8 iPad Apps That Should Not Be This Good

Renz Sadiwa · 7:19 · creator-workflow app roundup · watch

The 8 apps

1. Teemo — time-block planner that stuck where every other ADHD planner failed. Day rendered as colored time blocks (not a list), gamified streaks, per-task built-in timers, voice → calendar + to-do via AI. Named Apple’s iPhone App of the Year. Free daily planning; Pro adds the AI.
2. Focus Friend — a bean knits while you work: stay off your phone during a timer and it keeps knitting; bail early and it stops, sad. Sessions earn room decorations — same gamification trick as Teemo. Completely free, no ads.
3. (sponsor segment) MOFT Dynamic Folio — ~10½ oz fold-flat iPad folio with 20+ angles; the two used most: floating creation mode (~30° for sketching/notes) and floating theater mode (~60° as a Mac second screen). Modular magnetic pencil holder doubles as ruler.
4. MD Vinyl — turns now-playing (Apple Music/Spotify) into a spinning vinyl widget on screen. Pure aesthetics, most-asked-about app. Free to try; one-time payment unlocks custom colors/full-screen turntable.
5. Canva on iPad — most people sleep on the iPad build; thumbnails/carousels/graphics made from the couch without opening the laptop. Free tier covers a whole channel’s graphics; Pro only for AI tools/premium templates.
6. Mymind — auto-organizing second brain: dump screenshots/links/notes, AI tags everything in background so anything is findable later by search. Private — no ads/feed/algorithm. Catch: subscription, ~$7/mo for students.
7. Not Boring Weather — weather with real-time 3D game graphics (rain you see/hear, thunder, haptics); drag the day as a time-lapse with Apple Pencil. Apple Design Award winner; MKBHD-hyped. Free + optional ~$2/mo extras.
8. Widgy — engine behind those glassy aesthetic home-screen widgets (clocks/weather/calendar/battery, fully custom). His exact widgets = “Glass Widgets” pack by designer Loki, made for the liquid-glass iPadOS 27 look. Widgy free + one-time slot unlock; Loki pack separate one-time buy.

Closing: desk display bonus — his iPad sits in theater mode running animated clock standby tied to his orange theme.

Note

Half sponsorship (MOFT segment is an ad, flagged above); everything else is the author’s long-term use commentary rather than specs.