The iPad is a great device to keep in communal areas, like a living room, where people can freely use it to read books, play games, surf the Web, and use apps. Unfortunately, this makes a communal iPad less than ideal for checking private e-mail accounts, since anybody with access to the iPad will have unrestricted access to the Mail app as well. To address this, Lilliput Labs has released Mailboxes for the iPad, a multi-user Gmail client that provides an easy and secure way to access your Gmail or Google Apps email on a shared iPad.
When you want to access your Gmail account, open the app, enter your pass code and Mailboxes will load up your e-mail in the familiar Gmail Web interface. When you’re finished, or when the iPad locks, Mailboxes automatically logs you out, leaving the iPad—but not your e-mail account—open for communal use.
Mailboxes, which sells for $3, runs on any iPad running iOS 3.2 or later.