Apple’s iPads come with built-in productivity tools like Notes, Calendar, and Reminders, but if you’d like to explore new ways to maximize productivity and organize your life, there are many apps out there to help you.
Although the iPad started off as a device that could be used to stream content or browse the web on the go, Apple has essentially turned its iPads into computers that can handle a variety of different tasks for personal, work, and school use. As a result, there are numerous apps to help you do things like create a single place to organize your life or help you stay focused on your day-to-day tasks by blocking out distractions.
We’ve compiled a list of some of the best ones that are available on the App Store.
Goodnotes
Goodnotes is one of the most popular iPad apps, and for good reason. The app is great for people who like to write out notes using an Apple Pencil; you can include both handwritten and typed text on one page and add things like images, stickers, and even doodles.
You can create a digital notebook with blank or ruled paper for notes, checklists, planners, and more. The app lets you export entire digital notebooks or specific pages into PDFs and other files.
Goodnotes is also great for drawing and sketching. While it’s not as advanced as some creativity apps like Procreate, Goodnotes is easy to use and perfect for quick sketches or diagrams.
If you’re attending a class or a meeting, you can also record audio notes that are synced to the moment you write. Plus, you can use AI to summarize your notes and help you write.
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You can create three digital notebooks for free. If you want unlimited notebooks, you’ll have to pay $9.99 per year or a one-time fee of $29.99.
TickTick
If you’re not a fan of your iPad’s built-in Reminders app, or you just want a more advanced to-do list and task management app, TickTick might be a good choice. You can use it for both professional and personal tasks.
The app lets you sync tasks across all of your devices and integrate your favorite calendar app. You can create checklists, set recurring tasks, upload attachments to tasks, share task lists to collaborate with others, and more.
If you want to develop a habit, such as meditating before bed, you can set your goals in the app and track your progress. And if you get an email but don’t have time to respond to it, you can turn it into a task to remind yourself not to forget to respond to it.
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 app’s “pomo timer,” which is based on the Pomodoro Technique that breaks work into focused intervals to maximize productivity.
TickTick is free to use, but if you want additional features like the ability to add up to five reminders to a task or more lists and tasks, then you’ll pay $3.99 per month or $35.99 per year.
Forest
Forest is an interesting app that gamifies productivity while helping the environment. If you’re someone who struggles to stay on a task or are easily distracted, then this app might be good for you.
When you need to focus on something, you can open the app and plant a tree. Your tree will then grow as you focus on and finish your work. If you leave the app before the timer finishes, then your tree will wither and die.
You can set “Allow Lists” for different apps that you’re using to be productive, like an email app or Microsoft Word. The app also lets you track your productivity.
Over time, you create a digital forest that visualizes your productivity. If you’re competitive, you can share your forest with others to see how it compares to theirs. As you stay focused and grow virtual trees, you can earn coins that you can save to help plant actual trees around the world through tree-planting organization Trees for the Future.
Forest costs $3.99 to download, and you can buy in-app boosts to grow your forest and plant real trees faster.
Notion
Notion is a great app for taking notes, managing tasks and workflows, organizing lists and habits, collaborating with others, and more. Instead of having to go to different apps to manage your calendar, tasks, and notes, you can get all of this done right within Notion.
You can integrate the different apps that you use, like Slack and Dropbox, in order to combine all of your workflows in one place. One of the great things about Notion is its flexibility and customization options. You can customize it to be what you need, whether it’s to organize your personal or work life, your schoolwork, or your passion projects.
If you’re not sure where to start, you can use templates to create things like a travel planner or a product roadmap. Notion also has an AI feature that helps you write and brainstorm ideas. Notion AI can help you get answers about your content and turn large amounts of data into digestible action items.
Notion offers a free plan for personal use. The company also offers an $8 per month Plus plan for small groups and a $15 per month Business plan for companies. You get 20 AI responses for free; after that you pay $10 per member per month.
Crouton
Sometimes planning what to eat can take up a lot of time, leaving less time for other tasks, so it can be nice to have an app to help with that. Crouton, meant to help make cooking and meal planning easier, is great for organizing recipes and planning grocery lists.
