6. Finding and Installing Apps from the App Store
In This Chapter
• Access the App Store from your iPad
• Discover why some apps are free and some are not
• Find and download the best apps for you
• Keep your apps up-to-date with the latest versions
Yes, the iPad is a sleek piece of hardware with lots of capabilities, but it’s ultimately the iOS 5.1 (or later) operating system and the collection of apps on your tablet that make it capable of doing so much. From the App Store, you can find, download, and install optional apps for your iPad that greatly expand its capabilities.
However, with more than 200,000 iPad-specific apps currently available, plus more than 500,000 iPhone apps that work on the iPad, the task of finding the right app(s) to meet your personal needs can be daunting.
For every task the iPad can perform using an app, there are most likely a handful of app choices, from different developers, that offer very similar functionality.
When you start browsing through the apps offered, you’ll discover the pricing for them varies greatly. Plus, a growing number of apps allow for or require in-app purchases or a paid subscription to fully utilize them.
After you purchase an app from the App Store, all future updates to that app are free. You simply need to download and install the updates as they become available.
Apple’s App Store: One-Stop Shopping for iPad Apps
If you want to add apps to your iPad, the only way to do this is to acquire them from Apple’s App Store. There are two ways to access the App Store to find, purchase, download, and install apps onto your tablet.
First, you can use the App Store app, which comes preinstalled on your iPad. To use it, your tablet must have access to the Internet.
Some apps that have a large file associated with them cannot be downloaded and installed using the App Store app if you’re connected to the Internet via a 3G or 4G connection. Either a Wi-Fi connection is necessary, or you’ll need to download certain apps using iTunes on your primary computer, and then transfer those apps to your tablet using the iTunes sync process. The majority of apps, however, which are less than 50MB in size, can be downloaded and installed directly onto your iPad using a 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi connection via the App Store app.
The second option for finding, purchasing, downloading, and installing apps is to access the App Store through the iTunes software on your primary computer, and then transfer the acquired apps to your tablet using the iTunes sync process or iCloud.
Regardless of how you visit the App Store, you need to set up an Apple ID account and have a major credit card or debit card linked to the account to make purchases.
If you don’t have a major credit card or debit card that you want to link with your Apple ID account so you can purchase apps from the App Store, you can purchase prepaid iTunes gift cards from Apple or most places that sell prepaid gift cards, such as convenience stores, supermarkets, and pharmacies.
iTunes gift cards can be used to make app purchases. iTunes gift cards (which are different from Apple gift cards, which are redeemable at Apple Stores or Apple.com) are available in $15.00, $25.00, and $50.00 denominations.
Understanding the App Store
From your iPad’s Home screen, tap the blue-and-white App Store icon. Your tablet must have access to the Internet via a 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi connection.
When you access the App Store via the App Store app (shown in Figure 6.1), you’ll discover a handful of command icons and tabs displayed at the top and bottom of the screen that are used to navigate your way around the online-based store.
Figure 6.1. The main App Store screen.
If you already know the name of the app you want to find, tap the Search field, which is located in the upper-right corner of the App Store app’s screen. Using the virtual keyboard, enter the name of the app. Tap the Search key on the virtual keyboard to begin the search. You can also perform a search based on a keyword or phrase, such as word processing, to-do lists, time management, or photo editing. The search results can then be filtered even more by category, customer rating, or release date, for example.
Within a few seconds, matching results are displayed on the App Store screen. When you access the App Store from your iPad (using the App Store app), iPad-specific and hybrid apps are always listed first. Scroll down on the search results screen to also see iPhone apps, which also work on your iPad.
Within each App listing is a price icon. If you notice a plus-sign icon displayed in the upper-left corner of the price icon, this indicates that the app you’re looking at is designed for both the iPad and iPhone, and adapts accordingly, based on the device it’s being used on.
In general, when choosing apps for your iPad, look for iPad-specific apps first, and then look for hybrid apps that are designed for both iPad and iPhone. Apps that are iPhone-specific also run fine on an iPad, but the app’s graphics and user interface are formatted for the iPhone’s smaller screen.
