Many times, people get an iPad as a gift, but they don’t know what to do with it or what apps to start filling it up with. To me, the iPad is kind of half-for-fun and half-for-work. There are certain apps a fella’s going to want to load up on their new iPad. These iPad apps for guys can also be enjoyed by many women, of course, but since I’m a guy — I know guys will like them. Just like all of the guys that liked my previous article about the 8 Best Fantasy Football Draft iPad Apps. Also, be aware that many of these apps are also available for your iPhone.
iPad Apps for Guys — Sports
First, let’s take care of the most important section. These are iPad apps for guys that will help them keep up with their favorite teams and sports, and give them a great iPad experience no matter what sport it is.
Bleacher Report — FREE
This is a great app that pushes stories about your favorite teams to you and keeps you connected with what’s happening at all times. I love starting my iPad and instantly seeing news and scores for my teams — before you even go into your iPad. Those headlines are pushed to you as notifications on your wake-up screen.
ESPN ScoreCenter — FREE
Obviously, you’ll get great live boxscores as games are happening, but you’ll also be able to read up on the top stories, recaps and standings in your favorite sports.
WatchESPN — FREE
Watch live streaming from games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNU. You can watch live games from MLB, NBA, The Masters, College Football and College Basketball, Barclay’s Premier League, Euro 2012 Soccer and all four Grand Slam Tennis events — and much more. However, make sure your Cable TV service provider supports it. Bright House Networks, Comcast XFINITY and Time Warner Cable do support it. You can also check here if you’re looking for lower prices on your Cable TV, Internet and Phone bills.
CBSSports.com Fantasy Football — FREE
If you are a Fantasy Sports purist, then you know that CBS Sports’ does the best job of running Fantasy league services. (Although, I’m a little biased since I worked there and have several friends still working there.) But there’s no doubt, their Fantasy Sports apps are useful and aesthetically pleasing.
MLB.com At-Bat — FREE
Great second screen while you are watching a baseball game — or your favorite TV shows, allowing you to keep tabs on what’s happening with your team. You can also get the “Free Game of the Day,” which is great for Fantasy Baseball owners. If you are a MLB.TV Premium subscriber, you get to watch every out-of-market game on your iPad, too!
You Don’t Know Jack — FREE
While this isn’t exclusively for sports trivia, it still mixes a good amount in. You Don’t Know Jack has always been one of the best trivia games out there, without turning into just a boring stats read.
iPad Apps for Guys — Games
Another thing most guys love is video games. The iPad tablet is definitely useful for that! There are a ton of great FREE games, as well as some awesome games that cost very little.
Angry Birds Star Wars HD — $2.99
Well, yeah, Angry Birds is kind of an old game at this point. But this version is actually the best of them all — especially for Star Wars fans. Each bird takes on one of the great Star Wars characters and it has specific talents that make this game just awesome. There’s a Luke Skywalker bird, with a light saber; a Han Solo bird that shoots; a Princess Leia bird that divides itself; a Chewbacca bird that is bigger than the others, and an Obi Wan Kenobi bird that lets you use “the force” to move objects. I thoroughly enjoyed this game. And you’ll be playing on Tattoine, The Death Star and Hoth.
The Walking Dead — FREE
Do you like zombies? … You do!?! Oh. Then don’t get this game or else you’ll have to kill a bunch of them. Oh, you mean you like to kill zombies!?! Perfect! This was named the 2012 Game of the Year, and its based on the acclaimed AMC TV show. Episode 1 is free!
Bastion — $0.99 (Requires iPad2 or newer)
This original RPG has won tons of awards already, with great artwork, music and gameplay. Use great weapons, in beautiful landscapes against savage beasts — it’s just like rush hour in Paris!
RISK — $0.99
It’s the game of world domination! What guy doesn’t want to do that!?! The classic board game works great on your iPad. You can play against the computer or you can go up against up to four of your friends (enemies!) in a RISK battle royale!
GTA Vice City — $4.99
Are you a fan of GTA? Do you play it online with your mates? Do you mess around with GTA 5 cheats to make the game even more entertaining? Well, now you can play GTA on the go. Easily one of the best video games of the past decade, GTA Vice City is celebrating its 10th Anniversary by becoming available to play on your iPad. It’s a great takeoff on both “Miami Vice” and “Scarface,” set in the early ‘80s in a place that looks eerily similar to Miami, including the swamps, ghettos and South Beach.
iPad Apps for Guys — Entertainment
After sports, guys like to goof around. So here are some great iPad apps for guys that allow them to do just that, whether it’s reading, watching TV, listening to music or — putting mustaches on their faces.
‘stachetastic — $3.99
Ever wonder what you’d look like with a full mustache? What about a handlebar mustache? A lumberjack’s beard? A mullet!?! Now you can find out! Some of the other favorites are “80s Hair,” “Zombifier” and “Pimpster.”
