My Top 18 Business iPad Apps

Whenever I meet a fellow iPad owner the “favourite apps” discussion happens, yes I know it’s sad. I was very sceptical about spending a chunk of money on a 3G iPad but it’s a decision I have never regretted, and it’s paid itself back many time over since March.

I have 18 apps that I use pretty much every day so I’m going to cover 6 of these a week for 3 weeks. As well as naming them I’m going to tell you how they work for me. If you have favourite apps please let me know what it is and how you are using it, I’m always open to new ideas.

These are my first 6 top business apps

Flipboard (free)

Flipboard is for me the must have app and it’s how I keep up to speed on the world of internet marketing, as well as my personal interests.  It brings my Google reader, LinkedIn, FB and Twitter feeds into one place and allows me to view them as a newspaper, just brilliant. There are tons of other feeds available including technology, UK business, and the usual US fare.

Dropbox (free up to 2GB)

Dropbox is a must have for getting important documents anywhere. I use this to keep critical information that I update regularly so I always have the latest copy.  I also download a lot of eBooks so I have a Dropbox directory called “Reading” which I arrange in sub directories that are dates, so for example 2011-11-21 so they are in date order. I save the eBook to the dated directory on my PC and when I have some time I use Dropbox on the iPad to read the eBook. I also have Dropbox on my iPhone.

iBooks (free)

I use iBooks to read the PDF files I have in Dropbox for 2 reasons. 1) The standard PDF reader in Dropbox means you have to scroll down to read the books which I find irritating, iBooks is an eReader with page control, bookmarks, font size, brightness, etc. all built in. 2) iBooks stores the book on your iPad so you don’t have to be online to carry on reading it (you can do this in Dropbox by adding it a favourite). To open a Dropbox file in iBooks just tap the SEND icon (box with an arrow to the right) and select iBooks, done.

Roboform ($20 a year)

If you don’t already use this then you should. Roboform Everywhere is on my PC, iPad and iPhone and it manages all my online login addresses, usernames and passwords, and syncs between all the devices. It also allows me to have identities for my private life, business life and even for my Wife so I can fill forms in with 1 click including card information.  Just make sure your master password is VERY strong. Roboform will also generate you passwords if your imagination fails you. For your master password there are some great ideas here https://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Password-You-Can-Remember

FileBrowser (free)

I use File Browser for getting files from my PC to my iPad. It connects to my laptop via my wireless network and once you’ve sussed out how to move and copy it’s simple to use. I appreciate you can do this in iTunes but it’s very clunky and confusing. I carry training videos, portfolio examples, checklists, important documents, and anything else that I need with me that doesn’t change regularly. I use Dropbox for all my dynamic files.

AnalyticsPro (free)

Analytics Pro is excellent for a quick look at your Google Analytics data. Just setup your account in the software and ask it for all sorts of reports. I use it to stay in touch with my clients accounts and I even use it in meetings to show clients what’s happening on their web site or blog.