All about the App Store
If you have an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, you really can’t ignore the App Store. This is the place where you will find new apps. There are almost 2 million apps available in different categories: games, news, productivity, references and more. In this explanation you can read all about the App Store, how to find new apps and share them with other people in the family.
- What is the App Store?
- Which apps can you find in the App Store?
- Find apps in the App Store
- Download apps
- Update apps
- What are in-app purchases?
- Problems with the App Store
- Share apps with the seen
- History of the App Store
What is the App Store?
The App Store launched in July 2008, along with the iPhone 3G. So Apple’s software store has been around for quite some time. The App Store has gradually expanded. After the iPhone, iPad and Mac, the Apple TV and Apple Watch now also have their own App Store. Often the apps you can find there are universal: once you have purchased them on one device, you can also download the same app free of charge on all your other devices.
The App Store is the only place where you can download apps for your Apple devices. The only exception is the Mac App Store, as developers are not required to distribute their apps through the Mac App Store. The exact opposite applies to all other devices mentioned: you are always tied to Apple. This has led to criticism from developers and investigations into monopoly behavior and anti-competitive behavior in multiple countries.
There are tons of new apps for iPhone and iPad coming out every day, which is why it can be hard to find the really cool apps. That’s why at iCulture we discuss the best and most interesting new apps in our weekly App Missed section, so you don’t have to search yourself. Once a month we have the best Dutch apps section with the gems of the low countries.
In the App Store you will also find rankings with the most downloaded apps. Although they give an impression of which apps are popular, they are less about quality. You will also find stories about apps and their developers.
Which apps can you find in the App Store?
Various apps can be found in the App Store. We will briefly mention them:
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iPhone apps: Specially developed for the iPhone. They also work on the iPad in most cases, but are not optimized for the larger iPad screen and you will then have to view them with a “bloated” interface in 2x view.
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iPad apps: These apps are optimized for the iPad and cannot be used on the iPhone.
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Universal apps: These are designed for both the iPhone and iPad, and sometimes also for the Mac. You download/purchase them once and can then use them on both devices.
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Mac apps: There is increasing overlap between apps for iOS/iPadOS and macOS. You can also install iPad apps on the latest Macs with Apple Silicon. You can also find apps that run on the other platforms in the Mac App Store on the Mac. It says for which devices they are suitable.
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Apple Watch app: These are apps that you can install on the Apple Watch. You can find these apps in the Watch app on your iPhone.
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Apple TV apps: Designed for Apple TV HD and later. You can find them in the App Store app on the Apple TV.
In addition, you could distinguish between free and paid apps, although the boundary between them is becoming less and less clear. Most free apps these days have in-app purchases or in-app subscriptions. You can use them for a limited time or with limited functionality, but if you want to get the most out of them, you will have to give money. Of course there are also apps that are completely free, or where you pay with your data, such as those from Google and Facebook.
Paid apps do not guarantee that an app will always exist or always work. Therefore, be careful with very expensive apps or apps that depend on subsidies, such as museums. We often see that an app is developed with great enthusiasm, which is then no longer maintained because there is no money (or no priority) for it anymore. With hobby apps, it also regularly happens that developers no longer feel like it, get another job or have to deal with different living conditions (a baby, for example). As a result, the interest in looking at the app disappears. We have tips on what to do if your favorite app is no longer getting updates.
Find apps in the App Store
Here’s how to find games and apps in the App Store:
- Tap the blue App Store icon with the A.
- Tap the Search tab at the bottom right.
- Enter the name of the app you want to install, for example ‘iCulture’.
You can also check the Today, Games, or Apps tabs to see which apps are currently popular and which games Apple recommends. On the Arcade tab you will find the games of the paid game service Apple Arcade.
Download apps from the App Store
You need an Apple ID to download apps from the App Store. This gives you access to the App Store, iTunes Store and other paid services from Apple.
You don’t need a payment method to download free apps, including a bank account or credit card. If you want to purchase paid apps, you must link a payment method to your account, for example a credit card. It is also possible to use iTunes cards that you buy in the store (for example at HEMA, AH and Kruidvat). Keep an eye out for our iTunes card deals to see where you can get extra discounts or extra credit.
Downloading apps is very easy:
- Tap the Download button on an app.
- If there is a cloud next to the app, you have already installed the app in question.
- If there is an amount, you have to pay for the app and if it says ‘in-app purchases’, there are additional purchases or paid subscriptions in the app.
- After this you must agree to the purchase. This can be done, for example, by double-pressing the side button, entering your password, placing your finger on the Touch ID button, or scanning your face with Face ID.
You will often find these handy app blocks on iCulture for downloading apps. Tapping this will take you straight to the correct download page in the App Store:
Once you’ve purchased an app, you can use it on all iOS devices that use the same Apple ID. There is no maximum number of devices. You are also entitled to free future updates of the app after purchase. Because all your purchases are linked to your Apple ID, you can always delete an app and download it again later from your purchase history in the App Store. So you can never lose an app when your device crashes.
Update apps
When an app update comes out, you can install it in two ways: manually or automatically. If you tap your account in the App Store at the top right and scroll down, you will see which updates are available. By tapping the Update all link, you can install all pending updates at once. You can also do the update one by one.
Via Settings > App Store > App updates you can indicate that app updates should be automatically downloaded and installed from now on.
What are in-app purchases?
In-app purchases are purchases you make within an app. For example, it can be premium features of an app, or extra levels in a game. You can disable in-app purchases to prevent, for example, children from purchasing something without your permission.
A special form are subscriptions that you can take out within an app. You then pay monthly or annually for use of the app or for special functions. In a separate tip, we discuss how to cancel such App Store subscriptions.
Problems with the App Store
It may happen that the App Store crashes or you encounter other issues while using the App Store. There are several ways to solve these inconveniences, which we explain further in the article below.
Share apps with family
You don’t have to buy paid apps multiple times within the same family. The option ‘Family Sharing’ has been devised for this purpose. You need to create a special family group for this, of which one person is the administrator. Everyone then pays via the same credit card.
We explain exactly how Family Sharing works in the article below:
History of the App Store
When the App Store opened in July 2008, there were already about 500 apps for the iPhone available. Buienradar was one of the first Dutch apps at the time. Two weeks after the introduction, the number had already doubled to more than 1000 units. In a relatively short period of time, the App Store experienced enormous growth: after six months the counter was already at 15,000 and a year after the opening there were already 55,000 applications available.
Since then, the App Store has continued to grow. Today there are around 2 million apps. New ones appear every day, but a lot of them are also dropped because developers no longer maintain them or stop using them.
