3. Strategies for Finding, Buying, and Using Third-Party Apps

The collection of preinstalled apps that comes with iOS 8 enables you to begin utilizing your iPhone or iPad for a wide range of popular tasks without first having to find and install additional apps. However, one of the things that has set the iPhone and iPad apart from its competition and made these devices among the most sought-after and popular throughout much of the world is the vast library of optional apps available for them.

Whereas other smartphones or tablets might offer a collection of a few hundred or even a few thousand optional apps, third-party developers have created an ever-growing collection of iPhone and iPad apps that’s now in excess of 1.3 million. An additional selection of optional apps is or will soon be available for the Apple Watch.

All the apps currently available for your iOS device can be obtained from Apple’s online-based App Store. Then, as needed, iOS 8 can automatically update your apps to ensure you’re always working with the most recently released version.

The App Store app is used exclusively for finding, purchasing (if applicable), downloading, and installing apps directly onto your device from the App Store. Other apps are used to access additional types of content. iTunes on your primary computer is used to access the App Store as well as many other types of content.

You can also shop for apps from your primary computer and transfer them to your iPhone or iPad, or sync apps between your various mobile devices using the iTunes Sync process or iCloud.

In addition to apps, you can add a wide range of content to your iPhone or iPad, such as music, movies, TV shows, podcasts, audiobooks, and eBooks. How to acquire and enjoy this content is mentioned later in this chapter.

To download an app onto your iPad that has already been purchased or downloaded onto another computer or device, tap on the Purchased icon that’s displayed at the bottom of the screen in the App Store app. On the iPhone, tap on the Updates icon, and then tap on the Purchased option that’s displayed near the top of the Updates screen. All your app purchases to date are displayed.

Instead of a Free or Price icon being associated with each app description, an iCloud icon indicates the app is available through your iCloud account. Tap on the iCloud icon to download the app (without having to pay for it again) to the iOS device you’re currently using. You can only install already purchased apps that are compatible with that iOS device. For example, you can’t install an iPad-specific app onto an iPhone or iPod touch. You can, however, install iPhone-specific or hybrid apps onto an iPad or iPad mini.

However, from your iPhone or iPad, acquiring and then enjoying different types of content is done using a handful of different apps. Table 3.1 explains which app you should use to acquire and then enjoy various types of content on your iOS device.

When you begin exploring the App Store, you’ll discover right away that there are in excess of 1.3 million apps to choose from. They are divided into different categories to help make it easier and faster to find what you’re looking for.

The App Store’s app categories include Games, Kids, Newsstand, Books, Business, Catalogs, Education, Entertainment, Finance, Food & Drink, Health & Fitness, Lifestyle, Medical, Music, Navigation, News, Photo & Video, Productivity, Reference, Social networking, Sport, Travel, Utilities, and Weather.

1. iPhone-specific—These are apps designed exclusively for the various iPhone models that might not function properly on the iPad. Most iPhone-specific apps will run on an iPad but will not take advantage of the tablet’s larger screen. Some iPhone-specific apps have been optimized to work with the larger screen of the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, and/or iPhone 6 Plus.

2. iPad-specific—These are apps designed exclusively for the iPad. They fully utilize the tablet’s larger display and do not function on the iPhone or on other iOS devices. All iPad-specific apps do, however, function flawlessly on all iPad and iPad mini models.

3. Hybrid—Although you might encounter a few exceptions, these are apps designed to work on all iOS devices, including the iPhone and iPad. These apps detect which device they’re running on and adapt.

When you’re browsing the App Store from your iPhone, by default it displays all iPhone-specific apps followed by hybrid apps, but it does not display iPad apps. When you’re browsing the App Store from your iPad, iPad-specific, hybrid, and iPhone-specific apps are all listed. Tap on the Phone or iPad tab that’s displayed near the top center of the screen when viewing many areas of the App Store.

If you’re shopping for apps using the iTunes software on your primary computer, click the iPhone or iPad tab that’s displayed near the top center of the iTunes screen (shown in Figure 3.2) to select which format apps you’re looking for.

The first time you access the App Store and attempt to make a purchase, you are prompted to enter your Apple ID account username and password or set up a new Apple ID account, which requires you to supply your name, address, email, and credit card information. For all subsequent online app purchases, you simply need to enter your Apple ID password, and the purchase is automatically billed to your credit or debit card or deducted from your iTunes Gift Card balance.

