A fun, elegant, versatile drawing app that mimics the experience of working with paper as closely as possible, without the mess. The free version doesn't have many drawing tools, but pens and brushes are available as in-app purchases.

Few calendar apps on any platform are able to balance good looks, usability, and functionality. Calvetica does as good a job at all these things -- if not better -- than anything out there we've tried. From its simple, but powerful agenda+month view, to its many gesture-based shortcuts, Calvetica is an elegant productivity app worth its quite reasonable price.

All the things that make Fantastical great on the desktop, like its lean, simple interface and natural language processing for adding appointments, make it great on your mobile device. There are a few caveats, however. Unlike our top iOS calendering app, Calvetica, Fantastical is currently iPhone only; also, its over reliance on natural language input means switching back and forth between text and numeric keyboards, which can make adding appointments a little more onerous than with a better UI. Still, Fantastical is a cut above most other calendaring apps, and a worthy competitor to Calvetica.

A great-looking calendar app that syncs with multiple Google calendars, has very usable monthly, weekly, and agenda views, and has a great agenda widget that you'll want to find room for on one of your home screens. An ad-free version is $4.99.

If you already use a Kindle — or use the Kindle app on a Mac, PC, or Android device — you'll want to add this app to your iOS device and start syncing your books. If not, this is as good a place as any to start your Kindle experience.

While you can use iBooks to read any e-book available in the Apple iBookstore, it really shines with titles designed specifically for the iPad, especially children's books, many of which include high-resolution color graphics, a read-aloud function, and other video and audio features.

If you already use a Kindle — or use the Kindle app on a Mac, PC, or Android device — you'll want to add this app to your Android device and start syncing your books. If not, this is as good a place as any to start your Kindle experience.

RunKeeper uses your iPhone's GPS to keep track of your runs, hikes, and other activities, and provides audible encouragement to help you meet your goals. Detailed, shareable charts help you track your progress, and you can sync RunKeeper's data with info from other devices, including those from Fitbit and Garmin.

Finishing that run takes on a new sense of urgency when there are zombies at your back. This totally immersive simulation is a great way to make running fun, even if you don't need the undead motivation to meet your goals.

With Strava Cycling, you'll never bike alone. Share your route, and get details about what to expect, tips from bikers who've done it, and a leaderboard to let you know how your time compares to that of others who've completed each segment.

Google Maps is back! Google's reborn iOS navigation app includes turn-by-turn navigation, transit routing, and, of course, Street View, traffic, and tons of point-of-interest data. Welcome back, old friend.

Available for both the iPad and the iPhone, HopStop provides detailed mass-transit directions for most major U.S. and Canadian cities, plus a handful of European destinations. It also includes good walking and biking directions, along with schedules and maps for major transit providers.

This free app has public transportation info for most major U.S. cities, along with parking info for those who use their own wheels. You can also report issues with transit lines, and take advantage of its Twitter integration to see what other riders are discussing -- or share your own complaints about that bus that's 20 minutes late.

With Rdio you can listen to your music everywhere — and we do mean everywhere. The service supports not just computers and iOS devices, but also Roku, Sonos, and just about every smartphone platform as part of its $10 monthly Unlimited plan.

Spotify makes finding, sharing, and listening to music dead simple, and the service's $10 Premium plan gives you unlimited music on up to 3 mobile devices. One downside: Spotify requires that you use Facebook to log in, rather than using its own accounts.

Pandora's been doing internet radio for longer than just about anyone, and it shows. Create some stations based on your favorite artists, vote on a few songs, and watch Pandora turn those stations into an amazingly accurate personalized playlist.

What good are notes on your phone if you can't access them from your desktop? With Simplenote, your notes are automatically synced and accessible just about anywhere using third-party apps for Mac, Windows, Android, and other platforms.

Miss taking notes with a pen and paper? Turn your finger into the ultimate pen, and your iPad into the ultimate, well, pad, with Penultimate. You can also use a stylus, for that full pen-on-paper experience.

Evernote provides a whole ecosystem that lets you share and sync notes, photos, PDFs, and more. Some features, including offline access, require the $4.99-per-month premium plan, but even the free version includes a great set of note-taking tools.

