How to use your iPad or tablet computer

One of the best presents I ever got was my tablet computer and bluetooth keyboard. Since the iPad, I have never gone back to using a laptop ever again. iPads fit into your large purchase, goes through airport security without having to open up your bags, lightweight, doesn't transmit EMF radiation heat to your fingertips as you are typing and have loads of productivity apps that people may not realise is available to them. 

Here are some things I like to do with my iPad...for everything. 
Make cool presentations. Apple's Keynote and Numbers allow you to make presentations from anywhere that you can upload or email in various formats, including pdf. 
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​Also make documents or take notes on the fly with Apple Pages. All these apps integrate with your Google Drive or Apple iCloud so that you can transmit files seamlessly across many different devices. 

​Check live stock updates. As long as you have internet connection, you have live stock updates. 
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Book rooms/ flights/ hotels. Airbnb has a superb, nicely designed app that lets you book from anywhere and is much better than its website experience. The only glitch I noticed is that sometimes when you change the currency, it is slow to update.
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Edit photos. I like the PicsArt photo editing app. Lots of features and functionality, including being able to draw on top of the photo. 
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Edit videos. You can edit uploaded videos or videos that you have taken and audio files directly on your iPad. I usePinnacle Studio Pro, although there are other free ones out there. 
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Grow electronic plants. Flower Garden is a cute KidsApp but I like to use it too for fun.
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And of course there is online shopping. Houzz and 1stdibs makes it easy to browse interior design styles and the Houzz app is great to use to find very expensive pieces of furniture that you can then check out to see if there are similar ones on other websites for less. In contrast, I really like Etsy, but their mobile app is terribly designed and slow, so I tend to use the Etsy website instead, but it often crashes on the tablet computer, or the pictures download slowly, hence why I've stopped buying things on Etsy. I've found though that most U.S. eCommerce startups and companies have terrible mobile apps that are not really optimized for online shopping. 
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Aside from the usual emailing, video conferencing (via Google Hangouts or FaceTime) and accessing all the contents of your drive (via Google Drive or Apple iCloud), you could use your iPad or tablet computer to also watch movies and videos, or read electronic books. However, I've found that I've gone back to reading print copies of books, and use my iBook library for reference books instead, in which I can find information quickly through a search. There's also something nice about hanging out at the local bookstore, having some tea, and browsing the collections. 

Green Apple Books in San Francisco, one of my favourite bookstores

​If you think the tablet computer is just for watching videos and reading iBooks, you have been seriously deprived. Currently, the range of mobile apps out there are oftentimes, far superior to the software applications made for the desktop and laptop computers. ​

​By Sierra Choi