Apple Got an ipad2! What should I do with it?

[kiel379]

I just got a ipad2 and I am loving it it is without a doubt the most useful thing i have ever had, I love using the touch keyboard, I can seem to type twice as fast with it lol, so yea can anyone offer me any useful tips,apps, tricks or anything that would be useful to know. Also does anyone know if they are planning to release a onlive app? Cheers guys

 

[TheDarkSeed]

Well if you want to do anything cool with an iPad, you'll want to jailbreak it.

You will get some suggestions like sell it and get an Android tablet. What you should do is get the most use out of it. By getting apps, music, videos, books that will have you pick it up from time to time if not frequently.

The only thing I can recommend for you from experience is a game called "Tilt to Live"

 

[Originality]

The first thing you should do is post a thread like this to the iPad section. I'm too lazy to grab the link from my iPad2.

Tip, check the top apps every week or so to find the ones that are on sale. Apps on sale tend to sell very well and end up in the top 10.
Tip, play around with all the controls to find out all the nifty shortcuts. Double pressing home brings up the recently opened apps (useful for multitasking) but if you swipe to the left, you get brightness, volume and media controls.
Tip, most popular sites/channels/companies/etc have an app. Quick examples are eBay, Amazon, BBCi (player), even Westfield Shopping Center has an app.
Pro tip, there may be an app for "everything", but most of them suck. Trying to get a free app for a simple Magic the Gathering tool is nearly impossible.
Tip, most tools and games have a free "demo" version. Best example, object finding adventure games nearly all only have a couple rooms to find objects in then ask you to buy the full version unlock. Others just have a "lite" version and a full version in the app store.
Tip, 90% of flash based sites (e.g. Streaming sites) will not work with Safari. SkyFire has a way to stream those videos to you, but it's not perfect, and it's not free.
Tip, if you have a 3G version, get a data monitoring app to make sure you don't go over the limit. If you have a 3G iPad but no data plan yet, T-Mobile provide the cheapest data plan by far (£20 for 6 months unlimited, with fair usage policy of 5GB).
Tip, there are apps to play video files. You do have to use iTunes to transfer the movies into the app however.

Recommended apps from me, Skype (sucks, like on all iOS devices, but at least it works), IM+ (instant messaging, works with most networks), MyPad (FaceBook and Twitter), SkyFire (it's not free).

For jail breaking, there is a website that is easy to use. Go to the website, slide the slider, and you're jail broken (providing you're not above 4.3.3). I haven't made much use of it however, since the only tweaks that interest me are paid for.

 

[ProtoKun7]

(Moved to iDevice section)

 

[FireGrey]

A cool thing to do with iPads is to play golf with them.
Here is step by step:
1. Get golf club
2. Put picture of golf ball on screen
3. Get camera ready
4. ???
5. Profit!

 

[kiel379]

The first thing you should do is post a thread like this to the iPad section. I'm too lazy to grab the link from my iPad2.

Tip, check the top apps every week or so to find the ones that are on sale. Apps on sale tend to sell very well and end up in the top 10.
Tip, play around with all the controls to find out all the nifty shortcuts. Double pressing home brings up the recently opened apps (useful for multitasking) but if you swipe to the left, you get brightness, volume and media controls.
Tip, most popular sites/channels/companies/etc have an app. Quick examples are eBay, Amazon, BBCi (player), even Westfield Shopping Center has an app.
Pro tip, there may be an app for "everything", but most of them suck. Trying to get a free app for a simple Magic the Gathering tool is nearly impossible.
Tip, most tools and games have a free "demo" version. Best example, object finding adventure games nearly all only have a couple rooms to find objects in then ask you to buy the full version unlock. Others just have a "lite" version and a full version in the app store.
Tip, 90% of flash based sites (e.g. Streaming sites) will not work with Safari. SkyFire has a way to stream those videos to you, but it's not perfect, and it's not free.
Tip, if you have a 3G version, get a data monitoring app to make sure you don't go over the limit. If you have a 3G iPad but no data plan yet, T-Mobile provide the cheapest data plan by far (£20 for 6 months unlimited, with fair usage policy of 5GB).
Tip, there are apps to play video files. You do have to use iTunes to transfer the movies into the app however.

Recommended apps from me, Skype (sucks, like on all iOS devices, but at least it works), IM+ (instant messaging, works with most networks), MyPad (FaceBook and Twitter), SkyFire (it's not free).

For jail breaking, there is a website that is easy to use. Go to the website, slide the slider, and you're jail broken (providing you're not above 4.3.3). I haven't made much use of it however, since the only tweaks that interest me are paid for.

wow that is real helpful, especially the double tapping home button, iv been going back to home to switch between apps so that's a real time saver, I had a quick look at the new iOS for the iPad as well, it looks really good with the changes they made, looking forward to that! And when you say sky fire will do something with flash what do you mean? Also I can't seem to find chrome or firefox app and I love those browsers so if anyone knows where I can find it or at least a good clone that would be helpful.