With Mint, you can manage all of your bank and credit card accounts right from your iPhone or iPad, without having to go to individual sites for each provider. Mint's charts make it easy to see where your money is going, and the service's tools can help you learn how to manage it more effectively.

With more and more retailers using Square to accept payments, this novel system lets you completely dispense with your wallet and pay for things entirely from your phone -- without even needing near field communications (NFC) chip like Google Wallet. It's simple, it's fun, but it's not used in most major retailers, so while you may sometimes be able to Pay with Square, you won't be leaving your wallet at home any time soon.

If you've got a small business — or friends who never seem to have any cash with them — Square is for you. It turns your iPhone into a credit-card reader, so you can instantly accept Visa, MasterCard, and other major cards. Processing fees are reasonable, and money is usually deposited in your bank account within 24 hours.

There were other photo-sharing tools before Instagram. But it's made the process so simple and fun that it's hard to imagine using anything else. Its filters are cute, but Instagram's real strength is how easy it makes it to share, like, and comment on photos.

500px is an online photography community with an iPad app that's almost as beautiful as the photos available on the site. This is everything Flickr should have become but didn't.

There were other photo-sharing tools before Instagram. But it's made the process so simple and fun that it's hard to imagine using anything else. Its filters are cute, but Instagram's real strength is how easy it makes it to share, like, and comment on photos.

Use DocuSign Ink when you have to sign a PDF, Word document, or just about any other kind of file. Documents can be imported from Safari, Dropbox, and Mail, among other sources, and are saved as email attachments that can be sent off to whoever it was that insisted that only a"real" signature would do.

AirDroid turns your computer into an extension of your phone, giving you browser-based access to text messaging, videos, music, and just about everything else on your phone. The free app works over Wi-Fi, and includes password protection and encryption to block unauthorized users from accessing your phone over public networks.

There were other photo-sharing tools before Instagram. But it's made the process so simple and fun that it's hard to imagine using anything else. Its filters are cute, but Instagram's real strength is how easy it makes it to share, like, and comment on photos.

Like other social networking apps, Path lets you share photos, videos and updates with your friends. Unlike the others, your Path network is limited to your real friends, and your info can't be shared outside of your network. Path's elegant interface and simple sharing tools also set it apart from some other services.

You're on the road, it's getting late, and you need to find a hotel, right here, right now. You could search a half-dozen travel sites, or you could let Hipmunk do it for you, and get you a list of available rooms, along with reviews and rates, immediately. Hipmunk also lets you book rooms and flights in advance, if you're the type who actually makes plans.

Whether you think putting together travel plans is fun or a chore, TripIt can make it easier by helping you keep your flights, hotel reservations, and other info in one place. It can automatically import confirmation notices from your email, help you find hotel deals, and, of course, keep track of all of your frequent flyer points.

Find out which airplane seats have more legroom, which are closest to exits, and which have problems like limited reclining space. Then book your flight straight from the app, and lock in the seat that will make that flight more bearable.

If your iPhone or iPad is lost or stolen, this free app can track it down as soon as it connects to the internet. If you can't get it back, you can lock it — or even completely erase it — to protect your precious data.

If you've never managed to get the hang of the iPhone's virtual keyboard, or if you still can't type quickly enough on the iPad's larger version, consider Dragon Dictation. If you enunciate and speak slowly, it does a surprisingly good job of accurately capturing your words.

Access all of your files from anywhere. Dropbox makes it easy to access your desktop files from your iOS device, or sync your mobile files back to your desktop. A new feature lets you automatically send all photos you take with your device's camera to your Dropbox, so they'll always be available.

Dark Sky is not your average weather app, and it looks (and works) almost nothing like the weather apps you're probably used to. But that's because it's not built to just deliver a big number in Fahrenheit or Celsius, it's built to tell you exactly when it's going to rain, how hard, and for how long. And even if you live somewhere sunny, it's still worth the asking price just to see the radar visuals of current storms. Listen, just try it, Dark Sky is a gdgt Must-have app for a reason.

Magical Weather lets you customize your display to include as much (or as little) information as you want, get detailed hourly and weekly forecasts, and simultaneously display data on multiple locations. You may find yourself keeping it open all the time.

Weather 2x makes the weather beautiful — even when it's not. The app makes use of the Retina display on the latest iPad and iPhone to offer up gorgeous graphics, which will make even that passing thunderstorm look great.