If you are an avid follower of this blog, you’ve probably suspected that I recently got an iPad 2.  I had been saving up for the iPad 2 over the course of the year.  My goal was to pay for it entirely with blogging income.  A few weeks back, I made my goal and bought myself an iPad, with some iPad productivity tools to ensure my productivity.

I’ve had the iPad 2 for a couple of weeks now and I love it!

When the iPad first came out, most critics remarked that it was mainly a consumption tool.  While it fit into a new category of device, many people didn’t see the use beyond consuming media.

Over time, people have learned that the iPad is also a good productivity tool.  There are some really awesome iPad productivity tools!

I’ve been using my iPad 2 both for consuming media and for work as well as blogging and I must say that it’s one of my favorite blogging tools this year!

Here are some of the ways that I’ve been using my iPad 2:

• Getting the latest news
• taking notes
• managing my calendar
• writing articles and blog posts
• reading and annotating scanned documents and pdf’s
• managing my email on the go
• managing my blog on the go
• reading books

These are just a few of my more popular use cases.  Frankly, I find myself carrying my iPad around with me everywhere and using it for almost all my work, blogging and entertainment needs.

If you don’t have an iPad already, I would definitely recommend getting one.

By the way, it’s popular amongst kids as well.  This year, it’s apparently one of the most popular requested gift for christmas this year.  But I digress…

This is a post for those who are looking for some iPad productivity tools for blogging.

When the iPad comes to you out of the box, it’s best use case is for consuming information and media.  While good, it’s not perfect for productivity… yet.  I found that after I got a few items, it became the perfect productivity tool for blogging in a cinch.

Here’s some of the iPad productivity tools that I got that really turns my iPad 2 into a rocking all purpose machine!

Rock Portfolio Case with Bluetooth Keyboard

I knew when I was researching my iPad 2 purchase that I would need a bluetooth keyboard.  While many people are comfortable typing on the on screen keyboard, I knew that I would do much better with a physical keyboard.  At the same time, I am adaptable and wouldn’t mind the smaller form factor of most of the bluetooth keyboards made for the iPad.

I also knew that I wanted the option of typing on a physical keyboard, but didn’t want to turn my iPad into a laptop either.  If I needed a laptop, I would have gotten one, right?

I want a great tablet, that I can use as a productivity tool, but also as a consumption device as well.

I also wanted to be able to easily transport everything all together in a simple to carry package.  Thus, my search for a perfect case with the included keyboard.

If you are looking to be more productive with your iPad, I definitely recommend at the very least to get a bluetooth keyboard.  If you can, get one that fits into a case as the form factor is really nice.  The entire setup with the bluetooth keyboard and case is simply one of the best iPad productivity tools that I have.

I researched a ton of cases.  There are many popular cases on the market.  They have tons of different functions.  Some of the more popular ones are clam style, hard cases that essentially turn your iPad into a laptop.

These are fine for some people, but I didn’t want to turn my iPad into a laptop, so I was looking for a more versatile case.

I finally stumbled onto a case on Amazon made by a smaller company called Rock.  Price wise, it’s comparable to other keyboard cases at $79.99.  For the price, I found it to match up really well to the competitors in features and functionality.

The Rock case is a leather, portfolio style case with a built in bluetooth keyboard that fits all my needs.

With this case, I could stand my iPad up like a laptop, but I could also open the case up entirely and fold the keyboard over to the back and still hold my iPad 2 like a tablet.  The keyboard is a smaller one, with rubberized keys so they don’t scratch your iPad screen when the case is closed.  Some people don’t like the small rubberized keyboard, but I can use it just fine.

Here are a few pictures of my iPad 2 in the Rock case:

I must say, I love this case!

Oh, and one of my favorite features of the case, is that it has built in magnets that work with the iPad 2’s smart cover functionality.  A lot of cases that I saw didn’t have that feature.  Of course, this is more of a vanity feature, but I love that it turns on automatically when I open the case.

Anyways, everyone has their favorite features, so getting a case is a very personal choice.  This may not be the most popular case out there, but the Rock portfolio case worked out very well for me.  It’s by far my favorite iPad productivity tool and after carrying it around, it’s gotten a few compliments as well.

You can read more about it on their Amazon product page.

WordPress – Automattic

If you are on the WordPress platform, this is a really great free app for managing your blog.  The official WordPress iPad app is a free download from the app store.  It allow you to manage the posts on your blog, your comments and view your stats quickly.

I don’t write out my blog posts on the wordpress app, while it’s possible.  The main reason is that it is entirely in html, so I find it a bit more difficult to format my posts.  They do have basic functionality for adding images and videos, but I find it very basic.  Also formatting is a bit more difficult for me as it must be done in html.