Spotify or Pandora — FREE
I’m a Pandora kind of guy when it comes to listening to streaming music — but there are a lot of guys that love Spotify. Both have premium offerings that give you much more control over the songs you listen to (Spotify) or the ads you are delivered (Pandora). If you fancy yourself as a musician and have downloaded Spotify to upload music and not just stream it, then it might be a good idea to visit https://getfans.io/buy-spotify-plays to boost your streams on this app if you want to get the best out of it.
NEXT Issue — FREE, sorta
This one’s interesting. While the app is free, you need to have a NextIssue.com account, which costs $9.99 a month for the Basic plan, which gives you unlimited access to a bunch of great magazines, and then you can get the Premium plan for $14.95 a month. Some of the magazines available include: Entertainment Weekly, ESPN The Magazine, Food Network Magazine, GQ, People, Popular Mechanics, Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker, Time Magazine and Wired.
Longform — $0.99
Not enough time to read a ton of magazines? The folks at Longform handpick great articles from several magazines and publications, and they deliver only the best ones to you each day, in reader-optimized formats.
TapHunter — FREE
Every guy needs to know where the best craft beers are in close proximity to where he is. Luckily, this app helps out by showing you where the best craft beers are currently being served near you.
Kindle — FREE
Look, I LOVE my Kindle. I really do. I read more books now than when I didn’t have one, which is shocking to me. But the Kindle app on iPad is just awesome. It’s much more interactive, since you can click links easier and have full-color pictures. And just a swipe of the screen turns the page. So get the free app, then go here to check out a ton of free and low-priced books to load up on. Here are some more books I suggest you try out:
- 11/22/63 — by Stephen King
- Moneyball — by Michael Lewis
- Game Plan: A Radical Approach to Decision Making in the NFL — by Frank DuPont — JUST $0.99!
Netflix — FREE
With tons of movies and great TV shows available for live streaming, you can have tons of entertainment wherever you go. There are great TV shows like “Breaking Bad,” “Sons of Anarchy” available, as well as a ton of kids’ programming if you want to keep them busy. There are also a ton of great TV shows that were cancelled too early available for streaming. If you don’t have an iPad but still want to stream your favorite shows, you could look at getting yourself a streaming box like the ones shown over on the Coolest Gadgets website.
HBO GO
Get access to all of HBO’s best programming through the years, including current TV shows like “Boardwalk Empire” and “True Blood.” And you can get older shows like “The Sopranos,” “The Wire” and “Oz.” You’ll also get to watch movies currently playing on HBO, as well as some documentaries. You’ll need this iPad app, and a subscription to HBO through your Cable TV service provider.
StumbleUpon — FREE
This is one of the best ways to surf the Internet — just set your preferences on subjects you enjoy, like sports and entertainment, and then click the StumbleUpon button to find the absolute best sites and articles that other stumblers have found and suggested. You’ll find things you never knew existed!
Google Earth — FREE
A great app to take a tour around the world, Google Earth is a great way to see places you’ve never been or might not ever see in person, as all as places you’ve already been and want to see again. Check out your home from where you grew up!
Epicurious — FREE
Get access to over 30,000 awesome recipes from one of the best food sites around, Epicurious.com. It’ll also allow you to create shopping lists and email recipes to friends and family. Another cooking site I love is AllRecipes, which is more of a community-based app, where you can even post your own recipes or versions of other people’s recipes.
iPad Apps for Guys — Tools
Finally, guys like to create. They like to “do.” Most guys like to use tools to fix, destroy or just to learn from. Here are some fun ones you might enjoy!
Flipboard — FREE
Without question, this has become one of my favorite all-time iPad apps. It turns all of your social feeds, including Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader, into a magazine that you can flip through with the swipe of a finger. The layout makes scanning articles, tweets and status updates so much more palatable on a large scale. It grabs pictures and links and turns them into sections for you.
Pocket — FREE
This great app allows you to save articles you find across the web to one spot, then you can read them on Pocket (formerly Read It Later) formatted for your iPad. It’s a great way to save up pieces you want to read, but don’t have the time to right now.
Bento 4 — $9.99
It’s called a great personal database. You can organize all of your contacts, manage lists, track projects and everything else. You can track products and inventory, organize music, movies and photos — it has a little bit of everything in here.
Hootsuite — FREE
Hootsuite allows you to manage your Facebook, Twitter and Google+ accounts, but showing you live streams and allowing you to post to multiple accounts. It’s one of the best ways to really get the best out of Twitter, in my opinion.
iHandy Carpenter
For manly men that like to take care of their house and do some home improvements, this is a great 5-in-1 tool set that helps you do just that. You’ll get a bubble level bar, a ruler, a plumb bob, which helps you verify thoe verticality of walls. You’ll also get a surface level, to make sure you have a flat surface. A protractor helps you measure angles from 0 to 180 degrees.
I hope these great iPad apps for guys make you enjoy your iPad as much as I have enjoyed mine! You can also give these apps as gifts to friends you think would enjoy them, too.
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