Every new iPad feels incomplete without these 7 apps

Now that you've got a shiny, sleek iPad, the next step is to download the apps that will transform it into a personal powerhouse. Of course, you will download your preferred streaming and entertainment apps, but the App Store offers a ton of killer iPad apps to enhance your experience. Whether you plan to use your iPad for work, creativity, learning, or simply taking notes, there's a perfect app tailored for you. After using an iPad for years now, I have curated a list of the best apps every iPad user needs to download.

Procreate

Transform your iPad into a digital canvas

If you’re a digital artist looking for the best painting and drawing app for iPad, we recommend trying out Procreate. It’s an iOS-exclusive digital art app that features an intuitive interface, a thoughtful selection of creative tools, multi-touch gestures for quick actions, and custom color palettes. This iPadOS app has everything you need to create expressive paintings, illustrations, sketches, and animations. You get high-resolution canvases (up to 16k by 8k on compatible iPad Pros), a tailored Brush Studio with over 100 customization settings, a powerful Valkyrie graphics engine, an advanced layering system, and 3D painting features.

There’s a Drawing Assist feature that helps perfect your strokes in real time. Plus, the continuous auto-save keeps your work safe at all times. You can also share creations in multiple formats, like PNG, JPEG, PDF, and more. Procreate is available for a one-time price of $12.99, so you don’t have to deal with recurring subscriptions.

Download: Procreate for iPad ($12.99)

LumaFusion

An editing powerhouse

LumaFusion is one of the best professional-grade video editing apps for iPad, offering a fluid interface and powerful features. The app is loved for its multi-track timeline, which lets you edit up to 12 video and 12 audio tracks. This gives you the freedom to layer clips, music, overlays, and voiceovers. It also offers advanced color correction tools, a chroma key, and a range of visual effects.

LumaFusion also supports a range of frame rates and aspect ratios, as well as third-party plugins. There are robust audio editing features, such as graphic EQ, parametric EQ, voice isolation, audio ducking, and detailed keyframing. Unlike Final Cut Pro, which requires at least an A16, M1, or newer processor, LumaFusion runs on older iPad models as well. Final Cut Pro for iPad is available for $4.99 per month or $49.99 annually, while LumaFusion is a one-time purchase at $29.99.

Download: LumaFusion for iPad ($29.99)

Gauth AI Study Companion

The only study partner you need

Students can turn their iPads into a smart study buddy with the Gauth AI app. Just snap a photo of the question, and the app will give you the solution with animated instructions and detailed explanations. This means you aren’t just writing answers, you are actually learning them. Earlier, the app focused only on math, but now it has expanded to cover Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and more. It’s a comprehensive study companion that offers additional features such as Reading, Writing, Calculator, and Focus Mode.

There’s a new AI live tutor feature, which offers voice tutoring with whiteboard explanations, so you get a feel of having a personal tutor by your side. The free version covers all the basic features, and the paid version levels up with extra perks like 24/7 tutor help, access to over 20 million tutorial videos, and unlimited answers.

Download: Gauth for iPad (Free, starts $11.99/mo)

GoodNotes

A must-have note-taking app

If you deal with multiple handwritten notes and typed content, a smart note-taking app is a must-have for your iPad. GoodNotes is one of the most popular names out there, which packs essential features and Apple Pencil support. You can combine handwritten notes, typed text, diagrams, images, and more on the same page. The app also lets you record audio notes and sync them with your writing, a handy feature for lectures and seminars.

All your notes will be synced across your Apple devices via iCloud. You can also back them up to Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive. Now, you can also create whiteboards and text documents within the GoodNotes app, which makes it more versatile than ever. With AI-powered tools, this iPadOS app goes beyond just taking notes. It can help you solve math problems, check spellings, summarize or rewrite your notes, and much more.

Download: GoodNotes 6 for iPad (Free, in-app purchases)

Ulysses

A writer’s best friend

Whether you’re a student or writer who uses an iPad as a laptop replacement, a good text editor is a no-brainer. Ulysses serves as a one-stop writing app for Apple devices. It features a minimal, beautiful interface that provides a distraction-free writing environment and boosts productivity on your iPad. The app offers markup-based editing, a built-in writing assistant and proofreader, a useful dashboard for your writing statistics, and other useful features.

You can customize themes, choose fonts, adjust line spacing, and see the changes in the preview window. All your writing is automatically synced via iCloud, so you can start writing on your iPad and finish it on your Mac. You can publish your writing to WordPress, Medium, Ghost, and Micro. a blog, or turn them into ebooks and PDFs. This makes it a must-have app for writers who need a minimal, modern editor that’s not bloated with unnecessary menus.

Download: Ulysses for iPad (Free, in-app purchases)

Paprika Recipe Manager

Your smarter kitchen assistant

Paprika Recipe Manager can turn your iPad into an ultimate kitchen companion, helping you create meal plans, organize recipes, and prepare grocery lists. There’s a built-in browser that lets you import your favorite recipes from the internet and pull the ingredient lists, photos, and other information into a clean format. You can also edit the saved recipes, add your notes, or scale the ingredients to your preference. The app offers a pantry feature that lets you keep track of your ingredients and their expiry dates.

You can share recipes across your devices, generate smart grocery lists, and create reusable menus. When you’re cooking, Paprika lets you check off ingredients and set timers. Also, it automatically detects and highlights the cooking time in your recipes. Overall, it’s a must-have iPad app for someone who loves to cook, prep meals in advance, or collect recipes.

Download: Paprika Recipe Manager for iPad ($4.99)

Clash Royale

Turn your iPad into a virtual playground

The bigger screen on the iPad makes it great for gaming, and Clash Royale is a must-have if you’re a fan of real-time strategy games. It combines elements of several genres, such as tower defense, card games, and online battle arenas, making it a fun multiplayer game for iPad users. You have to build a deck of unique cards, which represent spells, troops, and buildings. During the battle, you get a primary resource called Elixir, which is used to deploy the cards. Your ultimate goal is to destroy the opponent’s King tower before they can destroy yours. You can also form clans with other players to donate and trade cards or practice in friendly battles.

You can choose from a range of iPad games on the App Store, across categories such as Action, Adventure, Role-playing, Strategy, and more. Some of our favorites are Minecraft, Among Us, Stardew Valley, and Fortnite.

Download: Clash Royale for iPad (free, in-app purchases)

Get more out of your iPad with these apps

Choosing the right apps can help you unlock the full potential of your iPad. Beyond the apps we explored, the App Store offers a ton of other iPadOS apps tailored to your needs. For instance, Adobe Lightroom and Affinity Photo offer pro-level photo editing tools, Flipboard curates news for you, and Headway provides bite-sized summaries for personal growth.