5 Best Free Versions of Paid iPad Apps

If you’ve ever visited the App Store for the iPad, you know you can end up spending a lot of money on apps you didn’t even know you wanted. As more developers are entering the market and outlets are lowering the barrier to entry for consumers by offering iPad deals, the app store is only becoming more crowded with options. It can be hard to know which iPad apps are the rights ones when you have so many to choose from.

Luckily, most paid apps have limited versions that are free. They are typically called “lite” or “express”, and they have fewer features so you can preview the basic function and design of the app and decide if it’s right for you before buying the full version. For some users, however, lite or express apps are often better, or just as good, as the more complicated, paid versions. In this article, we will present examples of some of the iPad’s best lite versions of their paid counterparts.

Glass Tower 2 HDR

This is actually the previous version that now acts as a lite version of the now updated, paid app, Glass Tower 3. Since it wasn’t originally developed to be a lite or express app, it offers almost everything the full and complete iteration of the game does, as far as gameplay is concerned. It allows for multiple saved games and includes a full level editor, just like the paid version. While the graphics are not nearly as advanced as the paid app, they are still impressive. Not surprisingly, this free app does have an ad at the top of the screen during gameplay, which is not there in the paid app.

PCalc Lite for iPad

This is one of the best free apps because the paid version’s extra features are rarely, if ever, needed by most users. The full version of the application is so extensively feature rich that the lite version makes most paid calculator apps look inferior.

Drop7 Free

This is an arcade-like puzzle, which truly tests your mental agility and speed. The player will barely notice the minor ads throughout the app that, along with the absence of online gameplay/leaderboards, make the main difference between the free and paid versions.

Sketchbook Express for iPad

This is the free version of Sketchbook Pro for iPad, currently requiring iOS 5 at least. This app is probably the most different from its paid counterpart. The full version has considerably more features and abilities. It is also considerably more costly, so this is a great way to experience the basic capabilities of the app before committing to its paid version.

Animation Desk for iPad – Lite

Another example of an express version that offers more than most free apps in its category due to the full version being so extensive. This app can serve as the best introduction to its category for beginners, as well as a preview of the more complex professional paid apps for experienced animators.

Apart from above iPad Apps, if you find any app which you think its worth of every penny you pay then do share with us.