At the bottom of the main App Store screen are six command icons: Featured, Genius, Top Charts, Categories, Purchased, and Updates. If you don’t know the exact name of an app you’re looking for, these icons help you browse the App Store and discover iPad apps that might be of interest to you.
Discovered Featured Apps
Tap the Featured icon to see a listing of what Apple considers to be new or noteworthy apps. These are divided into two categories: New and Noteworthy and Staff Favorites.
Under the New and Noteworthy heading of the Featured screen, you see six app listings. Use a horizontal swipe motion with your finger to scroll between the four New and Noteworthy sections. You can also tap the See All command that’s displayed next to the New and Noteworthy heading to see all of the relevant listings presented on one screen.
Sort App Listings by Release Date or Popularity
As you’re looking at the Featured page of the App Store, you see three tabs displayed at the top center of the screen: New, What’s Hot, and Release Date. Each of these tabs reveals a different collection of Apple-recommended apps.
If you scroll down to the bottom of the Featured screen (with the New or What’s Hot tab selected), you see a subsection labeled Quick Links. It offers six options for finding apps related to a particular area of interest.
The Quick Link options change periodically, but might include Apple Apps, App Starter Kit, Games Starter Kit, Essentials, Previous Apps of the Week, and Previous Games of the Week. Tap any of these options to see a collection of apps you might be interested in.
From the Featured screen, tap the Release Date tab at the top of the screen to see the most recently released apps available from the App Store, starting with the newest and working backward by date.
Genius: Analysis and Suggestions
The App Store keeps track of all apps you purchase. When you tap the Genius icon at the bottom of the App Store screen, the App Store analyzes your past app purchases and offers suggestions for other apps you might be interested in.
Top Charts: See What Other iPad Users Are Buying
Tap the Top Charts icon at the bottom of the App Store app’s screen to access listings of the most popular free and paid iPad apps. This is a general listing of all currently popular apps, so it constantly changes.
If you’re primarily interested in apps that fall into a specific category, such as Business, Productivity or Travel, tap the Categories icon that’s displayed in the upper-left corner of this screen (shown in Figure 6.2). A listing of 22 different app categories are displayed. Choose a category by tapping it.
Figure 6.2. Choose the category you’re most interested in seeing the bestselling apps from.
When you tap a specific category, such as Business, the Top Chart listings displayed on the left side of the screen features the Top Paid iPad Business Apps, and the chart displayed on the right side of the screen features the Top Free iPad Business apps. At the bottom of the screen is a listing of Top Grossing iPad apps in that category.
Categories: Find Apps by Topic or Genre
Although tapping the Top Charts icon reveals a listing of the top-selling apps within a specific category, you can tap the Categories icon at the bottom of the App Store app’s screen to access all of the apps that fall into any one of the App Store’s 22 main categories.
Upon tapping the Categories icon, a listing of all app categories displays (shown in Figure 6.3). The app icon shown for each category is the current number-one most popular paid app within that category. Tap the category that most interests you in order to browse through listings of all apps within that category.
Figure 6.3. Browse all apps within that App Store that fit into a specific category by first selecting a category that’s of interest.
By default, the apps are displayed in order based on release date (with the most recently released apps displayed first). However, you can change the sort order by tapping the Sort By icon that’s displayed near the upper-right corner of the screen. Your options include Name (for an alphabetical listing), Most Popular (starting with the best-selling apps), or Release Date.
As you’re looking at the app listings, you can learn more about a particular app by tapping on its graphic icon or title. Or, you can purchase, download and install the app by tapping its price icon. (For free apps, when you tap the Free icon, the app automatically downloads and installs after you enter your Apple ID password).
Managing Your App Store Account or iTunes Gift Cards
When you scroll to the very bottom of the main Featured, Genius, or Top Charts sections of the App Store (as well as several other subsection pages within the App Store), you see three icons: Account [Your Apple ID Username], Redeem, and Support.
Tap the Account icon to manage your Apple ID account and update your credit card information, if necessary. Tap the Redeem icon to redeem a prepaid iTunes Gift Card. If you experience problems using the App Store, or have questions, tap the Support icon.
