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The Best iPad Apps for Work

Published: Oct 06, 2011

 Workplace Issues       
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The passing of Steve Jobs yesterday sent chills throughout the world.  The man behind Apple and its amazing products - iTunes, the iPhone and the iPad, along with a trendy lineup of computers – helped change the way people read, work and play each day.  Literally millions of people were touched by Steve Jobs’ innovative and aggressive business approach and therefore his death touched many who use the products he famously touted at conferences in jeans and a black turtleneck shirt.  Even those who purposely purchased the “other” product are celebrating the legacy he left behind.  We’re a little more productive today thanks to Steve Jobs and as a career intelligence site, we pay tribute to the genius behind Apple and the iPad with a special look at how he helped make our professional lives that much easier.  Thank you Steve Jobs.  Here are the best iPad apps for work:

Evernote (free): Our ideas often come to us at the oddest of times.  Rather than sketch something out on a napkin in a diner or try and remember it until you get into the office the next day, Evernote makes it easier to keep all your notes in one place.  Whether you have a new idea for a marketing campaign, want to put together an itinerary for your next trip, found a website that you like and want to do business with, or just enjoy a bottle of wine and think it would be great for that dinner party you are having with other executives, this app does it all.  Write notes, draw concepts, take pictures, cut and paste complete website, or record your voice and store it, share it and go back to it whenever you want to revisit your idea.  Why waste your brain power for simply remembering ideas when Evernote can do it for you and you can spend the rest of the time coming up with other career-changing plans. 

Dragon Dictation (free): This is not the most perfect app in the world, but it is perfect for those who can clearly speak out their ideas, but have trouble writing it all down.  Rather than bog your secretary down by having her dictate a company-wide memo, you can let Dragon Dictation do it for you.  Dragon Dictation is an easy-to-use voice recognition application that allows the user to easily speak and instantly see their text or email messages. You might have to clean it up a bit in a word processor, but it’s so much faster than staring at the computer screen trying to figure out what to type.  They say it is five times faster, but even if it is only two times faster, it’s better than what you have now.  Let your secretary do more challenging work. 

FlightTrack Pro ($9.99): This app is designed for those sales people, consulting experts and everyone else who flies for work on a consistent basis.  Import flight data automatically from any airline confirmation email and get push alerts with real-time changes to your flight (they are even sent when the app is closed).  Get real-time flight itinerary updates, and zoomable maps that work offline and look much better than those maps you get on your TV screen. It also allows you to view weather radar and forecasts, which is good to know if that weather may delay you from an important business meeting in London, California or anywhere else you may travel.  You can even predict flight delays with airport warnings and historical delay forecasts.  And because it covers more than 4000 airports worldwide, and international flight coverage with 1400 airlines, it becomes that much easier to find alternate flights at a tap should weather or other issues cause any problems with your flight.  This app is also good when tracking the flight of an important business client you need to have picked up at the gate.  There are many practical uses for this app that just makes life a little easier. 

Expensify (free): Those that travel a lot or end up picking up the tab to woo clients and potential advertisers will love this app.  It automates your entire expense report process by syncing with your credit cards and bank accounts to track purchases as they happen. The app will also pull in eReceipts, digital copies of the paper receipts you normally have to carry around, for most purchases under $75.  And for purchases made with cash, just take a picture of the receipt and the app will pull out the merchant, date and amount of the transaction.  Add in any remaining expenses you may have encountered and you have a completely documented view of all your spending.  You know your company better than your iPad does, so with all the information at your fingertips, just pick which expenses you want to add to the expense report and send it out for reimbursement. 

Dropbox (free): This app allows you to work on a project from the office, continue it on the train and finish it at home.  After you install Dropbox on your computer, any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, your iPhone and iPad and even the Dropbox website.  This is perfect for the person that likes to work on projects at home, but tends to forget to email it to themselves to pick up later at work.  You hate when that happens…but now it never has to happen again.  Now your boss knows you literally can work all day. 

Other great apps:

CamCard ($6.99): Take pictures and save people’s business cards for easy viewing whenever you need to reach your contacts.  It’s the thinnest, non-bulky rolodex you will ever own.

QuickOffice Pro ($19.99): Review and edit Microsoft Office documents on your iPad, print or save as PDFs, and email documents to colleagues.

Scanner Pro ($6.99): You can scan important hard copy documents (even multi-page documents) and send them to colleagues via email or upload them to Dropbox. 

Azul Media Player ($1.99): Azul Media Player plays most video file formats without any file conversion.  For those who do video presentations, this might be an important app to use. 

War Pinball HD ($2.99): When you need to kick back and de-stress, this is the perfect app.  It has tables for Platoon, Missing in Action and Navy Seals and plays just like a real pinball game, complete with tilt action.  It’s a nice little break for those who need one, but are tired of Angry Birds.     
--Jon Minners, Vault.com

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