You can import recipes from websites or even scan them from a physical cookbook. So, instead of relying on bookmarked or physical recipes, you can store them together in one place.
You can plan out your meals for the week, and if you get stumped on what to make one day, the app can generate a meal plan for you. Once you have planned your meals for the week, you can create a grocery list that includes all of the ingredients you will need.
Crouton also features an in-app timer, so you don’t have to use a different app when you have time-specific steps of a recipe. Plus, you can share your recipes with others, whether to tell your family what’s for dinner or if you came across a recipe that you know your friend would love.
Crouton offers basic features for free, but if you want unlimited recipes and additional features, there’s a $14.99 yearly subscription.
Freedom
Freedom is a great app for blocking distractions in order to focus on your work and be more productive. You can start a Freedom session to block distractions across all of your devices for a select amount of time.
You can choose which websites and apps you want to block during that time. So if you’re getting work done on your iPad, but then try to open TikTok on your phone, you won’t be able to and will instead see a green screen.
The app lets you start a session right away, schedule an upcoming one, or set a recurring one. If you know that you need to be free of distractions at a certain time every day, you can set up a Freedom session to start at that specific time each day.
If you’re someone who listens to specific sounds to help you focus, Freedom offers a variety that you can listen to. For example, you can listen to the sounds of a coffee shop in a city like New York or Berlin, the sounds of birds chirping, calming instrumentals, and more.
The app, which costs $3.99 per month, is pretty easy to use and includes a series of different articles that feature tips on how to boost productivity and better understand digital wellness.
Notability
Notability is a great note-taking app that lets you jot down thoughts, import and annotate textbooks, record audio, and sketch out ideas. The app is useful for both students and professionals, or even hobbyists.
You can choose to take notes with an Apple Pencil, text, or audio. If you’re trying to find something specific, the app lets you search your notes, including handwritten ones and any documents you have uploaded.
Notability also features AI-generated note summaries and the ability to work on two different notes side by side. Plus, you can test your knowledge with personalized quizzes based on the content in your notes.
If you need a place to start, Notability includes a gallery of templates for things like planners, study notes, to-do lists, and more.
Notability is free but offers a $4.99 monthly subscription for access to additional features like math conversion, automatic audio transcription, unlimited notes, and more.
Todoist
Todoist is a simple and straightforward app that lets you record and organize tasks using natural language. You can add tasks like, “Plan next week’s work every Friday afternoon” or “Do homework every Wednesday at 6 p.m.” to quickly organize and plan your life.
You can sort tasks into “Today,” “Upcoming,” or custom filters to allow you to focus on what currently matters, which means that you only see what’s relevant when you need it.
Todoist can be used for organizing a variety of tasks, whether they’re related to work, personal, education, or management goals and reminders. Plus, you can link Todoist with your calendar, voice assistant, and dozens of other tools such as Outlook, Gmail, and Slack.
In addition to the iPad, you can access the service from your iPhone and Apple Watch, while syncing across desktop and all other devices.
Todoist’s basic features are available for free. You can unlock additional features, such as an AI assistant and a calendar layout for $4 per month with Todoist’s “Pro” subscription plan.
Trello
If you’re someone who likes to use sticky notes to plan your life, Trello might be a good option for you as it offers a simple and visual way to track things.
Trello lets you set up “Boards” for different parts of your life, such as work, school, projects, and personal goals, then set up lists like “To Do,” “Doing,” and “Done” to track progress.
You can use “Cards” within boards to visualize different tasks or items that you want to complete. In each card, you can add descriptions, due dates, checklists, notes, and more. Plus, you can use labels to visually organize different cards and assign priorities, such as “high,” “medium,” or “low.”
The app’s “Calendar view” gives you an overview of what’s to come in the days and weeks ahead.
Trello’s free plan comes with unlimited cards and up to 10 boards. The app’s standard plan costs $5 per month and features unlimited boards and added functionality, such as the ability to capture tasks from email, Slack, and Teams.
Update: This story originally ran September 2024 and is updated regularly with new information.
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