How To: Use The iPhone App Store
Civilizations rose and fell. Rivers carved canyons. Stars twinkled into existence, then died. All this while we waited for iPhone 2.0 and the App Store. If you were lucky enough to upgrade your iPhone 2G to 2.0 or have a newly-acquired iPhone 3G, and you have upgraded to iTunes 7, you now have access to the App Store on either iTunes or your iPhone and the 3rd party native apps downloading extravaganza can commence! If you are new to 3rd party apps, new to iPhone and/or iTunes, or just want a little guidance before diving into the App Store, then read on after the break for the App Store walkthrough!
There are two ways to access the App Store: either on your iPhone or through iTunes. Let’s start with the iPhone App Store experience. With your iPhone in hand, tap the App Store icon. The user experience is very similar to using iTunes on your iPhone, so if you’ve been an iTunes user on your iPhone, then the App Store will feel very familiar.
The page that greets you when you enter iPhone’s App Store will give you the option to look at New Apps that have been added and the most popular and frequently-downloaded Apps under What’s Hot. Apps are displayed in a list with up to 5-star ratings and price. Along the bottom you’ll find tabs for Featured, Categories, Top 25, Search, and Updates.
Here is a screenshot of the Featured New Apps. You can scroll down to view over 20 new apps here. A similar view is available if you select the What’s Hot button.
Tap on categories and a list of different app categories appears with the number of apps in each category. Just tap on a category to then browse the list of apps in that category. Selecting the Top 25 tab will give you a list of the most popular 25 apps so you can see what your iPhone peers are using. Be the first to review and rate an app!
The Search tab will display a list of available software as you type in the name, just like searching for music in iTunes. Once you find an app you are looking for, just tap the name and you can then see the price and select it for more details and for purchasing.
Here is an example of what you will see once you’ve selected an app from the list. More detail, like app name, the company or person that developed it, the number of reviews and 1 to 5-star rating by other iPhone users, and the price.
Just click on the price and confirm your purchase and your iPhone will download the app. If the app is larger than 10mb, then a wifi connection will be required. After all, AT&T doesn’t want you tying up precious bandwidth on their 3G network with massive downloads. Once downloaded, you can enjoy the app. The next time you sync with iTunes, the app will sync with iTunes as part of your iPhone backup. Then, if you ever have to restore your iPhone to factory settings, your apps will be included when restoring from backup.
Finally, there’s an Updates tab so you can check and see if there are, naturally, updates for the software you’ve downloaded.
That sums it up for the App Store on your iPhone. Give it a try today and download some cool apps!
Now let’s move on over to the iTunes App Store, which is fully integrated into iTunes and functions practically the same as downloading music or movies.
Just click on the App Store in iTunes and you can browse all the apps by category, popularity, most recently added, and even by the top FREE apps available for download.
Browse through lists of the top 10 Paid apps and Free apps, or see even more apps in these categories.
You can get a quick look at Staff Favorites and What’s Hot (popular).
Click on an item you are interested in and get a better description, including the author of the app, price, release date, and file size.
Also included on the app detail page are screenshots (if provided) and Customer Reviews. You can get more detail about what others think of the app and get a better sense of whether or not you want to make the purchase and download it.
If you click the Buy button, your iTunes account will be charged and the app will download in iTunes. Then, the app will load to your iPhone when you sync.
Fortunately, the App Store on both the iPhone and in iTunes is easy to use and full of fun and useful apps already. Check it out today and start downloading apps to your iPhone — you just may be surprised at how powerful your iPhone really is with the right apps installed.
July 11th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Hey i have got one this morning. i just loved it …the videos are just too good also thanks for posting this
Cheers.
July 11th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I’ve spent $25 so far, and will probably spend about $20 more.
MLB.com A Bat Trism AcidSolitaire (an excellent port of a favorite Palm app of mine) MotionX-Poker
July 11th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
I downloaded several apps and they are displayed on my iphone. When I try to open the app it appears for a few seconds and then it goes back to the regular screen. Anybody know how to fix this?
July 11th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
@idefix. I had this same problem for a while. I did a restart of the iphone (power down and then turning it back on) and it solved my problem.
My apps so far are
Paid: Band (pretty fun, although you probably need to have some understanding of music for it to be much fun for you, its nothing like guitar hero)
Moto racer (fun enough, great graphics, but gets a little old after a while).
