iAnnotate
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iAnnotate PDF is a solid entry in the PDF markup app category
iAnnotate (US$9.99) is a full-featured iPad app for marking up PDF files with highlighting, diagrams, notes, and even audio comments. Standout features include the ability to markup DOC and PPT files as well as PDF documents. The app allows you to have eight documents open at once, something many of its competitors don't offer. There is a broad arrange of annotation tools, and you can create custom toolbars to speed your work along. For importing you can use Box, Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive or WebDav, plus iTunes file sharing is supported. The app doesn't support iCloud, which is a negative, but Air Drop is supported. You can also open emailed PDFs. Documents can be searched quickly, and you can create folders to keep projects in a workable environment. I gave the app a try and found it easy to use, although extensive help is included if you need it. Drawing was easy, and you can choose a pen, line tools, underlining, and time and date stamps. There is a keyboard that is used to type notes in different colors than the document. Copy and paste is supported between documents. All the functions worked well, and sharing of the annotated documents was easy through email. I tested opening my documents in Adobe Reader and Apple Preview under Yosemite with no issues. This is a powerful and useful app if you find yourself needing to mark up documents for sharing and circulation. The variety of tools and customization is a real plus. As mentioned, iAnnotate PDF really needs to add iCloud support as it will be the default sharing method for many iOS users. iAnnotate PDF requires iOS 6.0. It ran nicely on my older iPad 2, so just about any iPad that can run iOS 6 or later will be fine. Other similar apps that are well thought of include PDF Expert 5 ($9.99), PDF Forms (which I reviewed last month - $8.99) and PDF Pro (free), which has a reduced feature set compared to the others.
iPad apps to the rescue
"Whenever there's a fight so hungry people can eat, I'll be there. Whenever they's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there... I'll be in the way guys yell when they're mad an'-I'll be in the way kids laugh when they're hungry an' they know supper's ready. An' when our folks eat the stuff they raise an' live in the houses they build-why, I'll be there." -- John Steinbeck, Grapes of Wrath The iPad is an overlooked hero. When you need it, the iPad will be there. It will be there to access data or connect back home. It will be there to let others reach out to you, or to let you reach out to others. With the right software, and the right ingenuity, the iPad can metaphorically leap tall buildings and save the day. These are everyday rescues, not life-or-death scenarios. This post isn't about how the iPhone saved one guy's life after the Haiti Earthquakes. Here's how iPad applications can fix your workday with simple, helpful solutions that will free you from the laptop and live "la vida tablet." We've got five real world scenarios, including the iPad apps that will be there for you.