Accessing Your Purchased Apps
When you tap the Purchased command icon that’s displayed at the bottom of the App Store screen, a complete listing of all apps you’ve purchased to date using your Apple ID is displayed. This listing includes apps not currently stored on your iPad. Any of the listed apps, which are now stored online within your iCloud account, can be downloaded and installed onto your tablet, including your previous iPhone or iPod touch app purchases. To do this, simply tap the iCloud icon displayed in conjunction with an app’s listing.
If you also own and use an iPhone or iPod touch that’s linked to the same iCloud account, anytime you purchase an iPad/iPhone hybrid app, you can install it on any or all of your iOS devices without having to purchase the same app multiple times.
Understanding the App Listings
Each app listing contains the app’s name, what category the app falls into (such as Business, Reference, News, Lifestyle, or Games), the app’s original release date, the average star rating the app has received from your fellow iPad users, the total number of ratings the app has received, and a graphic icon that features the app’s logo.
Figure 6.4 shows a sample app listing. Also displayed within each app listing is the app’s price icon. If the app is free, the word FREE is displayed. If the app listing is for a paid app, the price of the app is displayed.
Figure 6.4. A sample app listing contains important information about the app, including its price.
Some free apps are, in fact, free. However, they might ultimately require you to pay for a content subscription or make in-app purchases to fully utilize the app. How app pricing works is explained later in this chapter. When looking at an app’s Description screen, if in-app purchases are possible (or required), this will be mentioned on the left side of the screen under the heading Top In-App Purchases.
To purchase an app (or download and install a free app), tap its price icon. The price icon changes from gray-and-white to green-and-white. If it’s a free app, this new icon is labeled Install App. If it’s a paid app, the green-and-white icon says Buy App. Tap the icon to confirm your purchase decision.
An Apple ID Password window displays on the screen. Your Apple ID username is already displayed, but you need to manually enter your Apple ID password. Type your Apple ID password and then tap the OK icon. The app automatically downloads and installs itself on your iPad. This process can take between 15 seconds and several minutes. When the app is installed, the app icon for the new app appears on your tablet’s Home screen.
It is necessary to enter your Apple ID Password whenever you attempt to download and install any app, even if it’s a free app.
Learning About an App Before Making a Purchase
Before committing to a purchase, as you’re looking at an app’s listing from within the App Store, you can tap its title or graphic icon to reveal a detailed Description page for the app.
An app’s Description page (like the one shown in Figure 6.5) displays the app’s title and logo near the top of the screen, along with a detailed description of the app under the Description heading.
Figure 6.5. From an app’s Description screen, you can learn all about a specific app. This information can help you decide whether it’s of interest to you or relevant to your needs.
Below the Description is information about what new features have been added to the app in the most recent version. As you scroll down this screen, you see one or more actual screen shots from the app.
Displayed under the app’s screen shots are the Customer Ratings for that app. You can sort these ratings by tapping the Current Version or All Versions tabs displayed on the right side of the screen.
The Customer Ratings are based on a five-star system. Anyone who purchases or downloads an app has the option to rate it. A top-rating is five stars. From the Ratings Summary chart (shown in Figure 6.6), you can see how many people have rated an app, discover the app’s average rating, and then see a breakdown of how many one-star, two-star, three-star, four-star, and five-star ratings the app has received.
Figure 6.6. Every app description contains an average rating and a rating summary chart. Use it to quickly see what other iPad users think about the app you’re currently looking at.
Obviously, an app with a large number of five-star ratings is probably excellent, and an app that consistently earns three-stars or less is probably not so great or is loaded with bugs.
Keep scrolling down to read full reviews that your fellow iPad users have written about that app. These reviews often describe the best features of the app and/or its worst problems.
At the bottom of the app’s Description page is a section labeled Customers Also Bought. These are listings for other apps, usually similar in functionality to the app you’re looking at, which other customers have also purchased and downloaded.
Back near the top of an app’s Description page is the app’s price icon. You’ll find it just below the app’s logo, on the left side of the screen. Specific information pertaining to that app, including its category, the date it was last updated, the current version of the app, the file size of the app, what language the app is in, and the seller or publisher of the app is also displayed in this area.