Free:
Aurora Feint (A+++++++, addicting, beautiful graphics, takes advantage of almost all the features unique to the iphone and I’ve been playing it for quite a while and its more fun than the first time I played it)
Tap Tap revenge (fun, but needs more songs)
Cube Runner (fun, simple, smooth controls, great app)
T4twofree (tennis game) Lots of fun for two players. can also play one player by manipulating the accelorometer (ie try to see how long you can keep the ball in play).
blip solitare (meh, its okay)
iMaze (meh)
Pandora radio (A+, I love pandora on my computer, now its even better on my iPhone, great for discovering new music while also listening to old favorites)
AIM (well, its aim, works well)
Remote (A+, I have a nice setup where I take my airport express with airtunes, hook it up to my ipod hifi speakers and then use my iphone to control the music at parties, guests are uber impressed)
I have a few more, but not much to say about them.
July 11th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
Just got it this morning and I saw this site do you know anything about it?
http://www.iphone-3g-forums.com/blog/?p=9
July 11th, 2008 at 9:09 pm
@Jefe
The only thing I know about it is that it looks like the person who’s doing the posts has the same name as you
July 11th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
FJR - the restart thing does not work for me and it’s really starting to bug me. I’m wondering what it is I can do to fix this.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
I tried downloading a bunch of apps and it asks for User Account Information including my Password. Do I need to sync with iTunes first to do this?
My itunes login is my AOL email address and password but it doesn’t seem to allow me to download the app directly onto the phone. Is an iTunes/computer connection needed first?
Essentially, I get stuck because the appstore doesn’t recognize my login and password.
July 11th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Remember that you must sync the app with your iTunes after you download it to your iPhone; otherwise, you will lose it/gone/done for.
July 12th, 2008 at 3:02 am
Hey FJR,
Thanks for the advice on the apps.
I downloaded some of your recommendations.
I also downloaded ePocrates (drug info database, I work in pharmaceuticals) and PhoneSaber (it amused me for a few minutes).
LOL
Anyone have any other apps they really like? I’m sticking to the freebies for now, unless something really hot hits my radar.
I love the app store so far. I didn’t upgrade to the new iPhone… my old one works fine.
July 12th, 2008 at 8:08 am
I’m also having trouble with my Apps just like budpaul. I try and open an app and after 2 seconds it goes back to the home screen. Tried restarting, syncing etc but no joy
any ideas?
July 12th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
I talked to a “Genius” at the Apple Store and he said you have to sync to iTunes first before downloading from the Appstore.
Kind of an odd requirement if you ask me.
July 12th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Found the solution on the Apple Forums.
First, uninstall all apps on your iphone via itunes on your computer. Then, re authorise your itunes under the store menu at the top. Then re-sync and install apps back.
Works for me
July 16th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
um i just got the 3g iphone today. I live in Canada. When you try to download an app, they ask for your account. I gave my itunes account. Is that what your supposed to give or its another account that i must make… PLZ HELPPP!!!!!!!!!:s
July 24th, 2008 at 10:49 am
i sign in to apple store using my iphone and now i dont know how to logout can anyone help?
July 24th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Same as above, I logged in to the appstore (on the iPhone) with a friends account just to look at some of the free stuff, now I want to switch to my own account. However, his is still cached and only allows me to enter a password for his account. HELP !
July 24th, 2008 at 12:58 pm
I have a question. One of my apps has been updated and I went ahead and let it update. Will I be charged for the update? Granted it was only $.99 but I dont want to get bit if I update a more expensive app. Thanks in advance, Cherryhead
July 26th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
To remove the logged in account on your iPhone, try this: 1. Launch the Apps Store on your iPhone 2. From Featured, Categories or Top 25, scroll all the way down to verify that your account is still there. 3. Launch iTunes on your PC/MAC 4. Attach the sync cable to your iPhone. 5. Sign in and out of the iTunes store. 6. Detach the sync cable from your iPhone. 7. Relaunch the Apps Store on your iPhone. Close it first if you left it open from before. 8. From Featured, Categories or Top 25, scroll all the way down to verify that it is showing No Account.
July 30th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
i bought some apps and i tried to run them then 2 seconds goes by and it goes back to the home screen. wut do i do?
July 30th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
how I can verify my account.Pls help!!:(
July 30th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Hi Joe and Dimitris — if you read up at the previous comments, you’ll find that others encountered the same problem and they posted their solution. You may need to remove the apps from your iPhone via a sync with iTunes, re-authorize your account (by clicking on your account button at the top right of the iTunes Store screen), then reload your apps via sync. Hopefully this will correct the problem.
July 30th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
im trying to download apps but it says my aol password is not correct.. do you know how i can change the password on it? or what the problem seems to be?
August 11th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
To delete an app you’ve downloaded that you no longer want…. tap and hold the icon until it shakes. A small x will appear in the left corner of that icon…tap the x to delete that app.
August 19th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Thanks for the detailed explanation.