Your iPad is more powerful than ever, capable of far more than just browsing the web or streaming shows. With the right tools, it can become your ultimate productivity hub for work, school, or personal projects. While Apple offers built-in apps like Notes and Reminders, diving into the App Store unlocks a world of specialized tools designed to help you focus, manage tasks, take better notes, and keep your life organized.
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We’ve rounded up some of the best productivity apps available, each offering unique ways to help you get more done and stay on track using your iPad.
Goodnotes: Your Digital Notebook Master
Goodnotes is incredibly popular for a reason, especially if you love using an Apple Pencil. It beautifully blends handwritten notes with typed text on the same page, letting you scribble, sketch, and type all together. You can add images, stickers, or even doodles to make your notes truly yours.
Think of it like having endless digital notebooks with different paper types – blank, ruled, checklists, planners – all in one place. It’s fantastic for students and professionals alike. You can easily export pages or entire notebooks as PDFs or other file types to share.
While not a full art app like Procreate, Goodnotes is perfect for quick diagrams, sketches, or visual notes. Plus, it has a neat feature that syncs audio recordings to your writing, so you can jump back to exactly what was being said when you wrote something down. Newer AI features can even help summarize your notes or give you writing assistance.
Screenshot showing the Goodnotes app interface on an iPad, with handwritten notes, diagrams, and typed text on a digital notebook page
Goodnotes offers a free version allowing up to three digital notebooks. For unlimited notebooks and full features, you’ll need a paid subscription ($9.99 per year) or a one-time purchase ($29.99).
TickTick: Supercharge Your To-Do List
If you find your iPad’s built-in Reminders app a bit too simple, or you need a more robust way to manage tasks and projects, TickTick is a strong contender. It’s versatile enough for both your professional and personal life.
TickTick shines at syncing tasks across all your devices and integrating with your calendar. You can create detailed checklists, set tasks to repeat automatically, attach files, and even share lists to collaborate with others.
Beyond just tasks, it can help you build habits by letting you set goals and track your progress. Received an important email you can’t deal with immediately? Turn it into a task right in TickTick so you don’t forget. You can also add tags and prioritize tasks to keep complex projects manageable.
For focused work sessions, the app includes a “pomo timer.” This is based on the Pomodoro Technique, which uses timed intervals (like 25 minutes of focus followed by a short break) to boost concentration.
Screenshot of the TickTick app on an iPad displaying a list of tasks under 'Today' and 'Upcoming' views
TickTick has a free tier with core features. Unlocking advanced options like more reminders per task, unlimited lists, and more requires a premium subscription ($3.99 per month or $35.99 per year).
Forest: Grow Your Focus (and Real Trees!)
Struggle with distractions? Forest turns staying focused into a fun, gamified experience that also benefits the planet.
Here’s how it works: When you need to concentrate, open the app and “plant” a virtual tree. As you stay focused on your work and avoid using distracting apps, your tree grows. If you leave the app before your set time is up, your tree sadly withers.
You can create “Allow Lists” for necessary apps (like Word or email) that won’t kill your tree. Over time, you build a digital forest that visually represents your productive time. There’s even a competitive element if you share your forest with friends. The coolest part? As you successfully grow virtual trees, you earn coins that can be used to help plant real trees through a partnership with the organization Trees for the Future.
Screenshot of the Forest app on an iPad showing a digital forest of trees grown during focused work sessions
Forest is a paid app ($3.99 to download) with optional in-app purchases if you want boosts or want to plant real trees faster.
Notion: The All-in-One Workspace
Notion is often called an “all-in-one workspace” because it can handle notes, tasks, project management, databases, habit tracking, and much more. The power of Notion is its flexibility – instead of juggling separate apps for different tasks, you can build a system that works for you within Notion.
You can integrate services like Slack and Dropbox to bring more of your workflows into one place. Whether you’re organizing a big work project, managing school assignments, tracking personal habits, or planning a creative endeavor, Notion can be customized to fit.
If you’re unsure where to start, Notion provides templates for everything from travel planners to content calendars. It also features an AI assistant that can help you write, brainstorm ideas, summarize documents, and pull action items from large amounts of text.
