The Most Popular Free iPad Apps Ever

20th-most popular app: eBay for iPad
Somewhat surprisingly, eBay (EBAY) is the only shopping app to make the top 25, perhaps suggesting that many iPad users rely more on traditional Web sites rather than apps for shopping. The real perk of the eBay iPad app is that you can quickly scan and price any items you want to sell on the site.

19th-most popular app: Flipboard
Flipboard is an absolute essential for any news junkie out there. The app transforms your news feeds from social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram into a magazine by highlighting the most shared posts and displaying pictures for each. You can also choose to follow curated news categories such as technology and travel.

18th-most popular app: MyPad -- for Facebook and Twitter
MyPad is a great way to manage your Facebook and Twitter news feeds in one place. It also includes some useful extra features such as an events calendar and music streaming.

17th-most popular app: Facebook
Facebook didn't optimize its mobile app for the iPad until late last year, but that didn't stop iPad users from downloading the application anyway. The new version of the app is particularly useful for viewing photo galleries and playing Facebook games.

16th-most popular app: USA Today for iPad
The USA Today app offers all the perks of reading the actual newspaper, from catching up on sports and weather updates to playing crossword puzzles.

15th-Most Popular: NYTimes for iPad
Steve Jobs criticized this app by The New York Times Co. at times, but apparently most iPad users want it nonetheless. The app mimics the feel and layout of the actual paper, but mixes in impressive videos and photo galleries to create a true multimedia experience.

14th-Most Popular: Calculator
Perhaps this app is proof that people do use the iPad for work after all.

13th-Most Popular: Fruit Ninja HD Lite
Full disclosure: I am a Fruit Ninja addict and I don't even understand why. All you do is swipe your finger across bananas and pears and pomegranates as they fly across the screen, and hope to god that you don't happen to hit a bomb, and suddenly you look up from the fruit frenzy and realize 16 hours of your life are gone forever and you don't even have any fruit in your refrigerator to comfort yourself.

12th-most popular app: Calculator Pro
Calculator Pro is very similar to the Calculator app mentioned earlier, except it has a little more ability for customization -- you know, for the person who really wants their virtual calculator to look snazzy.

11th-most popular app: Google Earth (GOOG)
The only word to describe the Google Earth app is jaw-dropping. The app uses satellite images to display detailed maps and high-resolution pictures of anywhere in the world. All you have to do is swipe your finger on the screen to pick your next destination.

10th-most popular app: Words With Friends HD Free
Words With Friends is the most popular game for the iPhone and one of the most popular for the iPad. For those who haven't played, it's essentially Scrabble under a different name. The only downside of the free version is that it is flooded with ads, so it might be worth springing for the $2.99 version. Think of it this way: If the game is addictive enough to get Alec Baldwin kicked off a plane, there's a good chance you'll end up playing it a lot too.

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