The best iPad apps that increase productivity and make your life easier

Apple iPads come with built-in productivity tools like Notes, Calendar, and Reminders, but if you want to learn new ways to maximize your productivity and organize your life, there are plenty of apps to help you.

Although the iPad started as a device that could be used to stream content or browse the Internet on the go, Apple has essentially transformed its iPads into computers that can perform a variety of tasks for personal, work and school use. As a result, there are many applications that will help you, for example, create one place to organize your life or help you concentrate on everyday tasks, cutting off distractions.

Below we’ve prepared a list of the best ones available in the App Store.

Good notes

Goodnotes is one of the most popular iPad apps, and for good reason. The app is great for people who like to write notes using Apple Pencil; You can put both handwritten and typed text on one page, and add images, stickers, and even doodles.

You can create a digital notebook with blank or lined paper for notes, checklists, planners, and more. The app allows you to export entire digital notebooks or specific pages to PDF and other files.

Goodnotes is also great for drawing and sketching. Although it’s not as advanced as some creative apps like Procreate, Goodnotes is easy to use and perfect for quick sketches and diagrams.

If you’re taking part in a class or meeting, you can also record audio notes that sync with the moment you write. Additionally, you can use AI to summarize notes and assist with writing.

You can create three digital notebooks for free. If you want unlimited notebooks, you will have to pay $9.99 per month or pay a one-time fee of $29.99.

TikTik

If you’re not a fan of the iPad’s built-in Reminders app, or you just want a more advanced app to manage your to-do lists and tasks, TickTick may be a good choice. You can use it for both professional and personal tasks.

The app allows you to synchronize tasks across all your devices and integrate your favorite calendar app. You can create checklists, set recurring tasks, upload task attachments, share task lists to collaborate with others, and more.

If you want to develop a habit, such as meditation before bed, you can set your goals in the app and track your progress. And if you receive an email but don’t have time to respond, you can turn it into a reminder task so you don’t forget to respond.

You can also add tags to your tasks to better manage them, and you can mark tasks based on their priority.

If you want to focus on a specific task, you can turn on the “pomo timer” in the app, which is based on the Pomodoro technique, which divides work into specific intervals to maximize productivity.

TickTick is free, but if you want additional features, such as the ability to add up to five reminders to a task or more lists and tasks, you’ll pay $3.99 per month or $35.99 per year.

Forest

Forest is an interesting app that increases productivity while helping the environment. If you are someone who has difficulty staying on task or is easily distracted, this app may be good for you.

When you want to focus on something, you can open the app and plant a tree. Your tree will grow as you focus on your work and complete it. If you leave the app before the countdown ends, your tree will wither and die.

You can set up “Approved Lists” for various applications that you use to be productive, such as email applications or Microsoft Word. The app also allows you to track your productivity.

Over time, you create a digital forest that visualizes your productivity. If you want to compete, you can share your forest with other people to compare it with their forests. By focusing on growing virtual trees, you can earn coins that you can save to help plant real trees around the world through the Trees for the Future tree planting organization.

Forest costs $3.99 to download, and you can purchase add-ons in the app to help your forest grow faster and plant real trees.

Concept

Notion is a great app for taking notes, managing tasks and workflow, organizing lists and habits, collaborating with others, and more. Instead of using different apps to manage your calendar, tasks, and notes, you can do it all right in Notion.

You can integrate various apps you use, such as Slack and Dropbox, to connect all your workflows in one place. One of Notion’s greatest strengths is its flexibility and customizability. You can tailor it to your needs, whether it’s organizing your personal or professional life, school work, or passion projects.

If you’re not sure where to start, you can use templates to create things like a travel planner or product roadmap. Notion also has an artificial intelligence feature that helps with writing and brainstorming. Notion AI can help you get answers to your content and turn large amounts of data into meaningful action items.

Notion offers a free plan for personal use. The company also offers a Plus plan for $8 per month for small groups and a Business plan for $15 per month for companies. You get 20 AI answers for free; then you pay $10 per month per member.

Crouton

Sometimes planning what to eat can take a long time, leaving less time for other tasks, so it’s worth having an app to help with this. Designed to make cooking and meal planning easier, Crouton is perfect for organizing recipes and planning shopping lists.

You can import recipes from websites or even scan them from a physical cookbook. So instead of relying on bookmarks or physical recipes, you can keep them together in one place.

You can plan your meals for the week, and if one day you don’t know what to do, the app will generate a meal plan for you. After planning your meals for the week, you can create a shopping list with all the ingredients you need.

Crouton also has an in-app timer, so you don’t have to use another app if you have specific recipe steps. Plus, you can share your recipes with others, whether you want to tell your family what’s for dinner or you come across a recipe that a friend of yours is sure to love.

Crouton offers basic features for free, but if you want unlimited recipes and additional features, a yearly subscription is available for $14.99.

Freedom

Freedom is a great app for blocking distractions so you can focus on your work and be more productive. You can start a Freedom session to block interruptions on all your devices for a set period of time.

You can choose which websites and apps you want to block during this time. So if you’re working on an iPad and then try to open TikTok on your phone, it won’t be possible and you’ll see a green screen instead.

The application allows you to immediately start a session, schedule an upcoming one or set up a recurring session. If you know you need to be free from distractions each day, you can set your Freedom session to start at a specific time each day.

If you’re someone who listens to specific sounds to help you focus, Freedom offers a variety you can listen to. For example, you can listen to the sounds of coffee shops in cities like New York or Berlin, the sounds of birds chirping, calming instrumental songs, and more.

The app, which costs $3.99 per month, is quite easy to use and also includes a number of different articles with tips on how to be more productive and better understand your digital well-being.