Top 5 iPad apps I’d pay good money for
Note: this is just my personal list of apps I would actually be willing to pay for if someone built them. Some of these ideas may already exist in some form on the iPhone, but I think they would work much better with the iPad’s large touchscreen.
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A recipe manager
I do a lot of cooking, and frequently like to experiment with new recipes. Currently I need to either print out the recipes (which makes organizing and searching through them later a pain in the ass), or bring my laptop over to the kitchen (which doesn’t work so well since I don’t have much room in there). I would absolutely love an app that lets me organize my recipes, read through them while I am cooking, and look up useful instructional videos.
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A UI/UX mockup app
Think Basalmiq Mockups meets pen and paper. I currently do my mockups on pen and paper because it’s so easy, but I also want to be able to save, sort, and easily share my mockups with others. I also want to be able to draw something, save it as a widget, and re-use it or make modifications to it later. I’ve tried out Basalmiq a few times and while I think it’s really neat, getting your widgets set up, positioned, and configured takes way more time than I’m willing to spend. But an app that combines freehand drawing with prebuilt widgets, saving, and sharing? Killer.
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A universal remote replacement
This probably needs a hardware attachment to deal with the IR transmitter. So: someone make an IR transmitter for the iPad, then write a universal remote app for it. And I don’t want to see standard looking buttons ported from a regular remote, take advantage of the touchscreen interface and give me a new, better way to control my media center/TV. Perhaps give me a TV guide overlay that I can use instead of channel surfing.
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An augmented reality treasure/scavenger hunt game
Show me a nice big, interactive treasure map that starts out empty, and then let me fill it out as I travel to different locations and explore my city. Use the display to show me the ‘treasure’ at the destination spots, include some interesting puzzles, and let me collect cool badges. Think SCVNGR meets Gowalla.
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Multiplayer Pictionary
Think iSketch on a big touchscreen. I know there are a few iPhone versions of the game out there, but a bigger touchscreen makes this much more fun: you have much more room to display scores, the timer, the word guesses, the color pallette/brushes, and your opponents. Add a persistent multiplayer lobby and game mechanics that follow iSketch, and I’ll definitely be addicted.
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Bonus: An iPad controlled helicopter
Ok, so this one’s a little silly. But take this, and give me a nice iPad interface: front mounted camera display, a radar/map overlay, and some cool speed/altitude gauges. Bonus points for turning in into a real life dogfighting game!
Note that none of these apps are based on traditional computing use cases. The people that are comparing the iPad to their existing computers are missing the point entirely. It’s not meant to replace your computer. Frankly, if I’m writing, coding, or gaming, I’m quite happy with my keyboard, mouse, and giant monitors thank you very much.
No, the iPad isn’t going to revolutionize computing. It’s going to revolutionize the dozens of other shitty interfaces we deal with on a daily basis.
