesn't try to do everything that its desktop sibling does, but it does everything you're likely to want on your tablet, including revision tracking and simultaneous collaborative editing.
Mint
Free
Mint's iPad app allows the money-conscious to see where they're spending and where they can save some chips. Simply create an account, add your bank, credit card, loan, and retirement accounts, and Mint automatically imports and categorizes your transactions. It's a great way to create and track budgets.
Note Taker HD
$4.99
Editors' Choice winner Note Taker HD is a great note-taking tool that does the job nicely, without denting your wallet. The number of features may overwhelm casual users, but anyone looking for a multi-faceted tool for making annotations, diagrams, and doodling will find a lot to like here.
Save2PDF
$4.99
If you've ever wanted to create a single PDF from a Word file, Excel spreadsheet, or Pages document, or to add a new page to the front or rear of an already created PDF, Save2PDF is the app for you. It lets mobile professionals select multiple files of different types and merge them into a single PDF file, but that's just the tip of the iceberg; you can also edit, zip, and wirelessly print documents.
Back to Top ↑Best iPad Reading Apps
Comixology
Must pay for individual issues or subscribe to the $5.99-per-month Comixology Unlimited
It's easy for a company to rest on its laurels when it becomes the face of its industry, but Comixology, the premier digital comic book delivery service, keeps evolving. The iPad app boasts useful Smart Lists, recommendations, and one of the deepest comic book catalogs available on mobile devices. If you don't mind renting your comics, Comixology Unlimited is an excellent value at $5.99 per month, as it lets you read an unlimited number of titles from nearly any publisher that isn't DC or Marvel.
Free
Flipboard offers iPad users an entirely original alternative to browsing the Web for news; its magazine-style layouts and breathtaking use of photos and whitespace render RSS feeds as beautiful, easy-to-read pages. The app also taps your social media feeds for articles, as well as music and video streams.
Instapaper
Free
The iPad is a great device for online reading, but what happens when you can't connect to the web? Enter Instapaper, an iPad app that lets users save any webpage for anytime, offline reading. Even better, pages saved to your account can be accessed from the desktop, iPhone, and Kindle.
Marvel Unlimited
$9.99 per month
iPad-toting comic book fans who want to take a dive into Marvel's deep digital comics well should download Marvel Unlimited. This Netflix-like subscription-based app focuses on letting readers comb a library of more than 15,000 digital comics from throughout Marvel's history, provided that the books are at least six months old. You can also purchase select titles, and, if you pay extra, receive numerous collectible bonuses.
Reuters
Free
The Reuters app delivers the venerable newswire's core product, news and market data, with a broader experience than either NPR's magazine-style product or Bloomberg's finance-heavy offering. The app features dozens of customizable categories, a personalized watch list for business news, and geographic-specific news views.
Best iPad Reference Apps
NYPL Biblion: World's Fair
Free
The word "biblion" was used in the Middle Ages to describe collections made from fragments of ancient texts. As such, it's appropriate that the New York Public Library's iPad app, which draws from tens of thousands of fragments scattered across hundreds of boxes of materials, bears the moniker. Biblion, the smartly designed and informative app focuses on the 1939-40 World's Fair, but even non-enthusiasts can appreciate the history presented. A second Biblion app, focused on Mary Shelley's classic novel Frankenstein, has also been released.
Google Earth
Free
Traveling is expensive. The free Google Earth app most certainly is not. By keying in a location such as "Coney Island" or "London," you can zip to the other side of the globe in mere seconds to check out satellite and aerial imagery. Geo-located Wikipedia articles add insight to your journey.
IMDB
Free
Featuring an image-driven interface featuring movie trailers, popular actors, and a list of currently theatrical releases, the IMDB iPad app is a must-have for movie buffs who want the latest Hollywood news.
Wikipedia
Free
Wikipedia, the destination for every drunken bar patron who can't recall a trivia answer, is now on iPad, bringing knowledge drop after knowledge drop to people on the move. The app even suggests articles based on your reading history, so you can fall down that Wikipedia rabbit hole at any time.
Best iPad Science Apps
March of the Dinosaurs
$1.99
March of the Dinosaurs takes the basic content of National Geographic's March of the Dinosaurs and enhances it with interactive virtual reality dinosaurs, textual descriptions of each species mentioned in the show, and more. The result is an informative story set in the late Cretaceous Era's Canadian Arctic, which should be fascinating and enjoyable for people of all ages.
NASA
Free
Oceans
Free
Oceans examines the effect of human activities on the world's seas, and presents a plan of action to manage marine resources in ways so that people can continue to benefit from the oceans' bounty while biodiversity is preserved. The app has a good mix of text and visuals, including spectacular photos of marine life by professional nature photographers, clear and detailed descriptions, and interactive diagrams.
The Pyramids
$6.99
The Pyramids is a multimedia journey into some of the most renowned and magnificent structures of the ancient world, the Pyramids, Sphinx, and tombs at Giza, Egypt. With this beautifully designed app, users can read about early Egyptian history, examine 3D-rendered artifacts, and even take virtual journeys into the Pyramids and tombs while a narrator explains what they are seeing.
Weather Underground WunderStation
Free
Hobbyists often have to contend with small-time, ugly apps that cater to their interests; not so for weather nerds. There are many beautiful weather apps, though WunderStation is more than just pretty; it's also smart. The app pairs with your personal weather station (or a nearby station) through Weather Underground's network, putting hyper-local data at your fingertips.
Best iPad Utility Apps
GoToMyPC
Free
When it comes to remote desktop access, GoToMyPC is the only game in town. The app makes it simple to control your Mac or PC while away from your work area, but latency issues may dampen the experience.
Dropbox
Free up to 2GB; premium subscriptions start at $8.25 per user per month
If you're looking for an infinitely simple way to keep files in sync between your iPad, desktop, and phone, Dropbox for iPad is a must. It's simple to use, it's free, and it offers offline file access.
itSeez3D
Free; $6.99 to export models
itSeez3D transforms your iPad into a mobile 3D scanner. You can view the scans as rotatable 3D figures, upload them to a 3D model-sharing site, or email them to the company for conversion to a 3D-printable format. The app makes use of true 3D data, instead of combining a large number of 2D images to create a 3D scan as some other iPad apps do.
NetworkToolbox
$8.99
There is a really cool app that turns your iPad (or other iOS device) into a network toolbox, and that app is named, appropriately enough, NetworkToolbox. Not only is it chock full of networking utilities that can help analyze and troubleshoot a network, but it's also a beautiful app, and one that is well in line with Apple's design aesthetics.