Scroll back down to see additional notes related to the app’s content (also on the left side of the screen), including whether the app requires in-app purchases or a paid subscription to fully utilize it.
The system requirements for the app are also displayed along the left margin of every app’s Description page (when you’re using the App Store app). This helps you identify if it’s an iPad-specific app, for example, and what iOS operating system version it works with.
After reviewing an app’s Description page, if you want to be reminded of the app’s existence (without downloading it), or you want to tell a friend about the app, tap the Tell a Friend icon that’s displayed in the upper-right corner of the Description page, and then complete the email form that appears.
Using the Gift This App option in the upper-right corner of an app’s description page, you can purchase an app and send it to another iPad or iPhone user electronically.
To exit an app’s Description page and continue browsing the App Store, tap the left-pointing arrow that’s labeled App Store. It’s displayed in the upper-left corner of the screen.
Visiting the App Store from iTunes on Your Computer
The second method of finding, purchasing, downloading, installing, and updating apps is to use the latest version of the iTunes software running on your primary computer in order to access the iTunes Store.
Click the iTunes Store option displayed on the left side of the screen, under the Store heading. Your computer must be connected to the Internet to access the iTunes Store.
When the main iTunes Store launches within iTunes, click the App Store tab at the top of the screen. You see a screen that’s similar to the Featured page of the App Store when you access it from your iPad using the App Store app.
How App Pricing Works
Originally, when the App Store opened, there were two types of apps: free apps and paid apps. The free apps were often demo versions of paid apps (with limited functionality), or fully functional apps that displayed ads within the app. Most paid apps were—and continue to be—priced between $.99 and $9.99 (although some are priced higher).
As the App Store has evolved, additional payment options and fee structures for apps have been introduced, giving app developers new ways to generate revenue, and giving iPad users different methods of paying for apps and content.
Here’s a summary of the different types of apps from a pricing standpoint:
Free Apps
Free apps cost nothing to download and install on your tablet. Some programmers and developers release free apps out of pure kindness and to share their creations with the iPad-using public. These are fully functional apps.
There are also free apps that serve as demo versions of paid apps. These are scaled down versions of apps, or they have some type of limitation in terms of how long they can be used for (usually 30 days). In some cases, basic features or functions of the app are locked in the free version, but are later made available if you upgrade to the paid or premium version of the app.
A third category of free apps are fully functional apps that display ads as part of their content. In exchange for using the app, you have to view ads, which offer the option to click on offers from within the app to learn more about the product or service being advertised.
A fourth category of free apps serve as a shell for premium (paid) content that must be loaded into the app to make it fully functional.
The final type of free app is fully functional, but it enables the user to make in-app purchases to add features or functionality to the app or to unlock premium content. The core app, without the extra content, is free.
Paid Apps
After you purchase an app, you own it and can use it as often as you like without incurring additional fees. You simply pay a fee for the app upfront, which is typically between $.99 and $9.99. All future upgrades of the app are free of charge. In some cases, paid apps also offer in-app purchase options to access premium content.
Subscription-Based Apps
Apps based on subscriptions, such as monthly magazines, are typically free, but you pay a recurring subscription fee for content, which is automatically downloaded into the app. Many digital editions of newspapers, such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, utilize a subscription app model, as do hundreds of different magazines.
In-App Purchases
The ability to make in-app purchases is a special function within some free and paid apps. The important thing to note is that, as you’re actually using the app, you can purchase additional content or add new features and functionality to the app by making in-app purchases. The ability to make in-app purchases has become very popular, and is being used by app developers in a variety of different ways.
As you view an app’s description within the App Store, carefully read the text included within the left margin of the app Description screen to see if in-app purchases are required.
The price you pay for an app does not translate directly to the quality or usefulness of that app. There are some free or very inexpensive apps that are extremely useful and packed with features and that can really enhance your iPad experience. However, there are costly apps that are poorly designed, filled with bugs, don’t live up to expectations, or don’t offer the functionality promised within the app’s Description page (which is content provided by the app’s developer, not Apple).