Screenshot of the Notion app interface on an iPad showing a complex workspace with notes, tasks, and linked databases
Notion offers a free plan for personal use. Paid plans start at $8 per month for small groups and offer more features. Notion AI has a free response limit, after which it costs $10 per member per month.
Crouton: Master Meal Planning
Meal planning can sometimes feel like another chore that eats into your time. Crouton is designed specifically to make cooking and planning meals easier, acting as a recipe organizer and grocery list generator.
You can quickly import recipes from websites or even scan them from physical cookbooks, centralizing all your favorite dishes in one digital spot.
Plan your meals for the week visually. Stuck for ideas? Crouton can even generate a meal plan for you. Once your meals are planned, the app automatically creates a consolidated grocery list with all the ingredients you’ll need, saving you time at the store.
Screenshot of the Crouton app on an iPad showing a list of recipes and a weekly meal plan interface
Crouton also includes a built-in timer, so you don’t need to switch apps while following a recipe. You can easily share recipes with family or friends too. The app offers basic features for free, with a yearly subscription ($14.99) for unlimited recipes and extra tools.
Freedom: Block Out Distractions
For serious focus, Freedom is a powerful app designed to block distracting websites and apps across all your devices simultaneously. Starting a “Freedom session” creates a digital shield, helping you resist the urge to check social media or browse pointlessly.
You choose which apps and sites to block. If you’re in a Freedom session on your iPad and try to open TikTok on your iPhone, it will be blocked, often showing a simple green screen to remind you to stay focused.
Sessions can be started immediately, scheduled for a specific time, or set to recur daily – perfect if you have a regular block of time you need to protect for deep work.
Freedom even offers a variety of ambient sounds (like city coffee shops, nature sounds, or instrumental music) to help you get into a focused state.
Screenshot of the Freedom app on an iPad showing options for blocking websites and apps to improve focus
The app costs $3.99 per month and includes access to articles with tips on productivity and digital wellness.
Notability: Rich Notes & Audio Sync
Notability is another excellent note-taking app that goes beyond simple text. It allows you to combine handwritten notes (great with Apple Pencil), typed text, imported documents (like PDFs you can annotate), audio recordings, and sketches all in one place. It’s a favorite among students and note-takers who need versatility.
Finding information later is easy, as Notability can search both your typed and handwritten notes, as well as text within imported documents. A standout feature is its audio recording sync – as you record audio during a lecture or meeting, your written notes are linked to the recording timestamp, letting you replay exactly what was said when you took a specific note.
Recent additions include AI-powered note summaries and the ability to view two notes side-by-side. You can even test yourself with personalized quizzes created from your notes. Like Notion, Notability offers templates for planners, study guides, and more to help you get started.
Screenshot of the Notability app on an iPad showing a handwritten note with embedded audio recording playback visualization
Notability is free to use with basic features. A $4.99 monthly subscription unlocks premium features like math conversion, automatic audio transcription, unlimited notes, and more.
Todoist: Simple, Powerful Task Management
Todoist is known for being clean, simple, and powerful, making task management feel less overwhelming. One of its best features is natural language input – you can type things like “Plan work every Friday afternoon #work” or “Do homework every Wednesday at 6 p.m. !high” and it automatically understands and schedules the task, adding tags and priority levels.
It helps you focus by letting you view tasks organized as “Today,” “Upcoming,” or using custom filters, so you only see what’s relevant right now.
Whether it’s tasks for your job, personal life, school, or managing project goals, Todoist is flexible. It integrates smoothly with your calendar, voice assistants, and many other tools like Outlook, Gmail, and Slack, fitting into your existing workflow.
Screenshot of the Todoist app on an iPad displaying a clean interface with tasks organized by date
Todoist syncs across all your devices – iPad, iPhone, Apple Watch, desktop, and more. Basic features are free. The “Pro” subscription ($4 per month) adds features like an AI assistant, calendar view, and more project capacity.
Ready to Get Productive? These apps show just how capable your iPad can be as a tool for getting things done. Whether you need better note-taking, robust task management, help staying focused, or tools for specific tasks like meal planning, there’s an app here to help you transform your iPad into a true productivity powerhouse. This list is updated regularly to keep up with the best tools available.
