# Just got my iPad 2. What do I need to make it more awesome? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 21, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287 "2011-04-21T21:14:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287/1 "2011-04-21T21:14:20Z")
I have a case on the way for obvious reasons, but it won’t arrive for another week or so. What apps are absolutely required to make the most use out of this awesomely amazing little piece of equipment? ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287/2 "2011-04-21T21:21:10Z")
**Garage Band** Best five bucks you’ll ever spend, hands down. **Plants vs. Zombies** Very awesome tower defense game, looks cool and is really twisted. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287/3 "2011-04-22T02:39:58Z")
Angry Birds. Jailbreak it (once available, that is). X-Plane. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287/4 "2011-04-22T02:55:00Z")
[http://www.amazon.com/Headcase-Etch-Sketch-Hard-Case/dp/B0043O2FOI](http://www.amazon.com/Headcase-Etch-Sketch-Hard-Case/dp/B0043O2FOI) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287/5 "2011-04-22T03:21:58Z")
Play music? [Hook it up to your keyboard](http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2011/04/13/yamaha-i-mx1-midi-interface-for-ipad-iphone-ipod-touch/). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287/6 "2011-04-22T03:42:39Z")
Cover it with [Spongebob stickers!](http://www.stickergiant.com/Merchant2/imgs/450/imbob7_450.jpeg) ETA: Sorry, I just read the thread title, and didn’t immediately see the request for apps. See if you can find an app that will let you print Spongebob stickers. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287/7 "2011-04-22T04:11:09Z")
get Fliptime XL, and then hang it on your wall. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287/8 "2011-04-22T05:33:40Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > **Garage Band** > > Best five bucks you’ll ever spend, hands down. why? I’m a musician myself, and playing with it for a second at the Apple store, it felt like a dinky little toy a la rock hero. At least I did some neat stuff with GB on my Mac mini and MIDI controller, but I can’t imagine doing anything meaningful on a touch screen. I got my iPad 2 last week. I have IMO.IM handling yahoo and MSN for me. Mocha lite VNC lets me access my PC and use a windows desktop when I need Java or something. And iswifter lets me watch streaming flash videos that aren’t converted to HTML5. as an added bonus for me as a Canadian, iswifter is based in the states, and last week was the first time I got to watch videos from Hulu and Comedy Central. 🙂 See any spelling errors, missing apostrophes or capital letters in my post? Yeah, I’m waiting for the keyboard/case combo from Zagg to arrive… ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287/9 "2011-04-22T05:37:04Z")
Get Garage Band, even though it’s not a perfect music app, according to my friends with musical talent it has one great feature: it’s always with you. They’re the artsy fartsy types, and they claim that inspiration can strike at any time, and I suppose it’s possible motzart would’ve composed just one more concerto if only he’d have had his iPad 2 with him on the shitter. Stupid hipsters, and their marketable musical abilities. ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287/10 "2011-04-22T08:51:43Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > **Garage Band** > [@antonio107](#): > > why? I’m a musician myself, and playing with it for a second at the Apple store, it felt like a dinky little toy a la rock hero. At least I did some neat stuff with GB on my Mac mini and MIDI controller, but I can’t imagine doing anything meaningful on a touch screen. You’re right, it’s not a “serious” tool for making actual recording - but that’s the point. For everyone but professional musicians it has some really cool features that let you do stuff that sounds good with very little effort. It’s a very nice toy. All the Smart Instruments (Drums, Keys, Guitar, Bass) are just very fun to play around with, and if you do want something serious, open the actual keyboard, select a synth instrument and have your head blown by the possibilities that sliding your finger vertically up and down the “keys” has (you can modulate the sound, vibrato, filter, etc with your finger position - differently for each note). You can also play slides that are not possible on a physical keyboard, or select an organ to play with the drawbars, have a go on a drumset whose sounds change depending on how hard and where on the drum/cymbal you hit - and like **Todderbobb** so eloquently put, it’s always with you. Again, I do not believe it’s a serious tool for music recording, and it would probably not help Mozart compose a concerto, but IMO that’s not what it’s there for (although you can export your projects and continue working on them with “proper” Garage Band"). ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287/11 "2011-04-22T14:22:31Z")
Got my Ipad2 two weeks ago so this is just the games I’ve done some research on. \*\*Garage Band \*\*is a big favorite but I also bought [Korg iElectribe](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeVx5PQERKE) and had some fun just playing around with the synth and loops. [Spirits](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=624fkTu2be0) is a Lemmings clone. I used to love to play lemmings on the PC and this game is a close mimic. [Solitaire City](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/solitaire-city-classic/id340141710?mt=8) is a good one if you like to play the PC solitaire games spider, freecell etc. [A Shuffleboard game](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/10-pin-shuffle-bowling-lite/id341894188?mt=8) I like all of the above because the graphics are very good. I found out it pays to be careful and look for descriptions and/or reviews to make sure that the graphics are geared toward the IPad and not just iphone screens blown up. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287/12 "2011-04-22T16:15:14Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > Again, I do not believe it’s a serious tool for music recording, and it would probably not help Mozart compose a concerto, but IMO that’s not what it’s there for (although you can export your projects and continue working on them with “proper” Garage Band"). Hmm…you’ve peaked my curiosity…can the files go back and forth, or is it a one way export on to your computer? I’d still be much more interested, given what most of the music I write is, in a program for writing sheet music on the iPad, a la Finale or Sibelius. Even some blank staves on a drawing tablet would be neat! ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287/13 "2011-04-22T17:05:32Z")
So far I have purchased Garage Band, a couple office related programs (to maintain the theatre that this was a work purchase), Pandora, Dragon Dictation, a few games like pocket frogs and angry birds, an app called Qwiki, and various news apps like NYT, NPR, and TED. It is a lot of fun so far! ---
**Author:** ![Pitchmeister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pitchmeister/32/3459_2.png) [@Pitchmeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitchmeister)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2011, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287/14 "2011-04-22T18:23:59Z")
> [@antonio107](#): > > Hmm…you’ve peaked my curiosity…can the files go back and forth, or is it a one way export on to your computer? I’m pretty sure it’s one-way - the iPad doesn’t have the capability to deal with more than 8 tracks or plug-ins, for instance. Maybe there’s a way to export it back, though, I don’t have the latest version of Garage Band for Mac. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-my-ipad-2-what-do-i-need-to-make-it-more-awesome/579287/15 "2011-04-23T21:58:58Z")
> [@Pitchmeister](#): > > I’m pretty sure it’s one-way - the iPad doesn’t have the capability to deal with more than 8 tracks or plug-ins, for instance. Maybe there’s a way to export it back, though, I don’t have the latest version of Garage Band for Mac. I was curious enough to buy the thing and try it out. Not impressed thus far. But if a cool riff comes to my head while I’m out and about, it may redeem itself yet!