It may be three years since Apple's first iPad landed, but 2012 was the year when tablet devices went mainstream.
Fresh competition in the form of Google's Nexus and Amazon's Kindle Fire, plus three new models from Apple, ensured there was a tablet at a size and price to suit everyone. High-street retailers were reporting sales averaging one per second in the run-up to Christmas, a tenfold increase on last year.
If you were one of the lucky ones to receive a tablet this Christmas, just one question remains: which apps should you get for it?
iPlayer (iPad/Android) – free
The BBC leads the way, showing how a TV-led tablet app should be done. Browse listings, watch live TV and access hundreds of hours of catch-up services. Now with the option to download programmes for offline viewing, the only disappointment with this app is that it doesn't work for non-BBC channels too.
Google Chrome (iPad/Android) – free
If you aren't already using Chrome as your desktop browser you probably should – it's much faster and more reliable than the alternatives from Microsoft and Mozilla. And if you are using Chrome on the desktop it makes sense to use it on your tablet too. Bookmarks, passwords and web history are all automatically synchronised across all your devices. It's even possible to see what tabs you currently have open on other computers.
Star Walk HD (iPad) – £1.99
With a database of more than 200,000 celestial bodies and an encyclopedic knowledge of the night sky, Star Walk HD is the best companion for any winter star-gazing sessions.
Remote (iPad) – free
The latest version of Apple's Remote app lets you access your entire iTunes music library and beam it wirelessly around the home to other computers or Apple TV units. Choose tracks, build playlists and control music volume in different rooms from the comfort of your armchair.
Flipboard (iPad/Android) – free
Flipboard brings together a personalised feed of news, sport, blogs, Facebook and Twitter into a single, magazine-like interface. Seeing Andy Murray's latest match report and Aunt Betty's holiday photos receive equal front-page billing can be disconcerting at first, but after you've used Flipboard for a couple of weeks it will be hard to go back to anything else.
Box (iPad/Android) – 5GB free
Getting documents on to a tablet can be troublesome, but keeping them organised when they get there is a real challenge. The Box app allows you to wirelessly share folders between your computers, phones and tablets.
Look for the updated HeraldScotland app later this year.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article