How to find the Best iPad Apps

Read the reviews!

Want to know what makes the best iPad apps? Ask the reviewers.

With the release of the iPad, apps are more popular than ever before. Making a successful app is not an exact science, though there are a few common denominators. A top app usually fills a need, creates buzz (real or through advertising), and looks good doing it.

If you consider the characteristics of the best iPad apps, it becomes obvious that buzz and design are the biggest factors for getting an app to the Top 100 of the App Store. To have a "best app" a developer needs to get people talking about it! Get the major app websites to review the app and that will drive downloads. Even a bad review can be so intriguing that many users will flock to the App Store just find out what all the fuss is about!

Check out sites like mobileorchard.com and talk to other developers. They can often tell you what the reviewers are looking for at different app review websites.

Read iPad App Reviews on These Apps

Known as "app discovery" applications, these products rely on user reviews to rank the iPad apps.

Part social networking, part user review and part expert review aggregator, each of the apps below uses a different algorithm to recommend the best iPad apps to their users. Sign up and get your friends to join, see what apps they own and what they really think about them. Then, use the reviews and recommendations to make your own decision about which apps are worth your hard-earned money. Check out these App Review Apps:

Chorus: For an app browser that incorporates feedback from your own network of friends, Chorus is definitely the app of choice. You can create a list of favorite users from "real life" or websites such as Facebook or Twitter. See what apps your friends are downloading, read their reviews and recommendations. If you choose not to set up your own friend list you can use the app's Mavens network -- a carefully selected group of expert reviewers who provide opinions on hundreds of apps.

App Discovery

Which of these app discovery engines, websites and apps have the most trustworthy iPad app reviews from users and staff? Do you use any of these on a regular basis? Vote for you favorites!

Evaluating iPad Apps

Criteria for an iPad App Review

Each website has their own system for evaluating Apps -- whether its for iPhone, iPod or the amazing iPad. In fact, even within a website or magazine, each reviewer may have a slightly different set of criteria that they use to judge the apps that they review. That's because reviewing app is a completely subjective experience.

Here are some common criteria used by reviewers to decide how to score an app for review.

• Creativity: Is the app an original? Is new and innovative? or, is it another knock-off of a well-worn idea?
• Promises Met: Simply put, does the app do what it claims to do according to the App Store description.
• Stability: Is the app intuitive and easy to use? Does it crash? For games, how are the controls?
• Overall Design: This is all about looks. Yes, you can judge an app by its cover.
• That extra something: Some apps have it, others don't. It's hard to explain, but you know it when you see it. It's that "something" that can make a seemingly ho-hum app instantly addictive.

iPad App Reviews

How do you sort through the hundred-thousand plus apps in the App Store to find the best? Listen to the reviewers! Since many of the best iPad apps were actually iPhone or iPod touch apps just a few weeks ago, there are many websites that have been reviewing iPad apps since before there was an iPad.