Lifehacker Pack for iPad: Our List of the Essential iPad Apps

Now, its harder than ever to find apps that are worthwhile.

Let us save you some time with this collection of the best iPad apps.

TheLifehacker Packis a yearly snapshot of our favorite, must-have applications for each of our favorite platforms.

The catch, really, is that OneNotes free, while Evernotesbest features are locked behind a paywall.

These everything buckets arent for everyone though.

If plain text is more your thing, Simplenote is the app for you.

Theres no long list of features here, Simplenote just does text, and it does it very well.

If youre looking for something in-between,Google Keep is well worth a look.

Its powerful, but still pretty simple.

It fits somewhere in-between the everything buckets of Evernote and OneNote and Google Keep.

Pixelmator

Editing images on your iPad isnt ideal, but sometimes its your only option.

Pixelmator is a worthy app for doing it because it features just aboutevery tool that the desktop version has.

you might quickly jump in and start editing photos, painting, and doing basic graphic design.

If youre editing photos on your iPad, Pixelmator is a must have.

Thebest app for doing so is Duet Display.

While youre at it you might considergrabbing a solid stylusas well.

If Chrome isnt your thing, youhave a few other solid optionsas well.

With it, you might make video calls instantly, and it doesnt cost you a dime.

Both work great for video chats, so pick whichever suits you best.

Plus, you’ve got the option to always score morespace with a little work.

Workflow is an app that allows you tocreate macros and small appsfor iOS.

Essentially, its Automator for your iPad.

So, if youre using iBooks on another machine, then thats the logical choice.

The same goes for the Kindle app.

Pick the ebook app that works best for you.

That said, if youre a student, theKindle app has all kinds of killer features.

Google Reader might be dead, butReeder is still our favorite RSS reader.

With a recent update, Reeder added support for a few third-party RSS readers, includingFeedly.

Bookmarking services are great on the desktop, but they really excel on the iPad.

So, pick one and run with it.

Its also free, which makes it automatically appealing.

Having these apps on your iPad makes it a lot easier toget through your massive queue.

Illustration by Nick Criscuolo.