The price of each app is set by the developer or programmer that created or is selling the app. Instead of using the price as a determining factor if you’re evaluating several apps that appear to offer similar functionality, be sure to read the app’s customer reviews carefully and pay attention to the star-based rating the app has received. The user reviews and ratings are a much better indicator of the app’s quality and usefulness than the price of the app.
Quick Tips for Finding Apps
As you explore the App Store, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer number of apps that are available for your iPad. If you’re a new iPad user, spending time browsing the App Store introduces you to the many different types of apps that are available and provides you with insight about how you can utilize your tablet in your personal or professional life.
However, you can save a lot of time searching for apps if you already know the app’s exact title, or if you know what type of app you’re looking for. In this case, you can enter either the app’s exact title or a keyword description of the app within the App Store’s Search field to see a list of relevant matches.
If you’re looking for vertical market apps with specialized functionality that caters to your industry or profession, enter that industry or profession (or keywords associated with it) within the Search field. For example, enter keywords such as medical imaging, radiology, plumbing, telemarketing, or sales.
As you’re evaluating an app before downloading it, use these tips to help you determine if it’s worth installing onto your tablet:
• Figure out what type of features or functionality you want to add to your iPad.
• Using the Search field, find apps designed to handle the tasks you have in mind. Chances are that you can easily find a handful of apps created by different developers that are designed to perform the same basic functionality. You can then pick which is the best based on the description, screen shots, and list of features each app offers.
Compare the various apps by reading their descriptions and viewing the screen shots. Figure out which app will work best for you based on your unique needs.
• Check the customer reviews and ratings for the app. This is a useful tool to quickly determine if the app actually works as described. Keep in mind that an app’s description within the App Store is written by the app’s developer, and is designed to sell apps. The customer reviews and star-based ratings are created by fellow iPad users who have tried out the app firsthand.
• If an app has only a few ratings or reviews, and they’re mixed, you might need to try out the app for yourself to determine if it will be useful to you. However, if an app has many reviews that are overwhelmingly negative (three stars or less), that’s a strong indication that app does not perform as described or that it’s loaded with bugs.
• If an app offers a free (trial) version, download and test out that version of the app before you purchase the premium version. You can always delete any app that you try out but don’t wind up liking or needing.
• Ideally, you want to install apps on your iPad that were designed specifically for the iPad, so if you have a choice, opt for the iPad-specific edition of an app first.
Keeping Your Apps Up to Date
Periodically app developers release new versions of their apps. To make sure you have the most current version of all apps installed on your iPad, visit the App Store using the App Store app on your tablet and tap the Updates icon displayed at the bottom of the screen.
A red-and-white circle in the upper-right corner of the Updates icon (as shown within Figure 6.7) indicates that one or more of your apps has an update available. The number in the red circle tells you how many app updates are available. You can download updates directly from your iPad if it’s connected to the Internet.
Figure 6.7. Keep your apps up to date with the latest versions.
After launching the App Store app, tap the Updates command icon to display a list of apps with updates available and then tap the Update All icon or an individual app icon that’s displayed on the Updates screen to automatically download the new version of the app and install it. Doing this replaces the older version of the app.
To check for app updates using the iTunes software on your primary computer, click the Apps option displayed under the Library heading on the left side of the iTunes screen. The app listings for every app you’ve downloaded for your iPad (and iPhone, if applicable) display, even apps not currently installed on your tablet are included.
When you have the Apps option selected in iTunes on your Mac or PC, in the lower-right corner is an option that says how many app updates are currently available. Click this option. You can then click individual apps you want to update or click the Download All Free Updates option that’s displayed in the upper-right corner of the My App Updates screen.
After the app updates have been downloaded to your primary computer, perform an iTunes sync with your iPad to transfer the updated versions of the apps currently installed on your tablet.
To ensure you have the latest versions of your most commonly used apps installed on your iPad, check for app updates once every week or two. Each time Apple releases an update to the iOS operating system, it’s common for app developers to also release an updated version of their apps.