iPad Freeware Applications and Games Abound

If you have purchased an iPad, undoubtedly one of the first things you have done is visit the App Store and downloaded some of the cool available apps that exist for it.

There are already over 275,000 apps in the App Store designed specifically for the iPad, apps that take advantage of the large screen and that allow you to do everything from playing games to working on spreadsheets to planning meals to writing the great American novel.

A great deal of the apps available for the iPad are absolutely free. However, this has also led to certain misconceptions. Let's examine some of these.

First of all, when you download applications and games from the App Store, you needn't worry about such things as Trojan horses or spyware (this is especially important if you come from a PC environment). Apple keeps a tight lid on the applications that appear in the App Store and runs a gauntlet of checks and other safeguards to ensure they are 100% safe to run and use.

Unlike the free applications known as shareware which you may have run on a desktop computer, the free apps for the iPad are not crippled and do not work for only a couple of days.

With shareware, if you don't pay, you cannot continue to use the software, but the free apps on the App Store are not like that. Some of them generate revenue for their creators due to the inclusion of non-intrusive advertising, while others are scaled-down versions of the full apps. Others are temporarily offered for free for promotional purposes.

Another misconception is that the free apps on the App Store are of little value, and that is why they are offered for free. All of the apps on the App Store are rated by the users, and you can be sure that if they offer little of value, they will not get a good rating. Besides, it costs nothing to download an app and try it.

Certainly, there are some substandard applications available on the App Store, but if you're diligent in searching and reading the app descriptions, you can find some absolute gems at little or no cost. You just need to read the descriptions and the user reviews carefully.

It is fortunate that there are diligent and good-hearted software programmers out there who are willing to share their hard work with users at little or no cost or for the revenues that they make through advertising. Without them, the iPad would not exist, or at least not in its present, incredibly useful form.

What else can you do for free on the iPad? You can take complete courses from universities and other schools by accessing the world's largest catalog of free education in iTunes U. You can download a free podcast app for one-touch access to thousands of audio and video podcasts on every conceivable topic. You can view over 1.5 million books on the iBookstore, many of them free. Or you can download such free apps for the iPad as Find My iPhone, which can help you locate your lost iPad even when you lack access to a computer.

Before you purchase an app for your iPad, you might want to check out the free applications to see what is available. With a little research, you can save a lot of money on applications and games. If you like the free version, then you'll know that the full version is worth the money and you will have no qualms about purchasing it.

The iPad has continued to gain in popularity with the buying public because they recognize it as a worthy investment that allows them to have fun and get things done in the home, office and everywhere else.