Apple’s Safari browser for iPad hasn’t seen any major changes in UI since iOS 3.x. The browser is very fast, intuitive but lacks in some key features. One of the major drawbacks of Safari is that it does not support tabbed browsing. The App Store offers some great alternatives to safari and now Terra for iPad 2 is here to offer superior browsing experience on Apple’s tablet.

Terra for iPad has been developed by Readdle, developers of popular document management app for iOS called ReaddleDocs. The app is rich in features and most importantly supports tabs!

Users who use iPad for browsing the web extensively will know that Apple’s current way of opening a new page is not very efficient when compared with a browser which supports tabs. So, that feature alone makes Terra a must have app and it is available for free on the App Store.

The app allows you to save webpages for offline viewing, enables you to download files and then open in supported native apps. Other noteworthy features include gestures to navigate to the next tab, forward and backward. You can also enable private browsing and password protect the app which are certainly very good privacy options. While testing the app we did find that when you click home button and then switch back to the app via multitasking tray the app shows the active tab for a split second before it shows the page asking for the passkey . This bug obviously affects reliability of the passkey option.

If you are looking for a new browser or just want to experience the web more efficiently then we highly recommend Terra for iPad.

The user interface is extremely simple to understand and makes for a very learnable application. When you load up the app you see pretty much everything you will need with the following options: Documents, Recents, Network and Settings. Along with viewing the document you have the options to: create bookmarks, create annotations, search the documents, go to certain page, send by email, text reflow, print or even open in another application. For instance, when I selected the open in option I had the following choices: DocsToGo, Easysign, GoDocs, Evernote, iBooks and Air Sharing. Obviously there is a lot that you can accomplish with all of these options.

The next tab happens to be incredibly useful as well. First you have your “Recents” tab which is fairly self-explanatory but being able to quickly access the documents that you have recently used is always a must for any document management app. Next you have the “Network” tab and this might be one of my favorite features that is included in this application. Of course the ability to fill in PDF forms is huge as this is the only app with that capability but what do you do if you can’t easily get the app to your computer. This is where the Network tab shines. This allows you to easily access files on your online storage sites as well as directly browse your phone for documents via your computer. This functionality is a must for me as many of my documents that I use are stored in my Dropbox account or my Google Docs account online in the cloud. This now means that I can grab my PDF forms for purchasing at work on my iPhone and fill them out and email them to my boss. I cannot tell you how useful this can be when I am out of the office or not in front of my laptop. The fact that you have the option to use your phone for yet another business solution is amazing.

The storage options are plentiful as well. The options include: Readdle, MobileMe iDisk, Public iDisk, Dropbox, Google Docs, SugarSync, FTP Server, SFTP Server, Other WebDAV Server, Box.net, Mydisk.se, filesanywhere, Storegate and iCloud. That covers most of the big players and even if you use something else it is worth looking at one of these if you often deal with PDFs.

Passkey Lock is an option that you will find under settings tab and can be very important if you work in an office that stresses security as mine does. You can configure Wi-Fi Drive here which is enabled from the jump. PDF Viewer options are also housed here and give you some pretty cool configurable options to customize your PDF viewing experience such as: highlight links, how to scroll pages, page zoom and highlight form fields. The options are straight-forward just as the application is.

I was able utilize all of the features in PDF Expert for iPhone without a hitch. I was easily able to download our monthly security report from my Google Docs account and create bookmarks for the Operations section that pertains to me as well as insert notes for our upcoming meeting. These are all things that I had traditionally done on my computer but now have the ability to take care of on my iPhone.

Overall the usability and simplicity of this application combines with the features make it a must have for those that use PDFs on a daily basis. They have truly changed the way I go about dealing with PDFs on an everyday basis.

Pros

• Great User Interface
• Simple to Use
• Great Features: Form Filling!
• Integration to Online Storage
• Manage Folders
• Create .zip files for email

Cons

• None

$9.99 (View in iTunes)
Category: Business
Updated: Mar 16, 2011
Current Version: 2.0
2.0
Size: 15.5 MB
Language: English
Seller: Igor Zhadanov
© 2009-2011 Readdle Inc.
Rated 4+
Requirements: Compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 3.0 or later

“Over the last three years, Readdle has grown strong notwithstanding the many challenges on this emerging platform,” said Igor Zhadanov, Readdle co-founder. “Our success is based on a single platform focus – enabling iPhone owners to be productive and efficient on the go – and a great mutual collaboration between the peers in our team with an individual approach to each user,” he explained. “This serves our company and our customers very well.”