 

[Originality]

SkyFire has a button that, if you navigate onto a site with a flash video in it (such as the video reviews on escapistmagazine.com), it will let you watch it. It works by connecting to the SkyFire servers which act as a proxy - they stream the video from the site, then stream it to you (a bit like a camera watching a video). If that sounds complicated, it's because it's the only way to get flash content to work. Some sites are being rewritten in HTML5 to work with Safari, but most stick with flash.

Dont expect to find a FireFox/Chrome app. iOS is not nearly as comprehensive as Windows, Linux and MacOS. Safari is good enough for most non-flash based internet browsing, and SkyFire is what I use for any flash content I run across (I copy and paste the URL between browsers). As for extentions, there are some apps that add tweaks to Safari (SkyFire has one too) but most of the useful tweaks require a jailbreak.

 

[kiel379]

SkyFire has a button that, if you navigate onto a site with a flash video in it (such as the video reviews on escapistmagazine.com), it will let you watch it. It works by connecting to the SkyFire servers which act as a proxy - they stream the video from the site, then stream it to you (a bit like a camera watching a video). If that sounds complicated, it's because it's the only way to get flash content to work. Some sites are being rewritten in HTML5 to work with Safari, but most stick with flash.

Dont expect to find a FireFox/Chrome app. iOS is not nearly as comprehensive as Windows, Linux and MacOS. Safari is good enough for most non-flash based internet browsing, and SkyFire is what I use for any flash content I run across (I copy and paste the URL between browsers). As for extentions, there are some apps that add tweaks to Safari (SkyFire has one too) but most of the useful tweaks require a jailbreak.

Ohh ok and what would jailbreaking give to the iPad?

 

[SifJar]

Jailbreaking allows you to run custom apps not allowed in the App Store by Apple. These are most commonly downloaded via Cydia, an unofficial "app store" for homebrew apps. (There are alternatives to Cydia, but it is the most popular and is included by default in every jailbreak). As these apps aren't tied by Apple's restrictions, they can do far more than other apps. For example, they can theme the entire interface of iOS (WinterBoard is the most popular (only?) theming app for iOS), tweak the way iOS works in small ways (e.g. adding extra controls to lock screen, improving notification system, changing multitasking interface with extra functionality) or just generally do things Apple doesn't allow. I believe the main reason many people jailbreak is for the customization it brings, which is huge compared to what Apple allow.

 

[tlyee61]

the website btw the www.jailbreakme.com

 

[Sora de Eclaune]

What should you do with an iPad2? Sell it to me for $30.

No, I'm joking. I'm of no help here, either. I've never used Apple products and don't know all of what they do nowadays.

 

[Hells Malice]

What should you do with an iPad2? Sell it to me for $30.

No, I'm joking. I'm of no help here, either. I've never used Apple products and don't know all of what they do nowadays.

Pretty much, think of a middle-of-the-road product of similar function (MP3 player (or, media player these days), tablet, phone, etc)
Now mark up the price of that product by about 300% and put an i in front of its name.
You've now got any iDevice.

What should you do with an iPad?
Sell it and buy something useful.

 

[emugirl1994]

Like what previous people have said, jailbreak it. There's many useful tweaks that will benefit to your use. Also, the other theming besides Winterboard is Dreamboard, but Dreamboard doesn't have the vast collection that Winterboard does. You can play a version of Doom that someone made as a homebrew in Cydia, and there are many emulators to play too like NES, SNES, Genesis, GBA, ect.

 

[Langin]

First of all congratulations with your Apple device! Off course I'll also give some tips.

- Start by checking everything you can. So you'll find every secret there is, by exploring your yourself; you'll remember everything pretty well.
- Try downloading 'AppMiner'. This useful app shows you the latest top apps that are on sale!
- I'll say what everyone else said; jailbreak it. If you are on firmware 4.3.3 then use this website on Safari in your iPad. http://jailbreakme.com
- Also if you like Role Play Game games, then Chaos rings and Chaos Rings Omega both from Square Enix Co. LTD. are a must for every fan. They are a look a like from Final Fantasy made by the makers off Final Fantasy.
- When your in the lockscreen try pressing the home button twice.
- Try to find out how you can copy past text for example link to websites, texts, etc.

I hope these tips will help you a lot.

 

[Originality]

Another tip I keep forgetting about - you can take a screenshot. At any time, press Home + Standby at the same time. It will flash, and that screenshot will be saved in your photo library.

If you hold those buttons for a few seconds, the screen fades and you get a slider to turn off the iPad. This is important if you take it with you onto a plane.