Apps for dads with iPads

Even though Apple designed the iPad to be easy to use, it can’t hurt to have the help offered by Tips & Tricks — iPad Secrets. The app walks you through the basics and more advanced features of your iPad, so that you can be sure you’re getting the most out of your purchase. Remember, no one wants to be laughed at like the dad on a sitcom who can’t use modern technology.

Once you’ve made friends with your iPad, it’s time to get to work! For most people, that means an Office Suite. Documents to Go Premium is a great all-in-one solution, especially if you work with Microsoft Word documents. Documents to Go Premium lets you view, modify, edit, and create new Word, Excel, and Powerpoint documents. The app also displays tracked changes and integrates with many cloud services. Microsoft also makes a great, full-featured version of the Office apps (Word, Excel, and Powerpoint), but the free versions only allow you to view the documents. In order to do anything else, you have to purchase an expensive subscription to the Microsoft Office 365 service. However, these apps are a great option for those who already have the subscription.

Next on every dad’s list is keeping track of the finances, which is easily accomplished with the app version of the popular website Mint.com. Mint makes it very easy and painless to connect all of your accounts to your new Mint.com account and then the app downloads and organizes your data for easy viewing on your iPad. The app allows you to create and edit budgets, tie transactions to budgets and/or categories, and it even alerts you when it’s time to take a specific action. Plus, it creates nifty charts and graphs!

Financial organization may be tough, but family organization can be even harder, which is why Cozi will become a dad’s new best friend. Once you create an account with Cozi, you can add all of the information cluttering your brain, from shopping lists to appointments to important dates in the future. Cozi will remember and remind you at a designated time, even via email if you prefer. What sets Cozi apart from its competition is that it allows you to add family members to your account so that your family has one centralized place to store and find information.

When it’s Dad’s turn to make dinner, Epicurious will be there to help even the most (or least) accomplished cook. The app can answer tough questions like what to make, how to make it, and will anyone eat it. Epicurious includes thousands of recipes for every situation and skill level that are divided into categories for easy sorting. Epicurious may seem intimidating at first, but it’s perfectly suited to any skill level or food preference.

Very often, the best way to enhance a meal— and impress a dining companion— is by pairing the food with a good wine. For all but the most studied wine tasters, Wine Simplified is an invaluable resource to learn everything one needs to know about wine. The app is essentially an enhanced book, but it’s brimming with knowledge, from information about how wine is made and the differences between wines, to more practical advice on how to read a wine label or buy wine or choose the correct wine for a meal.

Inevitably, something technological or mechanical will break or need an “upgrade,” which is why you should keep iFixit on your iPad. The app presents the same comprehensive, useful manuals and guides found on the popular website but formats them more attractively. The app is a must have for any dad who enjoys “DIY,” or for a spouse who prefers DIY tinkering be done correctly.


Another dad duty is homework help, but it can get difficult when the kids start growing up and taking courses like calculus. Fear not, because even if you don’t remember (or never knew) what a derivative is, WolframAlpha does. The app can answer questions on a wide variety of subjects and even solve complex math equations. WolframAlpha is surprisingly versatile— it even knows about television and consumer products— so don’t forget to use it for all of your informational needs.

If you're a dad with teenagers, you need a special class of information only urban dictionary can provide. The app itself isn’t especially impressive, but the content makes up for it. Urban Dictionary includes all of the content from the popular website and "people-powered slang dictionary." Search the app to find definitions for all the words and phrases your teen says. Be warned: you may not like what you learn.

If doing homework with your kids starts making you nostalgic for their younger days (or your own), you can flex your art class muscles with Halftone 2 and your photo library. The second version of Halftone allows you to make full comic pages with your photos and the built-in tools. The app’s filters, paper stock, captions, and other enhancements are surprisingly simple to use yet very powerful. Halftone 2 updated to include support for editing videos, which allows dads to make something even more creative and embarrassing! If you are so inclined, you can create a comic strip and send it to your friends and relatives through Flickr or Facebook.

Dads can create some new memories by implementing a family game night using Game Room. The app turns your iPad into a gameboard for many classics, including checkers, reversi, go, and mancala. The family can gather around the iPad and enjoy the time-honored tradition of arguing about scoring and rules.

