A round-up of the best free social iPad apps that will keep your digital life thriving.
Is there anything the iPad can’t do? This list of free social iPad apps will help you stay in touch with friends and family, without having to spend a dime.
Manage your Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and LinkedIn accounts in one go with the Hootsuite iPad app. You can use up to 5 social networking accounts at a time for free – if you have more, you will need to pay $5 per month for a Pro account. Once you’ve downloaded the app, you can sync with your existing Hootsuite account, or create a new one from scratch. The Hootsuite app comes with many of the desktop client’s features, including the ability to schedule status updates, geotag tweets and automatically shorten links.
Flipboard consolidates the latest updates from your social media accounts and uses them to create a personal magazine. Compatible with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Flickr, Tumblr and more, Flipboard eliminates the need to switch between accounts. The digital magazine updates in real time and provides link previews and full-size pictures. You can still share, retweet and comment on items through Flipboard, and the magazine layout is far more beautiful and interesting than Facebook or Twitter’s designs.
The StumbleUpon app lets you take your Stumbles mobile. Search other people’s stumbles, stumble your own items, and share content through Facebook, Twitter or old-fashioned email. If you’ve already signed up to StumbleUpon, you can sync the app with your web account. Otherwise, choose from the app’s list of interests or type a word into the search box to get started.
Yelp is a community review app where you can search for local businesses, including stores, restaurants, bars and cafes, then read other users’ reviews of the establishment. You can post reviews, photos and tips for other Yelp users and get contact information and deals for local businesses. The app also comes with a check-in feature, so you can share your location with friends through Facebook and Twitter.
Beejive comes in two versions: separate free apps are available for Facebook, Twitter, Google and other instant messenger programs, or you can upgrade to Beejive IM with Push Notifications.
The separate apps enable you to message and chat with contacts using various IM accounts on your iPad. For $9.99, the Beejive IM with Push Notifications app gathers all your IM accounts into one interface, so you don’t have to switch between windows. Beejive is compatible a range of messaging programs, including AIM, Facebook, Google, Jabber, MSN/Windows Live and Yahoo! IM.
If you’re a travel junkie and want to share your travel tips with friends (or show off your latest destination), Gowalla can help. Find out where your friends have been, what they recommend, and get local expert tips on what to see and do at major cities and destinations around the world. You can access photos, area guides from Gowalla users, Disney and National Geographic, and use Gowalla’s “nearby guide” to find out what’s happening in the area. This travel app currently covers areas of the US, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.
