It’s rare that I don’t find at least one game in the iTunes App Store every week that drives me to immediately purchase it. This week, there are four iPad apps that should be on your must-buy list.
BROWSER+HD (99 cents)
I fell in love with Browser+ HD the minute I opened it. A quick (minute or so) explanatory movie, and I was off and running. This is a re-imagining of the browser experience with the iPad in mind. The standard browser bar at the top is gone. Want to search? Swipe up from the bottom and a Google search bar pops up with your keyboard. Find your most-visited and favorite sites or find the refresh and back buttons? Swipe from the left or the right. My favorite part is the “overlay” function. Tap and hold any link on a web page you’re viewing, and choose “Open in Overlay” and the link will open on top of the current page. Check it out, tap to close, and you’re right back where you started. The next promised update includes bookmarking, and possibly Facebook and Instapaper integration.
DISCOVR ($2.99)
I love seeking out new music. Something of a combination of Pandora and Aweditorium, Discovr turns finding music based upon what you already love into a little adventure. Enter an artist or band name into the search box, and a little graphic pops up with the searched-for band/artist in the center, and musically related bands around it, connected by lines. Tap one, and you’ll get more branches. Keep tapping, and your musical map will expand. Double tap any that look interesting, and you can check out videos, access a short bio, reviews and links. You can share what you’ve found via Facebook, Twitter or email, or save to favorites.
LINKLOCKER ($1.99)
If you’re in need of a more robust means of saving links than the “Favorites” function in your browser, grab LinkLocker. Keep track of bookmarks, and even create an app wish list with this app. Add links manually or copy/paste from your browser, and LinkLocker will automatically attach details and create a thumbnail image. Organize your links with tags and notes. Easily search your LinkLocker, or just browse through your collection. And, you can search iTunes or the App Store for music or apps you want to buy, add to your LinkLocker and track price changes and updates automatically.
TIMELI ($2.99)
Everyone manages their time differently and despite the huge number of task and time management apps to be found in the App Store, it’s hard to find one that perfectly suits one’s own particular circumstances. For those who like to see everything all laid out in front of them, there’s Timeli. More suited to tracking projects versus daily tasks, Timeli allows you to see everything you’ve got going on all at once via timelines. Using this app, you can add tasks to projects and assign due dates. You can also zoom in for a more detailed view of each timeline or zoom out to see everything at once.
