Have an iPad and curious which are the best, most must-have reading apps you need to check out? Want to really get the most out of that big 9.7-inch screen? Well read on for TiPb’s top 5 most recommended readings apps for your iPad.

Note: Many of the reader apps are free but individual books, issues, etc. are available via in-app purchase. Those prices vary.

eBook readers: Kindle for iPad

Amazon’s Kindle eBook reader for iPad isn’t as good looking as Apple’s iBooks but simply has the largest library of titles and the most cross-platform support on the market. If you’re looking for a book chances are you’ll find it for the Kindle app, and if you buy it you’ll be able to read it on iPhone, iPad, Kindle devices, and other smartphones. Better still, if you stop reading it on one device, thanks to WhisperSync you can pick up right where you left off on another device. Universal app – download once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• iBooks from Apple which supports PDF, bookmarking, highlighting, and picture books. [Free - iTunes link]
• Stanza, purchased by Amazon is a favorite of those who like open, free eBooks and like to roll their own as well [Free - iTunes link]

Magazine readers: Zinio

Since neither Apple nor anyone else has been able to provide a real, multi-publisher iTunes-like experience for magazines, it’s hard to pick one app as the best. Zinio at least comes close, with support for a wide variety of magazines across a wide array of devices. We’re still waiting for our next-generation iMags but this will hold traditionalists over until we get there. Universal app – download once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Unfortunately, as mentioned, the iPad magazine market is a mess, with tons of apps from tons of publishers, mostly just selling repackaged InDesign exports. If there’s a magazine you love, search the App Store for it and there’s a good chance you’ll find an app for it, including everything from New Yorker to Popular Science to People.

Newspaper readers: Press Reader

Press Reader is much like Zinio, an attempt to provide a one-stop shop, in this case for newspapers. It boasts 1700 international papers in its library. Again, we’re still waiting for Apple to pick up the subscription ball with an iNews-type solution, but in the meantime Press Reader gets the job done. Universal app – download once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• The good news is, there are a lot of individual iPad newspaper apps. The bad news is there’s a lot of individual iPad newspaper apps. Inarguably most of the big names are there — Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today — but just not in any organized manner. So, once again, you’re left to search the App Store for your favorites.

Comic book readers: Comics

Comics by comixology is the closest thing to a unified comic books store on iOS. It helps that they also make the Marvel, DC, and Image apps using the same engine, but their own Comics apps is the only place to get stuff from all those publishers all in one place. The experience is the same across comics, Marvel, DC, and Image — browse or search for books, download free samples, buy issues. You create an account, so you can access your library from other devices, like iPhone as well. Unfortunately some storylines don’t have all issues available, and there are no bundled “trade paperback” style purchases… yet. Universal app – download once, use on iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. [Free - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• Comic Viewer is for those who prefer to move their own CBZ and CBR files over to iPad. [$4.99 - iTunes link]
• Stanza for iPad also works with comic book files-ish. The dedicated readers are better but if you’re into multitaskers and are already using Stanza for eBooks, no you’re good to go [Free - iTunes link]

Web readers: Flipboard

Flipboard takes all the stuff you care about — articles and pictures shared by your Facebook and Twitter friends along with the latest relevant headlines and presents them, with content and social comments, in a gorgeous, tactile iPad interface. A recent update has even added Google Reader support for RSS. You can customize it to your hearts content and share your own comments back. It’s the closest we’ve come yet to a communal magazine. [Free - iTunes link]

• Reeder for iPad is a great way to keep up with your RSS news feeds. [$4.99 - iTunes link]
• Instapaper lets you save web articles to read later in a cleaner format. [$4.99 - iTunes link]

Your top apps?

So there you have them, our top 5 best iPad reader apps to get you going. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPad App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Are you an avid magazine reader? Do you look at your iPhone and think that it’d be the perfect device to read digital magazines? Well, Zinio Mobile Newsstand for the iPhone offers such digital magazines in high-resolution glory. With loads of popular magazines in tow, Zinio Mobile Newstand gives iPhone users a free look at issues that typically cost anywhere from $5 to $10.

How does it perform? Can you actually read anything?

Read on for the rest of the review!

Design/Interface

Overall the design and interface is simple and clear. Touch the magazine you’re interested in reading and you’ll be able to read it in its entirety. There are two different ways to read the magazines and it is similar to its real-life counterpart. You can choose to flip through it page-by-page to see if anything catches your eye in a less-slick form of CoverFlow, or you can click the contents button and select an article that you may have interest in through the magazine’s digital table of contents. Either way works perfectly fine.

Usability

Criticism

Zinio would also be better served if they could create an actual application for 2.0. I found myself trying to flick the screen to move on to the next screen but remembered I was trapped in Safari and had to use the available ‘buttons’. Hopefully, Zinio can add these features and maintain the current cost of the web app, which is, FREE.

Final Thoughts

The high resolution shots take a while to load, to be sure, but the quality of the pages are worthwhile. Every picture is crip and the text is readable. Using both landscape and portrait mode also adds to the versatility of this web app. I would suggest everyone to point their browsers to www.zinio.com/iphone to take a look at this great web app.

PROS:

• Magazines in its entirety
• High Resolution Pages
• Simple, Intuitive Interface
• Variety of Selections

CONS:

• Text isn’t readable in ‘CoverFlow’ mode
• Even Wi-Fi is a little slow
• No notification of ‘What’s New’ or which edition it is
• Trapped by Safari

FINAL RATING: 4.8/5