Top 10 iPad 2 apps

With some 65,000 apps on the App Store, it can be pretty hard to choose which ones to buy for your iPad 2 (or original iPad for that matter). Thousands are completely free, but even if they make it into the Top 25 list on the App Store, there’s no guarantee they’re any good.

Here, we’ve rounded up a selection of apps that every UK iPad owner should have, both free and paid for. Whether you’re after apps for work or play, we’ve got it all covered.

10. eBay for iPad

Price: Free
Rating: 4/5

Everyone knows that eBay is the place to find a bargain. Instead of trying to use ebay.co.uk from the iPad’s standard web browser, you should install the official app. Search results appear in neat tiles, and tapping one brings up a summary of the item and lets you quickly flick through the various photos as well as read the description without having to go to different pages.

When you sign in with your eBay ID, you can see all your activity including what you’re watching, buying and selling. As you’d expect, it’s easy to place bids and pay for items; the only downside is that you can’t sell items via the app.

The eBay app is brilliant for browsing and buying

9. 4oD Catch Up

Price: Free
Rating: 4/5

Until Channel 4 launched its Catch Up app, the lack of Flash support in Safari meant there was no way to access Channel 4’s on-demand content via your iPad. Although the app doesn’t allow you to watch full series as the website does from a laptop, you can still access programmes recently broadcast on Channel 4, E4 and More4 including The Inbetweeners, Deal or No Deal and The IT Crowd.

The app is incredibly easy to use, as you can find the programme you want in a variety of ways. You can browse the list of recommended shows, search by channel and date broadcast, browse by category or an alphabetical listing.

If you don’t want the kids watching unsuitable shows, you can set a PIN code for either 16+ or 18+ rated content. Although shows initially play in a smallish window, just tap the full-screen button to make them fill the width of your iPad.

40D’s Catch Up lets you watch shows broadcast in the last month

8. Google Earth

Price: Free
Rating: 5/5

We can remember back to the days when Google bought a company called Keyhole and acquired what is now known as Earth. Not the planet, you understand, but something that comes pretty close.

Google Earth has always been a fascinating way of whizzing around the globe on a PC or Mac and looking at highly detailed satellite imagery. Yet despite all the amazing places we could visit, we always find ourselves looking at our own streets and houses from a bird’s-eye view.

With the iPad app, you have unparalleled control over panning, zooming and rotating thanks to the touchscreen. We’ve tested the iPad and iPad 2 side by side, and there’s virtually no difference in performance between the two, so it doesn’t matter if you haven’t got the latest tablet for this app.

Earth lets you go anywhere on the planet and get a bird’s-eye view