USA Today updates and improves iPad app

There are plenty of news apps for the iPad, but I'm happy to see USA Today aggressively improving what was already a useful and easy to use app.

Version 2.0 is still free, and it has added more extensive tech coverage. Tech reviews feature iPad apps, and there is a video player, along with a spiffy This Week in Space section. The app has also increased travel coverage, along with a map that displays airport delays.

The app now multitasks in iOS 4.2, and the developers seem to have squashed a nasty crash on startup that many people were seeing.

With more and more news apps, like the the New York Times and the Washington Post, getting ready to slip behind a pay wall, it's nice to see USA Today maintain this app as a free service.

The app isn't perfect, and none are. Switching sections is non-intuitive. You have to tap on the blue USA Today masthead at the upper left to be able to navigate to other sections. Navigation shouldn't be an easter egg you have to hunt for, but should be a control in an obvious place. Still, I like the USA Today app. If you deleted the it because of the frequent crashing, I'd say it's time to reload it and give this worthy app a second chance. The developers note that if the app still crashes on start up, delete it and reinstall and all will be well.