[ This clause is part of our 2010 App Gems Awards series , honor the best apps of 2010 . ]
RSS Reader of the Year
Reeder for iPad($5 )
By Silvo Rizzi
( read review )
Simple , elegant , and bright , Reederon the iPad streamline your Google Reader RSS feeds and incorporates an array of innovative Multi - Touch gestures to present the best possible reading experience . skimming clause or devour them in detail ; save them to look at offline , using Instapaper or Read It Later ; and print your favorites on your social culture medium web of choice . If you ’ve got a circle of feeds to manage , this app offer plenty of flexibility in a visually appealing package.—SERENITY CALDWELL
Best Visual News Reader
Flipboard(free )
By Flipboard
When it made its iPad debut this past summer , Flipboardgenerated quite a bit of bombilation — and rightly so . Billed as the “ cosmos ’s first personal societal powder store , ” this free iPad offering twist your Facebook and Twitter score , as well as any Twitter lists you create for follow specific accounts or theme , into a virtual , visual magazine of images , articles , and synergistic medium . It ’s a 21st century magazine , issue by the booster you keep on the two most popular social networks . Flipboard accept a unique approaching to presenting your favourite online culture medium sources in a data formatting that ’s perfect suited for the iPad ’s screen space.—DAVID CHARTIER
File Viewer of the Year
GoodReader for iPad($3 )
By Good.iWare
Every iPad possessor needs an all - purpose file viewer , andGoodReaderhas corner the market . The app can display PDFs , text single file , Office and iWorks doctor , and photos , and it can even make for back audio and television files . It ’s become our favorite app for read PDFs — when you flip to the next page , it display instantly , so there ’s none of the lag found in other PDF spectator . Or go beyond reading PDFs with a surprising salmagundi of characteristic for look at , bookmarking , highlighting , and even annotating PDFs . you may get files into GoodReader using just about any method acting you may imagine : iTunes , e - chain armour , the Finder ( via Wi - Fi or USB ) , and online connexion ( including iDisk , Google Docs , and our favored method , Dropbox ) . It ’s great for when you want to load a video on your iPad but are nowhere near the copy of iTunes you sync with . The app also fall in you tools for organizing and finagle your single file , as well as a cross - document search feature film for quickly finding a passage of text . it ’s worth every penny.—DAN FRAKES
Best Alternate Browser
Atomic Web internet browser($1 )
By RichTech
Not everyone ’s a rooter of the roving version of Safari . The build - in internet browser for Apple ’s iOS twist can feel rather special , especially when compared to the desktop interpretation . Limitations are n’t really a problem withAtomic Web browser app . The iPhone- and iPad - optimized web internet browser is overflowing with option , letting you coiffe up advance seclusion controls , run an advert blocker , customize searches , and even have Web servers recognize the app as another web internet browser like Internet Explorer or Firefox . With Atomic entanglement internet browser on your iOS twist , you may fundamentally customize the browsing experience you want.—PHILIP MICHAELS
Note Taker of the Year
SimpleNote(free )
By Codality
mickle of schoolbook editor program will let you jot down down simple , unvarnished - textbook note and then sync them to the cloud , so you may access them from almost anywhere . Of all those syncing editor in chief , we peculiarly like Simplenote because of , well , its simplicity . Whether you run it on the iPhone or iPad , the app ’s interface is outstandingly clean : There are window for editing schoolbook and adjusting options and that ’s it . Setting up syncing is simple , too : You make a free account on the Simplenote site , and all your distinction are there , almost as soon as you jot them down . That ease - of - use makes Simplenote a go - to app for keeping lean and jot down down ideas whenever and wherever they occur to you.—DAN MILLER
Elements($5 )
By Second Gear
There are a raft of iOS text - redaction apps out there , and choosing a single winner proved brutally elusive . Though we also liked Information Architects iA Writer and Hog Bay Software ’s PlainText , they were beat out by Second Gear’sElements , which provide Dropbox syncing , a clever Scratchpad drop - down , and a swell preview style if you write in the Markdown Saint Mark - up data formatting ( which most of us here atMacworlddo ) . And unlike many iPad - focused textbook editors , element also works well on the iPhone.—JASON SNELL
Utility of the Year
TextExpander($5 )
By Smile
A ingenious typewriting utility that ’s optimized to run on both the iPhone and iPad , TextExpandertakes some of the tedium out of typewrite on your iOS gimmick ’s onscreen keyboard . The app stimulate short variety of the text snippets you boringly ask to typewrite and re - type on a daily basis — blog spot templates , uniform resource locator , HTML codification , and e - chain armor signature . You store those snip in TextExpander for use in other iOS offerings — more than four - dozen apps , including Twitter clients , project managers , and schoolbook editors , feature TextExpander documentation . If you deal with text for any part of your business organisation or pleasure , TextExpander is one of the best way to save meter while on the go.—DAVID CHARTIER
Best Page Layout App
Pages($10 )
By Apple
Pagesfor the iPad reveals just how much is possible within the confines and supposed limitation of Apple ’s Io . The potent Scripture processing / page - layout program give you complete control over your documents , letting you produce paragraph styles , float school text boxes , tables , charts , and a variety of other objects that you ’d typically only expect to find oneself in a background Holy Writ processing program . And yet , here it all is , on a little tab equipment . Even more impressive are some recent addition to the app . Sure , there ’s now a word - count lineament . But more imposingly , you’re able to now share files with MobileMe ’s iDisk or , better yet , any waiter that supports the WebDAV standard . Toss in support for iOS 4.2 ’s AirPrint feature , and you’re able to print those file you created , either to an AirPrint - compatible printer or other devices via third - company AirPrint helper apps . ( And once you start switching between Pages and other apps via iOS 4.2 ’s immobile app - switching characteristic , things get even more generative — specially if you ’re using an external keyboard to do your authorship . ) Add it all up , and Pages is the most powerful and various word processing and Thomas Nelson Page - layout app for your iPad.—JEFFERY BATTERSBY
Communication Tool of the Year
Skype(free )
By Skype
Few apps have made more out of the enhancements Io 4 deliver thanSkype . Already a strong voice over IP option for iPhone and iPod tactile sensation users , the app became a multitasking marvel when iOS 4 granted it the ability to run in the background while you used other apps . Now , you may get calls and inst message from Skype when the app is n’t even active . Skype is no entrant in the world of iPhone apps — it ’s draw near the second anniversary of its App Store debut . But we ’re impressed by how the app continually looks to make the most of Apple ’s mobile operating system.—PHILIP MICHAELS
Twitter Client of the Year
Twitterrific(free )
By The Iconfactory
chirrup client may seem like a dime a dozen on iOS devices , but the Iconfactory’sTwitterrific for Twitterstands out . With its easy - to - read user interface , incorporate timeline , and quick access to characteristic like mention , Favorites , and Direct Messages , Twitterrific makes keeping up with your friends simple . Inline word picture , a progress - in Web web web browser , and commodious popover for score information add setting without making you miss your place . The introductory interlingual rendition is gratis with ad ; you may remove those and lend support for multiple score by upgrading to the premium version for $ 5.—DAN MOREN
[ go forward on to read aboutour preferred media and photograph appsof 2010 . ]
