Apps Which Will Look Great On The iPad

Posted on February 14th, 2010. Written by Arron.

By now I’m sure you’re all aware of Apple’s upcoming tablet, the iPad. Some say it will be as revolutionary as the sliced loaf, others on the other hand think its just an oversize glorified iPod touch we should forget about until sometime next year. The hard critics of this device though are missing one insanely important factor. The iPad won’t rely on frequent hardware updates for its added “Pizazz!”. No .. instead, software will be king.

We all know that the iPad will have an App Store for ‘iPad-specific’ software, software which will have been rethought especially to accommodate this new resolution and size size. But, what about the more than 150,000 applications which are already on the App Store? When you take your iPad out of it’s box on launch day, you’ll instantly have access to all of these apps straight off the bat. Exciting? Definitely. Below is a short list of apps and app genres which already reside on the App Store, which I not only think will look visually great on this new device, but also bring great functionality to millions on this new category of device.

The follow-up to the award-winning Twitter app from Loren Brichter of atebits, and quite possibly the most anticipated Twitter application of all time. Seen by many as one of the best Twitter client choices for both iPhone (and iPod touch) to date, and carrying with it that of a cult following, Tweetie 2 has a strong visual style which is both simplistic but at the same time user friendly – just perfect for the iPad’s screen.

As tweets are separated into their own sections with controls for each just a swipe across the screen away, its sheer simplicity of use and full feature set means that when I get my iPad, Tweetie 2 will be my choice of Twitter clients. That said, I’d love to see an iPad exclusive version which takes advantage of this new platform, hit sometime later this year.

When Classics first hit the App Store I think the first aspect which people embraced was its user interface. Here was an e-book reader which although held a close library of books only modifiable by the application developers, it looked good. So good in fact that the app I imagine could have sold on face value alone. Now, I know what you’re thinking, Apple announced iBooks; So why would I need an e-book reader app? .. Well, for one, for the price of the app, you get a good number of books that would probably cost you more if bought individually. But also, Apple announced iBooks won’t be available at launch internationally.

Sure there are other e-book readers … Stanza to name just one, but I my opinion, non compare to the sheer user experience Classics seems to offer. In fact, some people think Apple’s own iBooks app took its “inspiration” from Classics. Hmm .. yeah, I’ll get back to you on that one.

If there’s one aspect of life the iPad is probably going to rock at, is more than likely going to be gaming. Sure, you could argue that any game is going to look drop-dead gorgeous on the iPad’s 9 by 7 inch screen, but personally I think it’s the games which offer obvious and unique visual styles which will rock out the best. Starting with one of my current iPhone favorites, Orbital. Orbital is a game centered around creating and destroying various glowing numbered circles As you fire your ball up into the playing field, wherever the ball lands another numbered circle is created. The aim of the game is to destroy each of these circles in a certain number of hits, all the while trying to avoid certain death below.

People like colour! .. and the aspect which makes me love Orbital as it is, is the fact that it is absolute sheer eye candy. From the trail of sparkling colour left behind by your ball, to the colour-filled explosions seen as you successfully destroy a numbered circle, witht he iPad havig a screen so much bigger than that of the iPhone, its this type of visual style I can see becoming a huge hit.

But, it won’t just be touch based games which will look and feel great on the iPad, tilt based titles will also be a popular pick. Games like, for example, that of ustwo’s .â„¢ series, 1337 Game Design’s Dark Nebula and Illusion Lab’s Labyrinth and Labyrinth 2. These types of games need little input from the user from a ‘multi-touch’ perspective, but have that a strong and unique visual style and addictive streak which keeps you coming back to them for more. The use of these aspect together will I think heighten the current interest in tilt based apps for the new device.

Now, if this is going to essentially replace the need for your net-book, there’s one thing for certain, it is going to also replace your organization system. What better way to organise yourself than with Things? Winner of an Apple Design Award, Things is a simplistic but powerful task management suite which has both Mac and iPhone counterparts. Both versions of the software scream simplicity – the “Apple” way. Whether in an iPad exclusive version, or running the current App Store version, you can bet Things will be a great addition to the iPad simply for what it is good at already. Task management.

With all this said, there is still over a month or so before the iPad actually hits shop shelves, and who knows with Apple rumored to be hosting another media event sometime in March, we may not have seen the best of what this device can do, yet. We may even see iPad exclusive versions of some of these apps listed above, just in time for the iPad Wi-Fi model launch at end of March.

Probably wishful thinking. Personally, I can’t see Apple launching a new device like the iPad and not having a bunch of devs along for the ride.

Mark my words: Something more is coming in March. We just don’t know what, yet.