A new iPad earns its keep through two things most phones can't do: a big screen and, if you bought one, a stylus. So the first apps worth downloading are the ones built around those advantages — a notes app you can write in, a whiteboard for sketching ideas, and a flashcard app that turns handwriting into study. Everything else can wait until you know what you actually use the tablet for.
This guide keeps that promise narrow. It is a setup order, not a rankings list, and it leans on what the App Store documents about itself rather than on vendor marketing. The short version: start with the built-in apps, add two or three stylus-first tools, then decide whether this iPad is a study machine, a second screen for work, or a couch device.
We've written a lot about apps that add AI to your desk, and the same skepticism applies here. An app that demos well is not an app that survives a real workload. The difference shows up in what each tool does with the hardware you already paid for.
What should you install before anything else?
Nothing, at first. The built-in Notes, Freeform, and Files apps cover the three things a new iPad gets asked to do most: handwritten notes, freeform sketching, and moving documents around. Notes syncs handwriting and typed text together, and Freeform is an unlimited-canvas whiteboard that works with the stylus. Try those for a week before spending money.
The one setting worth changing on day one is dictation and handwriting settings — turn on the option that lets you write in any text field with the stylus and have it convert to text. That single toggle does more for the stylus than most paid apps do.
Which apps make the most of the Apple Pencil?
Three categories justify the stylus: handwriting capture, drawing, and markup. For handwriting, the built-in Notes app is genuinely competitive. For drawing, a dedicated sketching app gives you layers, brushes, and pressure sensitivity that Notes doesn't attempt. For markup — signing PDFs, grading a draft, annotating a slide — the built-in Files and Photos markup tools handle it without a download.
The honest test for any stylus app is latency and palm rejection: does the line appear under your hand as you write, and does your resting palm stay ignored? Those are things to check in the free tier before any subscription. A drawing app that lags half a stroke is a drawing app you'll stop opening.
What about study and learning apps?
This is where the iPad earns its classroom reputation. Spaced-repetition flashcards remain the most evidence-backed study habit, and the App Store lists AnkiMobile Flashcards as a smart and powerful flashcards option in its own search results. The catch worth knowing: the iOS version carries a one-time price that the desktop and web versions don't, so students on a budget often study on the web version and review on the tablet.
For younger learners, the store's search surface surfaces options like SplashLearn, listed as PreK-5 math and reading games, and a shelf of kids' games such as Toca Boca Jr. If children will use the tablet, set up Screen Time and an age rating per profile before handing it over. Per Apple's App Store page, every app has an assigned age rating so parents can determine what is appropriate, and apps must clearly show the price and explain subscription-renewal terms up front.
Which productivity apps are worth the storage?
Two kinds. First, the office suite you already pay for — Word, Excel, Google Docs — because the iPad versions now handle real editing rather than just viewing. We've covered what the AI features in those suites actually do, per their own documentation, in our pieces on Copilot in Word and Excel and Gemini in Gmail and Docs; the short version is that the mobile versions ship fewer of those features than the web versions. For related coverage, see Apple Mail and Notes: Which AI features actually ship, and what they cost.
Second, capture tools. A voice-notetaking app turns the iPad into a meeting or lecture recorder, and the App Store search page lists Otter under exactly that description: transcribe voice notes and AI note taking. Before you commit to one, read our comparison of the big AI notetakers and what they document about themselves — where your audio goes matters more on a device you carry into classrooms and meetings. For quick research between tasks, our guide to the Perplexity app for quick research on the move covers the same trade-off from the assistant side.
How do you avoid the subscription trap?
App Store economics push almost every serious app toward a monthly plan, and a new-device setup week is exactly when those plans pile up unnoticed. Apple's own rules work in your favor here: per Apple's documentation, apps must clearly show the price, tell you what you get with your purchase, and explain subscription-renewal terms up front, and Apple sends a receipt for each in-app purchase. Read those screens. They are the cheapest contract review you'll ever do.
Our rule of thumb, graded like homework: any app on its free tier for two weeks without a paywall blocking something you actually need has earned a subscription. Any app that blocks the core function behind the paywall on day one hasn't demonstrated anything yet.
It also helps to know what the store screens out. According to Apple's App Store page, every app is automatically screened for known malware, human reviewers check apps against the review guidelines, and in 2024 more than 1.9 million app submissions were rejected for reasons including privacy violations and fraudulent activity. That is a floor, not a guarantee — it means the app is unlikely to be an outright scam, not that its data practices suit you. The privacy labels on each product page are where that judgment happens.
What this means for your first hour
Here's the setup order, condensed:
- Update the OS, then open Notes and Freeform and write one page by hand. This calibrates whether the stylus workflow suits you at all.
- Turn on stylus-to-text in Settings so handwriting works in any text field.
- Add one study or capture app based on your actual week — flashcards for students, a voice notetaker for meetings.
- Add your existing office suite before trying anything new.
- Check each new app's privacy label and subscription terms before the download finishes.
The broader point: the iPad's app library is enormous — Apple counts nearly 2 million apps available worldwide across 175 storefronts — so the constraint is never supply. It's deciding which two or three apps match the work in front of you. Start with what uses the screen and stylus, keep the subscription count low, and let the rest of the library wait until a real task asks for it.
What the sources here don't establish is which specific drawing or note app is best for your field — that depends on your workflow, and we'd rather flag the gap than paper over it. Our tools coverage follows the same rule: documented capability first, enthusiasm only when the evidence earns it.