For me, I like to use this app for managing my comments on the go.  I can see my comments quickly and respond when I am away from home.  I can also take a quick glance at my stats and see how my blog is performing.  For actual post writing, I turn to a different app.

For managing my comments, minor editing, and checking my stats on the go, this is an awesome iPad productivity tool for blogging.

Blogsy – Fomola

Blogsy is an awesome 5 dollar app for blogging.  It’s is really robust and easy to use.  I love it as I can create a complete post with this app along with pictures and links.  I previously wrote a quick review of my initial impressions with Blogsy, however, since then I’ve had an opportunity to write a few more posts with this app to confirm my initial impression.  So far, this is my favorite app on my iPad, right after my rock case, it’s my favorite iPad productivity tool for blogging.

I can quickly and easily write a post and insert just about any image I can find into the post.  In fact, I find the process of inserting images much easier to do in this app than on my desktop.  No joke!

The reason is that I can easily search for the image using any of the buttons on the side:  flickr, google, etc…  When I find the image, I can quickly embed it right into my blog post without having to copy and save it.  I can also put in pictures from my photo gallery with the touch of a button as well.  Then I can easily drag the images around and place it anywhere in my post and resize them as I please.  It’s really much simpler than any desktop blogging software that I’ve tried out thus far.

With this app, I feel like I can blog from anywhere and write a complete and thorough post.  It’s totally worth 5 bucks and I’d recommend it to any blogger with an iPad.

Pages – Apple

While not technically a blogging tool, pages is the perfect demonstration of an iPad productivity tool.  I’ve been using pages as a word processor at work and it’s one of my most used apps.  There are a lot of word processing tools available for the iPad and iPhone, but after doing all the research, I came to the conclusion that Pages was the most versatile.

It’s a universal app, which means that for a single purchase, you get both the iPhone and iPad versions.  Most of the other word processing apps don’t do that, they require separate purchases.  This makes a big difference if you have both an iPhone and an iPad.  Along with the iCloud functionality, you can really make use of the syncing features between your iPhone and iPad to work on documents.  This is especially useful if you have a wifi only iPad, you can continue working on your iPhone in a 3g only area.  The document then syncs back automatically when you get back to the office or home.  (assuming you have wifi in those places)

I really like this app for word processing, since it meets all my needs.  If you are a writer and need to do some writing that’s more robust than a blog post, then this is really the app for you.

Flipboard – Flipboard Inc.

Ok, you may question my judgement for putting Flipboard on my list of iPad productivity tools, since it can also be a tremendously distracting app.  However, if used properly, this app can be a great source of information, news and blog post ideas.

Flipboard is one of my go to apps for getting blogging news.  There are a lot of news apps out there, but for blogging I find this app to be especially useful.  The key is that Flipboard pulls news from social media sources, Twitter in particular.  This is good for bloggers because you can actually follow other blogger’s tweets.

This way, you can select a few bloggers in your niche and follow their tweets and get some of the latest popular news in your niche.  The other thing that gives Flipboard an advantage for bloggers is that you are seeing the news that is trending in social media.  So you can quickly assess what news items and topics are becoming popular.  This can be handy when you are looking for a blog topic to post about.

The magazine style of Flipboard makes it easy to read.  I make it a breakfast routine to sit down with my toast and coffee and scroll through Flipboard to see what’s happening in the world and the blogosphere.

Feeddler RSS Reader for iPad and iPhone – C.B. Liu

One thing that I recommend for any aspiring blogger is a good rss reader.  This way you can keep track of other blogs in your niche and quickly see new blog posts and updates.  Then you can quickly go to each blog and read the new post and also leave a quick comment.  A good rss reader is a must have iPad productivity tool.

Feeddler is a free rss reader for both the iPad and iPhone.  I love the iPad version of this app.  As you can see, it lays out all your subscriptions in an easy to read format, much like your email app.  You can easily go through all your subscribed blogs and see their posts quickly.  It also syncs with google reader, which is perfect for syncing between your iPad and your desktop.

This is a great iPad productivity tool to have for quickly visiting all your subscribed blogs in your niche.

iPad Productivity Tools Summary

I love my iPad!  It’s a good entertainment device, but with all the different iPad productivity tools available, it’s also an awesome tool.  There are tons of news apps for me to get the news and find new blogging topics.  Once I’ve finished consuming my media, I can quickly start writing and creating right from my iPad.  The iPad productivity tools that I listed above are my favorite go to tools that help me get things done on my iPad.  There are tons more iPad productivity tools and apps out there.  Do you have a favorite iPad tool or app that you use for productivity?

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