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 in the app. Paid apps were typically priced between $.99 and $9.99.

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 iPhone and iPad users different methods of paying for apps and content.

The following sections summarize the different types of apps from a pricing standpoint.

There are also free apps that serve as demo versions of paid apps. In some cases, certain 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 comprises fully functional apps that display ads as part of their content. In exchange for using the app, you must view ads. These ads typically offer the option to click on special offers from within the app or learn more about a product or service being advertised.

A fourth category of free apps serves as a shell for premium (paid) content that must be loaded into the app to make it fully functional. For example, many newspaper and magazine publishers offer free apps related to their specific publications but require users to pay for the actual content of the newspaper or magazine, which later gets downloaded into the app.

The final type of free app enables the user to make in-app purchases to add features or functionality to the app or unlock premium content. The core app, without the extra content, is free, however.

When you’re looking at an app listing or description in the App Store, if the app is free, it has a Free icon instead of a Price icon, associated with it (as shown in Figure 3.3). Read a free app’s description carefully. Look for the heading In-App Purchases. This indicates that optional in-app purchases are available, and in some cases, these purchases are required to fully use the app.

These apps are typically free, and then you pay a recurring subscription fee for content, which automatically gets 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.

Typically, the main content of the digital and printed version of a publication are identical. However, you can view the digital edition on your iPhone or iPad and take advantage of added interactive elements built in to the app. If you’re already a subscriber to the print version of a newspaper or magazine, some publishers offer the digital edition free, while others charge an extra fee to subscribe to the digital edition as well. Or you can subscribe to just the digital edition of a publication.

With some magazines, you can download the free app for a specific publication and then, in the app, purchase one issue at a time, including past issues. There is no long-term subscription commitment, but individual issues of the publication still must be purchased and downloaded. Or you can purchase an ongoing (recurring) subscription and new issues of that publication will automatically be downloaded to your iPhone or iPad as they become available.

As you read an app’s description in the App Store, if an app requires in-app purchases, it is revealed in the text included in the app description screen. Look for the heading within an app’s description that says In-App Purchases and tap on it.

When you access the App Store app (shown in Figure 3.4 on the iPad), a handful of command icons at the top and bottom of the screen are used to navigate your way around the online-based store.

If you already know the name of the app you want to find, purchase, download, and install, tap on the Search field, which is located near the upper-right corner of the screen in the iPad version. On the iPhone, tap on the Search option displayed at the bottom of the App Store app’s screen (as shown in Figure 3.5).

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.”

In a few seconds, matching results are displayed on the App Store screen in the form of app previews.

If you’re shopping for apps from your iPad, as you browse the App Store, iPad-specific apps are displayed if you tap on the iPad tab near the top center of most areas in the App Store.

Near the top of the screen are large graphic banners that constantly change. When you refer to Figure 3.4, for example, one of the banners says “Best of August”; however, it constantly scrolls and often showcases specific apps. These banner graphics sometimes promote what Apple considers the “App of the Week,” as well as other noteworthy apps the company wants to promote.

Tap on the Redeem button to redeem a prepaid iTunes Gift Card. Tap on the Apple ID [Your Apple ID Username] button to manage your Apple ID account and update your credit card information, for example. When the Apple ID window appears, tap on the View Apple ID option. When prompted, enter your password.

Tap on the Apple ID account button to manage your recurring paid subscriptions, as well. When the Account Settings screen is displayed (shown in Figure 3.7), scroll down to the Subscriptions heading and tap on the Manage button. You can then modify or cancel your paid recurring subscriptions to digital newspapers or magazines, for example. If you don’t yet have any active subscriptions, this option does not appear.

Tap on the Send Gift option to send an iTunes Gift Card to someone else. Their gift will arrive via email and they can redeem it almost instantly from the App Store, iTunes Store, iBookstore, or Newsstand.

Within an app preview (shown in Figure 3.8), the app’s title, its logo/graphic, the app’s developer, its average star-based rating, how many ratings the app has received (the number in parentheses), the price icon, and a sample screen shot from the app itself are displayed.

An app description screen (shown in Figure 3.9) displays the app’s title and logo near the top of the screen, along with its price icon, average star-based rating, and the number of ratings it has received.

You then see three command tabs, labeled Details, Reviews, and Related. Tap on the Details tab to view a detailed description of the app. Tap on the Reviews tab to view a star-based ratings chart for that app, as well as detailed text-based reviews written by your fellow iPhone and iPad users. Tap on the Related tab to view similar apps that are available from the App Store.

