RECOMMENDED APPS FOR YOUR NEW TABLET

A device is only as good as the apps that run on it

The quality of your affordable tablet experience will ultimately depend on the apps you install and run – and the good news is that, whichever tablet you pick, you’ll get a selection of superb apps right out of the box.

Streaming services are of course a must, if you can afford the subscription fees: think Netflix, Disney Plus, Prime Video, Google TV, Apple TV Plus and YouTube. On the music side, Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, Deezer and Tidal are all well worth exploring (and some give you free tiers).

Gmail, Outlook and Apple Mail can take care of your emailing needs, while Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are great (and free) options for productivity. If they don’t tempt you, Pages, Numbers and Keynote are free alternatives from Apple (though they’re only available on iPads), or you can install the mobile version of Microsoft Office – as long as you’re willing to pay the subscription fee.

If you’re wanting to get creative on your tablet, Apple’s GarageBand is an excellent bit of software, and free – though only available on iPads unfortunately (BandLab is a decent alternative for Android). On the drawing and sketching side, check out the likes of Adobe Illustrator, Autodesk SketchBook, Charcoal and Procreate.

Tablets are perfect for catching up on your reading, and getting around to all those web articles you haven’t had time to check out yet: we recommend Instapaper or Pocket for the job (and both let you easily save content from your web browser). Digital comic book fans will love ComiXology and iComics, meanwhile.

Plex is another app we’d like to recommend for your tablet. Install it on your Mac or Windows computer as well, and it can stream your movies, TV shows, music and photos to wherever your tablet happens to be – it’s like having your own private Netflix and Spotify, assuming you’ve got a media library saved on your computer in the first place.

For sitting back and reading the news, check out Google News, Apple News and Flipboard, and remember that you don’t necessarily have to settle for the web browser that comes with your tablet: the likes of Firefox and Opera are excellent alternatives. There are plenty of app categories (and games) that we don’t have time to touch on here, but that should be enough to keep you going.