6 iPad Apps for Minimalists
These apps help you use your iPad more intentionally.
Oct 7, 2025, 2:17 PM
The iPad is a versatile tool for creativity and note-taking.
However, its large screen can also be distracting, as it invites entertainment and multitasking.
If you want to use your device more intentionally, these 6 apps can help.
One Sec
Beeper
UnTrap
iA Writer
Instapaper
SyncTasks
One Sec
If you plan to be productive on your iPad, One Sec is a must-have.
It serves as a roadblock when you open selected apps and websites, giving you a moment to reconsider whether you really want to proceed.
This feature makes it more difficult to slip into distractions like social media while using your iPad for work or study.
Although it requires more initial setup than other app blockers, it is worth it considering the hours it can save you from distractions.
Beeper
Beeper is an all-in-one messaging app that consolidates your chats from various platforms. It supports mainstream communication apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, as well as social media platforms such as X, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
There are two reasons why Beeper is ideal for digital minimalists.
First, you can turn off notifications for social media apps while still receiving alerts when someone messages you there via Beeper.
Second, you no longer have an excuse to log into social media to reply to a friend, which often leads to mindless scrolling.
By now, we likely understand how much engineering goes into social media apps to keep us engaged, whether through notifications or carefully curated feeds driven by algorithms.
Beeper helps us bypass these distractions, allowing us to stay connected without losing focus.
UnTrap
This next app is designed for those who spend excessive time on YouTube.
UnTrap functions as a Safari extension that allows you to customize your YouTube experience, making it less distracting.
You can redirect yourself away from the home feed when opening YouTube, hide YouTube Shorts, or turn off recommended videos when watching a video.
These are just a few of the many options available to optimize YouTube for learning or to encourage more intentional consumption of entertainment.
iA Writer
iA Writer is an app that helps you achieve deep focus and flow in writing.
It stands out as one of the cleanest and most distraction-free writing apps. Unlike most document or note-taking apps that clutter their interfaces with unnecessary buttons and AI fluff, iA Writer boasts a minimalist design.
Additionally, the app features a Focus Mode. When turned on, it centers and highlights the sentence you’re typing while dimming the rest of the text.
Instapaper
Instapaper is a read-it-later app with a simple design.
It allows you to save anything from the web that you want to revisit or read later, especially when you're focused on another task.
When you're ready to read, you can open Instapaper to view a queue of your saved items and read each one in a clean layout, free from ads and website navigation buttons.
SyncTasks
SyncTasks is a minimalist to-do app with a unique focus feature.
When you're ready to tackle a task from a long list of to-dos, you can select the tasks and enter distraction-free mode. In this mode, only your chosen tasks are displayed one at a time.
By propping up your phone, it serves as a constant reminder and motivation to complete that single task. This approach alleviates the feeling of being overwhelmed by a lengthy task list and reduces the tendency to multitask.
Notion users will also be pleased to know that you can sync tasks stored in a Notion database with SyncTasks, allowing you to manage everything in one place.
