iPad apps for writers?

[ErinMH]

My wonderful husband gave me an iPad mini for Christmas, and I’m trying to set it up for productivity. I know Scrivener will have an iPad app coming out this spring, so I’m not planning to pay for a writing app now — I’ll make do with Plain Text synced to Dropbox. I’ve got Evernote.

What else should I have? What apps are others finding indispensable?

[jschara]

Rats. It seems to have eaten my reply. Let’s try again.

These aren’t all for writers, but they are indispensable for me:

The Weather Channel
Zite
Jumbo Calculator
Twitter
FeeddlerRSS
mSecure
GoodReader
Things
EasyNote
Dropbox
Kindle
Office2HD
Dictionary
Simplenote (used to sync with Scrivener, but I’ve been hearing it isn’t working lately)
IndexCard
PlainText
7in1 Converter (I mostly use date/time, but it has so much more)
iThoughtsHD (mindmapping)
Skitch
WordPress
Digits (if you need a calculator that keeps a “tape”)
Trello
iHeartRadio

If you have one of the newest iPad with the Retina screen, you might want Camera+.

[jhmcmullen]

I’m watching with interest.

I use a PC as my main machine, so things are slightly different with me.

I alternate between Write 2, which produced a plain text file, and DocsToGo, which works with Word files. Generally, I generate text with Write2 and modify existing Word files with DocsToGo; DTG won’t let you create tables or styles, but it won’t harm those things if it finds them. (I have PlainText, too, but I liked the interface on Write better. Tastes differ.)

I use a screen cover that has a Bluetooth keyboard built in: if I have to do extensive keyboard input, it’s kind of like having a crippled laptop. (EDIT: This is the third Bluetooth keyboard I’ve tried, and I like this one enough that I think it will stay. It’s a Hipster? Hipstreet? cover with a keyboard–I was lucky enough to find it at a value shop for half price.)

I’m still playing with EverNote: I tried it, used it mostly for text stuff, dropped it, and then realized that its benefit isn’t that it uses file formats I don’t care about, it’s that it syncs across machines without using DropBox. So that’s probably a win, but I’m still iffy about it–I don’t do enough with its special features to justify it over, say, DropBox and something else.

For PDF reading, I generally use GoodNotes, but I really miss a search facility (the developer says that’s coming, but…) I’d look at something else. EDIT: Though the annotation features are really quite nice.

I’m still trying out mind-mapping software, but I seem to have settled on SimpleMind+.

I have a free scientific calculator app but I’d have to look up the name. Just, sometimes I need logs, exponents, and a bit of trig…so the built-in calculator isn’t enough.

And largely, everything is up for grabs if I find something better.

EDIT: I have the Merriam-Webster dictionary, but I’m not a huge dictionary guy, and when I need one, it’s usually for an obscure word that the M-W doesn’t have. So I’m not happy with that, but I need it rarely enough that it’s not really a thorn for me, either.

Great at theory, terrible at practice.

[jschara]

7in1converter also has a scientific calculator. Normally. I only need a basic calculator, and I love the big buttons on Jumbo Calculator.

I use EasyNote for grocery lists and such. I recently sprang for the 99 cent upgrade so I could sync with the iPhone . Much easier to wield in the grocery store than the iPad. I imagine it could be used for capturing writing ideas etc.

Oh, and I have a Logitech Bluetooth keyboard that works great with anything, including the iPad.

I’ve heard good things about SimpleMind. I also have the MindJet Maps app, because I use MinManager on my main machine. IThoughtsHD is compatible, which is why I chose it.

I’m not that enamored of PlainText, but it works.

[Tommehbell]

Storyist is the app that I use because I am a MAC user and its wicked good. It formats your novel or story as you write. And it has a iPad app

[Sbarret]

Find the iPad app for your blog. If you spend a lot of time on your iPad, you’ll find it very helpful for keeping your blog up to date.

I’ll reiterate a few thumbs up for evernote, Dropbox, and kindle. I’ve also just added Scoopit, for following content curators of interest. It’s like creating a personalized newspaper of the topics that interest you. (that said, it’s an iPhone app, so I may just stick with following scoopit on the web.)

[ErinMH]

Thanks. My blog is on my own site, so I have to post there through Safari, I think.

I might check out Scoopit; I know my husband uses a similar app, as well as Instapaper.

[ErinMH]

Thanks for the recommendation. I’m happy using Scrivener on my Mac, though.

[ErinMH]

I might check out DocsToGo — does it do track changes? It would be awesome to have something I can do my editing work with, and I know Pages isn’t always faithful with those.

On my iPod, I read PDFs in DropBox. Is there a good reason to have another app to read in as well?

Dictionary! Yes! Thank you!

[ErinMH]

Okay, that’s a thorough list. I’ve had an iPod touch for years, so I know most other kinds of apps I want (put Kindle, Nook, Twitter, and Facebook on pretty quickly, for example); I probably should have clarified that.

Some of these do sound interesting, though, and I’ll be checking out that converter.

Thanks.

[jschara]

I don’t think anyone’s gotten something to do track changes on the iPad.

[jschara]

I thought you were using WordPress. The current iteration of the app is pretty good. (It was terrible a couple of years ago).

[ErinMH]

It is WordPress installed on my site, but the app only looked to me like it does WordPress.com blogs. Did I miss the obvious?

[jschara]

Maybe, because I can use it on my sites, and they are self-hosted. The terminology is a little confusing. As I recall, there are three choices, and the top one is for self-hosted.

[ErinMH]

Aha! Yes, I’d missed that somehow. Cool!

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