Displayed immediately below the Details, Reviews, and Related tab are sample screen shots from the app itself. Swipe your finger horizontally to scroll through the sample screen shots, or scroll down to view the Details, Reviews, or Related information, based on which command tab you’ve tapped.

Below the description is information about what new features have been added to the app in the most recent version. Look for the What’s New heading.

Displayed beneath the What’s New heading, if applicable, is the Supports heading. Here, you can quickly determine whether the app is compatible with Apple’s Game Center online service. As you scroll down on this screen, the Information section offers more useful facts about the app.

Below the Information section, tap on the In-App Purchases option, if this option is available, to discover what in-app purchases are available and their cost.

Tap on the Version History option to see information about all revisions to the app that have been released since it was first introduced.

Tap on the Developer Info link to discover other apps available from the same developer or publisher. Tap on the Developer Website option to access the website operated by the app developer or the app-specific website. When you do this, Safari automatically launches and then loads the applicable website.

Below the App Store Ratings chart are text-based reviews that have been written by other App Store customers.

On the iPhone, to exit an app’s description page and continue browsing the App Store, tap on the left-pointing arrow icon that’s displayed near the top-left corner of the screen. On the iPad, tap anywhere outside the app’s description window.

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 in the App Store’s Search field to see a list of relevant matches. If you’re looking for a word-processing app, you can either enter the search phrase “Pages” into the App Store’s Search field, or enter the search phrase “word processor” to see a selection of word-processing apps.

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) in the Search field. For example, enter keywords like “medical imaging,” “radiology,” “plumbing,” “telemarketing,” or “sales.”

As you’re evaluating an app before downloading it, use these tips to help you determine whether it’s worth installing on your phone or tablet:

Figure out what type of features or functionality you want to add to your iPhone or iPad.

Using the Search field, find apps designed to handle the tasks you have in mind. Chances are, 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, screenshots, and list of features each app offers.

Check the customer reviews and ratings for the app. This useful tool quickly determines whether the app actually works as described in its description. Keep in mind that an app’s description in 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 iPhone or 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 whether it will be useful to you.

If an app offers a free version, download and test that first before purchasing the premium version. You can always delete any app that you try out but don’t wind up liking or needing.

To customize this auto-update option, launch Settings and then tap on the iTunes & App Store option. From the iTunes & App Store menu, you can set up automatic downloads for Music, Apps, Books, and Updates. Make sure the virtual switch associated with the Updates option is turned on.

Next, scroll down to the Use Cellular Data option. Choose whether you want apps to update using a cellular data connection to the Internet. Keep in mind that some apps which have a large file size associated with them will require a Wi-Fi Internet connection to update.

At any time, you can see which apps have been updated and read a summary of what functionality or features have been added to the app update (as well as which bugs have been fixed) by launching the App Store app and tapping on the Updates option.

If an app listed on the Updates screen has an Open button associated with it, the app has been recently updated. The date of the update is listed. Tap on the app icon or its title to read about the update. Tap on the Open button to launch the app and use it on your iPhone or iPad.

From the Updates screen, if an Open button is not displayed, you might see a progress meter indicating the app is currently being updated and downloaded to your device. If an update is available but has not yet been downloaded and installed, an Update button, instead of an Open button, is displayed with that app.

As you’re viewing the Updates screen, apps are listed in chronological order, based on when they were updated. Pending updates are displayed near the top of the screen (shown in Figure 3.11).

To determine which apps and content your child is allowed to use on an iOS mobile device, activate the parental control options. To do this, launch Settings on the device, tap on the General option, and then tap on the Restrictions option.

From the Restrictions submenu, tap on Enable Restrictions, and then turn on the virtual switches associated with iTunes Store, iBooks Store, Installing Apps, Deleting Apps, and In-App Purchases to limit what your child can do.

Under the Allowed Content heading, tap on the Apps option and determine what apps your child will be able to access, based on the App Ratings.

When you set up iCloud’s Family Sharing, it’s possible to set up your child’s iOS mobile device so he or she needs to ask you for permission (via a text message to your iPhone or iPad) before acquiring any new apps or content. This feature also gives parents greater control over apps installed on a child’s device.

It’s also possible to set up an iTunes Allowance for your child and give them a predetermined amount of money to spend in the App Store, iTunes Store, and iBookstore each month. To learn more about this option, visit www.apple.com/itunes/gifts.