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Essential Apps for College?

K

klang

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 21, 2013
6
0
I recently just picked up an iPad Mini for school. The main plan is to use it for note taking to take the load off the amount of notebooks and books i am going to need to carry since i will be commuting this semester. I did also pick up a wireless keyboard to help with this.

So now my question is, in your opinion, what are the essential apps i should purchase/download that will assist both in and out of the classroom?

If it matters, i am currently an undergrad majoring in Finance and Accounting.

The only apps that i really know of, that i am torn between are Evernote and Noteability.
I will also try and update this post with current recommendations so they aren't repeated too often.

Thanks Guys.

Recommended Apps:
Evernote
GoodNotes
iAnnotate
Dropbox
Pages (only app with footnotes)
QuickOffice
Soulver
Scanner Pro
Byword
iStudiez Pro
 
Last edited:
P

palpatine

macrumors 68040
May 3, 2011
3,130
45
Hi. Congrats on your purchase. Make sure to do some searching, because this question comes up a lot. Short list of apps I use daily:

Evernote
GoodNotes
iAnnotate
Dropbox
Pages (only app with footnotes)
 
P

palpatine

macrumors 68040
May 3, 2011
3,130
45
jstnlzr said:
note taking on iPad is not fun, at all, for me anyway
Click to expand...


It isn't for everyone, but I love it. For handwriting, I strongly recommend the Pogo Sketch Pro (the stylus makes a huge difference). For typing, I strongly recommend an external keyboard (it makes a huge difference). By the way, if you want to record lectures, Recorder Pro is free and runs in the background (one of the few that does).
 
K

klang

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 21, 2013
6
0
ithinkimalion said:
Dropbox, Evernote, QuickOffice, Soulver, Scanner pro, Notability, Byword
Click to expand...

Dropbox i definitely agree with, question though... Evernote Vs. Notability, is it really worth it to have both? I know Evernote is free but my main use would be note-taking in class and using drop box to access those notes with my laptop at home.

Also, QuickOffice Vs. Pages/iWorks?

I definitely won't be purchasing/downloading both, so which would be the better investment?
 
ithinkimalion

ithinkimalion

macrumors member
Aug 24, 2011
86
1
klang said:
Dropbox i definitely agree with, question though... Evernote Vs. Notability, is it really worth it to have both? I know Evernote is free but my main use would be note-taking in class and using drop box to access those notes with my laptop at home.

Also, QuickOffice Vs. Pages/iWorks?

I definitely won't be purchasing/downloading both, so which would be the better investment?
Click to expand...

To me they are both different. I archive stuff and Evernote and I take notes in Evernote. Notability I used to annotate PDF files.

Quickoffice works better with the Microsoft document formats. But the iWork suite is a much better selection of apps.
 
K

klang

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 21, 2013
6
0
ithinkimalion said:
To me they are both different. I archive stuff and Evernote and I take notes in Evernote. Notability I used to annotate PDF files.

Quickoffice works better with the Microsoft document formats. But the iWork suite is a much better selection of apps.
Click to expand...

As for Microsoft, the only programs on a laptop i would be using are Access and Excel, so would it, in your opinion, make sense to get at the minimum the Pages app to be able to work on papers using the iPad at school and being able to transfer that over to my laptop. My Laptop does already have iWorks installed
 
ithinkimalion

ithinkimalion

macrumors member
Aug 24, 2011
86
1
klang said:
As for Microsoft, the only programs on a laptop i would be using are Access and Excel, so would it, in your opinion, make sense to get at the minimum the Pages app to be able to work on papers using the iPad at school and being able to transfer that over to my laptop. My Laptop does already have iWorks installed
Click to expand...

Yes. Pages is nice. It works pretty well. Grab a keyboard case for your iPad too.
 
P

palpatine

macrumors 68040
May 3, 2011
3,130
45
Evernote syncs to any device. No need for Dropbox for it. GoodNotes (or Notability) is great for annotating PDFs or handwriting. When you are finished, just open in Evernote and it is all in one place.
 
H

hkim1983

macrumors 6502
Feb 5, 2009
354
9
You're a finance/accounting major? You need Excel, Word, a calculator, familiarity with database applications, and maybe a Powerpoint application every now and then. Uh, basically, the iPad will be nearly useless (imo), but you can use it for note taking and avoiding carrying around the ridiculously sized accounting textbooks. It can also be used to entertain you while taking tax courses (sorry, I hate tax).

I think accounting is hard to type out in terms of notes (on the fly that is, if you have stuff waiting pre-formatted for you then by all means...), so if you insist on using the iPad, get a stylus and an app that supports that.

I think Evernote, Dropbox, and GoodNotes are good general apps to have around though.
 
J

jojoba

macrumors 68000
Dec 9, 2011
1,584
21
Like others said

Evernote for note taking
Notability (for hand writing)
iAnnotate (or GoodReader or PDF Expert, for marking up pdfs)

I also second getting a stylus, and QuickOffice for any MO docs you'll need to work with.
 
P

Pinkie Pie

macrumors regular
Mar 3, 2012
149
11
Los Angeles
My professors post notes online in both PDF and Docx formats, so I use Notability to take notes and annotate PDFs and PowerPoints, Pages to edit the docx files, and Dropbox to keep everything in sync. I recommend Inkling, too, if your textbooks are on it (they're probably not, but it's really cool if they are!).
 
K

klang

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 21, 2013
6
0
Does anyone have any feedback on Notability vs Evernote. As of now i will not be getting a stylus, but will be using apple's wireless keyboard to actually take notes, so in this aspect which would be the better option?

Also iAnnotate vs Notability for editing PDFs?
 
L

Luis2004

macrumors 6502a
Dec 30, 2012
615
1
klang said:
Does anyone have any feedback on Notability vs Evernote. As of now i will not be getting a stylus, but will be using apple's wireless keyboard to actually take notes, so in this aspect which would be the better option?

Also iAnnotate vs Notability for editing PDFs?
Click to expand...

Notability is garbage if you want a good PDF annotation app. The rendering of PDF pages lags horribly.

iAnnotate isn't bad. Has a lot of features. The only drawback to it is that if you have text boxes or highlights near the page edges, when you go to turn the page your finger will often "catch" on them and you will end up repositioning the annotation instead of turning the page.

I like PDF Max Pro personally.
 
K

Kelly90

macrumors newbie
Jan 23, 2013
3
0
Notability - for handwriting
Cloudword - for typed text, presentations, and get ready for test (it has great tool to study)

You do not need more than that. Believe me.
 
Technarchy

Technarchy

macrumors 604
May 21, 2012
6,753
4,927
I'm working on my 2nd degree now in Chemical Engineering, and all I use is at this time is:

Calculator Pro
Google Drive
Logtitech Ultrathin keyboard.
 
L

Lindseystar

macrumors newbie
Jan 27, 2013
5
0
Dropbox
Calculator
CloudWord
Calender
GoodReader

Those apps are very essential for college. Each and its benefits to start get ready and finish college on good grade.
 
K

klang

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 21, 2013
6
0
Thanks for all the replies, if anyone has any other suggestions keep em' coming!:D
 
Jessica Lares

Jessica Lares

macrumors G3
Oct 31, 2009
9,612
1,056
Near Dallas, Texas, USA
iHandy Calculator HD Pro - It hasn't been updated since last February, but I like how it has a notepad on one side to type notes, and the calculator on the other end. Works great on my Mini.

Noteshelf is pretty good too.
 
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