During these years, Readdle has achieved industry recognition as a strong developer of business applications for the iPhone and iPad owners. In celebration of its third anniversary, Readdle is offering a time-limited discount on all Readdle products. Price reductions will take effect for 48 hours since August 1st. Additionally, Readdle is giving away three iPads to its Twitter followers.

Readdle
Readdle Turns 3
All Readdle Products
Screenshot

Founded in 2007, Readdle provides Apple iPhone and Apple iPod touch users with high quality applications missing in a standard application set. The company flagship products are Scanner Pro, an application which transforms the iPhone into portable scanner, and ReaddleDocs, a revolutionary file manager, document reader and attachment viewer for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Copyright 2007-2010 Readdle. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPod, iPad and iTunes are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.

Take A Note is a versatile note taking application with direct access to your notes from any PC or Mac computer. You can browse all your notes as text, sound and image files, copy these files to your computer and even add existing text documents as new notes.

Take A Note has everything you need for your note taking needs on the go: four types of notes, custom categories, search, send by email functions and very nice custom made interface.

It is one of those applications which aims at providing value for money, functionality and easy to use interface.

This app is capable of taking notes in all forms: Text, Draw, Photo and Audio. Readdle has produced an amazing document sharing app like ReaddleDocs and now a Notes app which makes taking notes easier and manageable.

Take A Note has a very simple User Interface you have an option to Add Note, view Notes. Wifi Access, Search and a settings option.

Add Notes

Here you can choose the type of note you would like to create choose from Text Note, Audio Note, Draw Note or Photo Note. Text Note looks like iPhone’s native notes app with an additional option to categorize your notes in any any custom category. While composing your note you can also email the note you created within the app. With Audio Note you can record anything you would like to keep safe. Draw Note allows you to scribble anything on the screen with options to choose pen size, erase, email, add comments and categorize. With Photo Note you can choose any picture from your Saved Photos, Photo Library or take a new picture within the app, pan, zoom, comment and save your photo memo.

Notes

There are 5 default categories in which your notes are automatically sorted: All, Text, Audio, Drawing, Photo and then your custom categories. Each category shows the number of notes it has.

Wi-fi- Access

Take A Note uses WebDAV protocol and may be mounted as network drive. So, you can easily transfer your files from your iPhone/iPod touch to your computer. This feature also allows you to enable or disable password protection for Wi-fi access. With Wi-fi access Take A Note makes backing up and sharing your notes very easy.

Search

Search for the notes you created either by Title or Content.

Settings

Enable Password Lock for the app, change font settings, volume boost and Alphabetical Sort.

Take A Note is definitely a must have for all those who find themselves writing notes at random places and losing track of important information and on the other hand it certainly qualifies for professional use.

Price $4.99 Sale $3.99

The Good

• Supports Text, Audio, Draw and Photo Notes
• Password protection
• Wi-fi Access using WebDAV

The Not So Good

• We would like to see an option when you can take notes combing Text, Audio, Draw and Photo.

ReaddleDocs combines a network file server, web storage client, web browser, file manager and powerful document viewer within a single iPhone business application. It allows people to transfer documents to their devices over Wi-Fi and 3G in a number of ways, view them on the go, send by email and share with other iPhone users easily.

ReaddleDocs 1.5, that will hit the App Store soon, is capable to view iWork ’09 documents saved with preview and upload files to WebDAV enabled online file storage systems like MobileMe iDisk. ReaddleDocs 1.5 will be available at App Store as free upgrade for existing users.

“With the current App Store economy many people afraid to buy products that costs more than 5 dollars,” explains Alexander Tyagulsky, Readdle CMO. “The sale lets them get familar with the high end products like ReaddleDocs and take advantage of the iPhone as the most powerful document viewer available on the smartphone market.”

Pricing and Availability:
ReaddleDocs is available at special price of $4.99 (USD) exclusively at the App Store.

Founded in 2007, Readdle aims to provide iPhone and iPod Touch users with high quality applications that are missing in a standard application set. Flagship offerings are ReaddleDocs – a complete document and file management solution for the iPhone and iPod Touch; Take A Note – a versatile note taking application with direct access to notes from a PC or Mac computer using Wi-Fi. Copyright 2007-2009 Readdle All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computer in the U.S. and/or other countries.