The best iPad apps for researchers and academics

Dr. Joe Bathelt
6 min readAug 20, 2021

Like most knowledge workers, I spent a lot of time consuming content and then distilling it into new insights or plans for future projects. The iPad has been truly transformative for my workflow. Here, I share my favourite apps for the tasks that are central to my work as a researcher and academic.

Photo by Roberto Nickson on Unsplash

Reading

Reading is one of the areas in which the iPad really shines. It’s much more comfortable to read on a touch device that can be held like a book or magazine. I greatly enjoyed reading on the iPad ever since the first generation came out, but the addition of the Apple Pencil has elevated the usefulness of the iPad for my work even further. For instance, reading scientific papers is a breeze as the integration with my note-taking app allows me to expert my highlights for future reference. Furthermore, I also use the iPad when reviewing papers or marking student’s work by writing notes in the margins of the PDF with the Apple Pencil.

The Kindle app

Reading in the Kindle app - screenshot by the author
Reading in the Kindle app — screenshot by the author

The Kindle app is the absolute king when it comes to ebooks. Even though I sympathise with many people who are against this type of market dominance, it is hard…

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Dr. Joe Bathelt
Dr. Joe Bathelt

Written by Dr. Joe Bathelt

I’m a lecturer in psychology specialised in cognitive neuroscience. Topics: brain and mind, productivity, and academic work flows. More info: www.joebathelt.com

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