Ask LH: What iPad Apps Does A Student Need?

Dear Lifehacker, With the university semester fast approaching, I’d like to invest in some iPad apps. In particular, I need a good word processor and an app to annotate and edit PDFs. the selection on the app store is pretty overwhelming, and I don’t exactly have the cash or time to try them all. So what can LH recommend, and what other apps could help me out? Thanks, Tablets & Tutes

Picture by Michael Coghlan

Before we hit the apps, one obvious recommendation: make sure you’ve acquired a Bluetooth keyboard for your iPad. If you’re going to be using it for serious annotation and writing tasks, a separate keyboard is much more ergonomic and efficient, no matter what app you’re using.

As part of our App Directory series, we’ve already highlighted PDF apps and office suites for use on the iPad (and other iOS devices). So rather than repeating oursevles, we’ll point to those listings. for general note taking, OneNote is a popular choice for many students, and there’s a specific version of that for the iPad.

If your university has good Wi-Fi coverage, you might also consider largely using cloud-based apps (such as Google Apps) within the iPad browser. With that said, we’d love to hear recommendations from other iPad-toting students in the comments.

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