2012 is shaping up to be the biggest year for summer movie blockbusters in recent memory. Watching diverting summer movies on the new iPad is a great way to relax and keep cool. I use these 10 TV and video iPad apps to watch at least an hour of video every night. From The Daily Show and Game of Thrones to Live TV, old TV seasons and my own movie collections these iPad movie apps are among my most used.
IMPORTANT NOTE, if you already own the DVD or video files, you will find the separate guide on How to Play DVD Movies on iPad or How to Convert video for your iPad on Mac.
iPad Video App #1 ABC Player
ABC wins the award for best iPad video app among the television networks, mainly because it is the only one of the Big 4 networks that allows you to watch full episodes on your Apple tablet. I use the ABC App to watch Missing and other shows. The app is Retina Display ready, and while it could just be my brain tricking me, I think the video looks better than on Hulu Plus.
iPad Video App #2 iTunes Movie Trailers
I love movies, but I don’t get to the theater often enough to see all the trailers. The iTunes Movie Trailers is the best app to watch movie trailers on iPad which puts the newest and most exclusive movie previews in HD in your hands. You can also download movie trailers from iTunes using the iTunes URL, or website. iTunes offers thousands of movie trailers, and you can even select the resolution you want to download the trailer in.
iPad Video App #3 YouTube App
The iPad’s built-in YouTube App for iPad is largely a scaled up and bigger-screen version of the iPhone app, and it works exactly like you would expect YouTube to work. Using the HTML5 version of the YouTube iPad video player , no browser plugins (i.e., Flash) are required to watch videos on iPad. Listing it among the best free way for streaming video certainly isn’t going to surprise anyone, nor does anyone need to hunt for it on the app store.
iPad Video App #4 Air Video
Apple’s iPad features an internal wireless receiver that allows you to stream music or videos over a Wi-Fi network, but the device’s wireless streaming option is only compatible with the Apple TV. With the Apple TV connected to a wireless router, the iPad streams to the Apple TV’s “AirPlay” function, which is capable of receiving media from any Apple operating system. You can choose which audio track to use as well as select the zoom, resolution and quality right from within the app. You can also save the videos that Air Video converts and watch them on your iPad with no connection to the Air Video server.
iPad Video App #5 Boxee
Boxee for iPad is another live-converting, video streaming app (like our favorites Video Converter and Air Video) or iPad, but it also lets you collect videos from from Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and your computer all onto your iPad so you can find and watch new videos or favorites on the train, in bed, on the couch, on the john, during boring conversation, on the patio, from the roof deck, in an abandoned bunker, etc.
iPad Video App #6 Netflix
Netflix boasts the best selection besides the cost-prohibitive iTunes. It also has the highest resolution and, unlike close competitor Hulu Plus, no ads. It is my gateway to junkfood TV shows. The Netflix recommendation system is fabulous at finding old TV series I would’ve never found on my own. And because the iPad TV app supports the video out functionality of the iPad, it really comes to life if you have your iPad connected to your TV.
iPad Video App #7 Squrl
Squrl is the best way to discover and watch videos on iPad. Simply select your interests and Squrl creates personal video channels of addicting video united from the most video sources anywhere. Squrl’s interest-based channel guide now unites in one place thousands of playlists and millions of videos from quality sources from sources like Hulu, CNN, ESPN, NASA, CNBC, Devour, Reddit, TMZ, TED, Tech Crunch, Vimeo, Pitchfork, Food Network, Funny or Die, IGN and many more.
iPad Video App #8 Hulu Plus
With a Hulu Plus subscription I can watch the Daily Show and other great content on my iPad from anywhere. Compared to Netflix’s watered down interface, Hulu Plus is quite a dream to use. The iPad video app does lack some key features, such as video out support. Enjoy up to 720p HD resolution with multi-bitrate support for the optimal viewing experience for your screen resolution and network connection speed.
iPad Video App #9 Crackle
Crackle lets you watch TV shows and Movies free with advertisements. It is a relative newcomer to the field of streaming video on the iPad, but it shoots to the top of the list for one very simple reason: it’s free. Not only is it a free download, but it also doesn’t take a subscription fee to watch premier movies and television. Owned by Sony Pictures, Crackle has a lot of great content, including some great programming produced solely for Crackle.
iPad Video App #10 IMDb App
IMDb is also one of the best tv apps for ipad , it is a huge database of movies, television shows and actors, so when you’re watching a movie with Netflix and want to know more about it, you can pop over to IMDb and find all the information you could ever want to know, like Flixster. The app is fast, well laid-out, and free.
Overall, the simple fact that the iOS platform can finally stream video is a feature that many users are happy to have. Not only does the iPad applications whet the appetite for this newly acquired feature, but some 3rd-party DVD to iPad converter software and iPad video converter software format the various video to ipad-compatible. Happy watching!
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I have Netflix and use it maybe 4 times a month, but I am not a fan. Some of the apps I am not familiar with. I usually only watch youtube vids on my cel. I like you am look forward to someone’s new great software that changes the game.
This is eaxctly what I was looking for. Thanks for writing!
l like watching movies. Thanks for referring these apps. I will check them out.
All these apps kinda suck! Who wants to pay money per movie or pay a monthly fee and still get ads. I have jailbroken iPad and I found a great movie app on Cydia called bigU Movies.
Does anyone know if any of these apps work outside the U.S.? I’m going to be moving back to South Korea soon and, as I recall, I couldn’t stream Nextflix there.
I just started using the HBO app to watch Bill Maher, it works pretty well !
How do you forget to mention the HBO Go app?
I am fond of the app Crackle. free movies and television shows and every Friday they offer special movies but they are still free!!! I have watched Sanford and Son, Bewitched and even Seinfeld. it’s great and yes there are few commercials. u can share the videos too
I gave my nephew my Netflix log in to stream on his iPad until I cancel the account and saw the horrible picture quality. Is it normal for it to be that bad on an iPad?
HBOGO is great, if you’re a subscriber.
I got few iPad video apps but no closed caption!! Huh??
Great article Ayuki. Another to consider is Showyou
Crackle is the one that really disappointed from a product standpoint. Hard to find content that you can fully watch, painful content discovery experience, not a pleasure to use.
Thanks for the tip.
, i guess not, iphone can do that, other new phnoes can do that, my lap top can do that i think that device is not only for pictures, since they combined the features of the phone and the laptop. And take note, iPad is not a phone cheers
I might be mistaken, but I don’t think Netflix’s iPad app supports Airplay.
Netflix is not airplay enabled…i have a “new” iPad and atv2. I have tried mirroring and airplay to no avail
Don’t forget Plex as a (superior) alternative to Boxee! There are some good games that use AirPlay too like Real Racing 2 and Sky Gamblers Air Supremecy.
Also, if you have a Mac or PC hooked up to your TV, just install an AirPlay server (AirServer for Mac or Aerodrom on Windows) and save yourself a lot of money.
HBO Go is excellent. Surprised it’s not the list.
Get the Apple Remote app for your iPad, it will fix the lack of keyboard for text entry.
Without HBOGO this list makes no sense!
Yeah, man, super helpful. Thanks a lot.
Appreciated every bit of your post. Maintain writing.
iPad looks cool. But I already got my iPhone! I love my iPhone! Why would I trade it for an iPad? Iphone is smlelar. It fits in the palm of my hands! iPad doesn’t have a USB plug thingy where I can plug in my phone. iPad still looks cool.