1. Arranging Apps Using iTunes
A better way to arrange your apps is to use iTunes.
You can not only move the apps around on the pages, but you can also
clearly see which ones get synced to your iPad and which ones are merely
archives on your computer.
1. | Connect your iPad to your computer and launch iTunes.
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2. | Select your iPad in the left sidebar.
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3. | Choose
the Apps tab on the right to see a representation of your iPad Home
screen. On the far right you can see each page of the Home screen. On
the left is an alphabetical list of apps you have on your computer. If a
check mark is next to the app, that app is set to sync to your iPad.
Following are some of the things you can do to rearrange your apps:
Click the pages to the right to jump around to the different pages of your Home screen. Double-click the app on the left to jump to the page where the app is located. Click and drag an app around on a page just like you would on your iPad. Drag an app to a page in the list on the right to move it to another page. Hold down the shift key, and click multiple apps. You can then drag the whole selection to another page.
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4. | From the list on the left, uncheck any items that you don’t want on your iPad.
Use Sort and Search
If you have a lot of apps, it might be easier to sort
them by category or date. You can use the pop-up menu at the top of the
left column for that. You can also type in the search field. You don’t
need to type a complete name. You can also use terms like “game” or
“news” to search for apps and narrow down the list a bit.
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5. | Go
to page 1 of your apps and move any apps off of the page that aren’t
the default iPad apps that came with your iPad. Move them to page 3.
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6. | Go to page 2 of your apps and move everything except iBooks, the iWork apps, and your most critical use-all-the-time apps.
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7. | Starting with page 3, create sets of apps on each page that match a theme: communications, games, photography, and so on.
These last three steps are just a suggestion. You can arrange things differently.
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2. Finding Good Apps
Finding
good apps might be the biggest problem that iPad users have. With more
than 140,000 apps in the App Store, it can be hard to find what you
want, so here are some tips.
1. | Check
out the featured apps in the App Store, but be wary because they tend
to be heavy on apps by large companies with well-established brands.
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2. | In iTunes on your computer, find an app close to what you want, and then check out the Customers Also Bought section.
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3. | Look
for trial versions, which often have names with “Lite” or “Free” at the
end. Search for the name of the app and see if another versions turns
up.
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4. | Read reviews, but don’t trust them completely. Casual users are not always the best at providing balanced reviews.
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Many good resources for finding apps aren’t part of the App Store. Following are a few suggestions:
Search using Google. For example, if you want another spreadsheet app, search “iPad App Spreadsheet.”
After you find an app that you want, try another Google search using the name of the app followed by the word “review.”
Find
sites that feature and review apps. Many are out there, but be aware
that some sites are paid by developers to review an app, so the review
might not be the most objective.
The author provides a list of recommended apps at http://macmost.com/featurediphoneapps.