If checkers and mancala seem too old fashioned, why not try Risk? On your iPad, the famous game of strategy and war is just like you remember it, but without all the tiny army men that get lost. Risk accommodates larger families (up to six people) and individual play if you need to up your game. You can even change up the rules to suit your mood.

If your mood is closer to “tired,” Netflix has you covered. Sometimes sitting the kids (or yourself) in front of a TV show or movie is the only answer, and Netflix has something for everyone. The app requires a subscription to Netflix’s streaming service, which can be purchased in-app or online. You can even hook your iPad up to the TV so everyone can watch comfortably.

If there's no time for a movie, use Marvel Unlimited to enjoy the original versions of some of the biggest hits of the past decades. The app offers unlimited access to thousands of old and recent Marvel Comics for a low monthly or yearly subscription. The app itself isn't as polished as Comixology, but it’s getting better and the service makes up for it. Anyone who has ever loved Marvel Comics or their characters should at least take a look at the free offerings. A Marvel Unlimited subscription also makes a great gift.

Sometimes dads just want to focus on the important things, like sports scores! ScoreCenter for iPad helps you follow your favorite sport(s) or team(s) with video highlights, live play by play, full box scores and scoring summaries, live in-game stats, complete standings, and full game previews and recaps. Push notifications will keep you in the know about your favorite team, whether it’s basketball, football, ice hockey, or baseball. Information on other sporting events like auto racing, golf, tennis, cricket, and rugby are also available.

Don’t fall behind on current events while you’re keeping track of the family: use the Early Edition 2 to rekindle your love of newspapers. The app replicates the look and feel of a traditional newsprint newspaper but with all the convenience of the iPad. The Early Edition 2 is a fully-customizable RSS reader that lets you add and organize news feeds from any website you want. If you’re new to RSS, the app has multiple suggestions for feeds to follow, as well as options for reading articles later or sending them to other services. For advanced users, The Early Edition 2 also supports syncing with a Feedly account.

Use Spotify to relax while reading the news. The free version of Spotify allows dads to stream any of the tracks available in the service’s extensive collection and even create their own playlists. For a small monthly fee, dads can download tracks for offline listening, and bypass ads. Spotify’s recommendations and curated playlists could also help Dad find some new favorites.

If you’ve been too busy to get to your weekly poker game, you can set up a virtual one with Zynga Poker — Texas Holdem. If you log in with a Facebook or Zynga account, you can play a game with friends. And unlike the real thing, you don’t have to pay real money to start (though there are optional in app purchases for more betting currency). You can also brush up on your skills in between your regular games by playing against strangers— or virtual friends.

Unfortunately, you can’t replace your golf game with your iPad, but you can pretend you’re a champion golfer with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12. Whether you’re a Tiger Woods fan or not, the app is a standout in the realistic golf genre. The game puts you in the shoes of a player with characteristics that you choose in the PGA Tour, with its multiple tours and competitions. You can even win prizes you can use to upgrade your players. The tournament element adds a nice spin that most players can’t get even with a “real” game of golf.

If you prefer a more light-hearted approach to sports, Ridiculous Fishing may be the way to go. The app lives up to its name by requiring you to tilt your device to move your line and “fish” and then tap any fish you catch to fire your shotgun at them. Ridiculous Fishing has some structure with upgrades to your gear, but is mainly a silly, quick diversion.

Being a dad is hard work, so you need a game like Grand Theft Auto San Andreas to help you blow off some steam. This impressive port of Rockstar’s Playstation 2 classic lets you take all of your frustrations out on rival gang members in a huge open-world. The controls are surprisingly good for a console port. Best of all, you don't have to worry about anyone looking over your shoulder and judging you for your glee at crashing cars and creating other wanton destruction.

Finally, dads need a game for those times you have just a minute or two to spare. There are many great ones to choose from, but you really should see what all the fuss is about those Angry Birds with Angry Birds Space HD. This version of the popular bird catapulting franchise added variable gravity, a twist that deepened its complexity without losing its whimsy. Angry Birds excels on the iPad’s larger screen and is great for a short round or a longer sit down.