Just opened-up a new iPad mini? It’s now time to ram the thing full of apps. If you don’t know where to start, we’ve rounded-up a list of the best ten apps we think you should get installed, pronto.
It goes without saying…
We’ve left out the most obvious app choices, because – well – everyone already knows they’re there, right? Facebook, Twitter, eBay and YouTube all have their own apps. And if you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’ll already have snagged them. We’ll be looking at a few apps that you won’t necessarily immediately think of if you’re new to the tablet world.
Read our full iPad mini review >
Appshopper
Free 
Positively the best way to keep track of the latest free and popular apps and games without relying on the iTunes app chart, Appshopper looks at all the price changes, new apps and popular apps on the App Store. As soon as an app drops its price and starts getting people’s attention, it’ll appear on the apps “Popular” list.
A great app for download enthusiasts, Appshopper spots trends faster than just about anywhere else. It’s especially useful during the Christmas period too, when the year’s biggest sales occur.
12 Days of Christmas
Free
Each year, Apple offers-up its own Twelve Days of Christmas promo. From Christmas day to the end of the holidays, you’ll be able to download a different freebie from iTunes each day. It may be an app, a music video, a song, a game or even a movie.
The 12 Days of Christmas app is the best way to make sure you don’t miss out on a thing. It sends you a reminder each day, and may even supply you with some better goodies than you got on Christmas Day. Don’t hold out too much hope of getting a good free movie from the promo, though. For the last couple of years, the film freebie has been a right stinker.
Pages
£6.99
Pages is Apple’s take on Microsoft Office, and it’s really rather good. It’s the best app we’ve used for creating rich documents on – those with pictures, graphs or charts as well as plain old text. Pages works with the iCloud storage service, letting you keep a copy of your documents safely aboard the cloud.
It’s compatible with Microsoft Word documents too, so even if you use a PC at home rather than a Mac, Pages will play ball.
Flipboard
Free
We’re in an age where paper magazines are starting to make the transition to digital, but not every paper mag has made it to the iPad yet. Flipboard is a great app that turns content from the web into magazine-like articles that look and feel fantastic on a tablet.
You can hook-in any RSS feed, letting you craft your own little e-magazine from your favourite online sources. And all without paying a penny.
BBC iPlayer
Free
The BBC iPlayer app borders on the too-obvious, but as it’s finally a good deal better to use than the iPlayer website, we thought it deserves a nod. As you all probably know, iPlayer gives you free access to catch-up content from the beeb’s radio and TV stations.
The app also lets you download videos to watch while you’re offline, although as usual these downloads are DRM’d up to the eyeballs so you can only watch them for a for a short period once you’ve hit the play button.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
