Chapter 11. Working with Android Apps
In this chapter, you find out how to purchase and use Android apps on your HTC One. Topics include the following:
→ Finding apps with Google Play
→ Purchasing apps
Your HTC One comes with enough apps to browse the Web, read and send email, enjoy music and video, and perform various other activities. But if you want to play games, track your commitments, or keep a hi-tech grocery list, you’ll likely need to add apps.
Google Play is the main source for Android apps, offering hundreds of thousands of apps in a variety of categories. To access Google Play, you use the Play Store app. Read on to learn how to find, purchase, and buy apps for your HTC One.
Configuring Google Wallet
Before you start buying apps in the Play Store, you must first sign up for a Google Wallet account. If you plan to download only free apps, you do not need a Google Wallet account.
1. From a desktop computer or your HTC One, open the web browser and go to http://wallet.google.com.
2. Sign in using the Google account that you will be using to synchronize email to your HTC One. See Chapter 4, “Email,” or Chapter 7, “Contacts,” for information about adding a Google account to your HTC One.
3. Choose your location. If your country is not listed, you have to use free apps until it’s added to the list.
4. Enter your name.
5. Enter your ZIP code.
6. Enter your credit card number. This can also be a debit card that includes a Visa or MasterCard logo, also known as a check card, so that the funds are withdrawn from your checking account.
7. Select the month and year of the card’s expiration date.
8. Enter the card’s Card Verification Code (CVC) number, which is also known as the security code. This is a three- or four-digit number that’s printed on the back of your card.
9. Check this box if your billing address is the same as your name and home location. Otherwise, uncheck this box and enter your billing address and phone number when prompted.
10. Click Accept and Create when you finish filling in the form.
Navigating Google Play
Android is the operating system that runs your HTC One, so any apps that are made for your HTC One need to run on Android. Google Play is Google’s vast online store, which includes a section where you can search for and buy Android apps.
1. On the Home screen, touch Apps.
2. Touch the Play Store app icon.
3. Touch the Menu button to see Google Play actions.
4. Touch My Apps to see the apps you have already purchased or downloaded.
5. Touch My Wishlist to see the items you have added to your wish list. The wish list is a storage area for keeping the items you would like to buy or you would like others to buy for you.
6. Touch Redeem to redeem a coupon you have acquired. You also use Redeem to add funds to your Google Play account from Google Play cards.
7. Touch Accounts to select which Google account you want to use when you use the Google Play store. If you have multiple accounts, such as a business account and a personal account, use this command to switch between them. If you have only one account, Google Play will already be using that account.
8. Touch Settings to change the settings for Google Play. See the “Manage Google Play Settings” section later in this chapter for more information.
9. Touch Help to get help on using Google Play.
10. Touch Apps to browse all Android apps.
11. Touch Games to browse all Android games.
12. Touch to search Google Play. If you know the name of the app you’re looking for, searching is usually the quickest way to locate it.
Download Free Apps
You don’t have to spend money to get quality apps. Some of the best apps are free.
1. In the Play Store app, touch the app you want to download.
2. Scroll down to read the app’s features, reviews by other people who installed it, and information on the person or company who created the app.
3. Scroll left and right to see the app videos and screenshots.
4. Touch Install to download and install the app.
5. Touch to accept the app permissions and proceed with the download.
Read the Permissions Before Accepting Them
Each time you download a free app or purchase an app from Google Play, you are prompted to accept the app permissions. App permissions are permissions the app wants to have to use features and functions on your HTC One, such as access to the wireless network or access to your phone log.
Pay close attention to the kinds of permissions each app is requesting and make sure they are appropriate for the type of functionality that the app provides. For example, an app that tests network speed will likely ask for permission to access your wireless network, but if it also asks to access your list of contacts, it might mean that the app is malware and just wants to steal your contacts.
Choose Whether to Update Apps Automatically on Wi-Fi
If the Update Apps Automatically When on Wi-Fi? dialog appears when you download an app, touch OK if you want to update your apps automatically when your HTC One is connected to a wireless network. Touch Not Now if you want to postpone this decision. Even if you set an app to update automatically, Android doesn’t update it if the update contains a change to the permissions. This is because you need to approve the permission change.
Buy Apps
If an app is not free, the price appears next to the app icon. If you want to buy the app, remember that you need to already have a Google Wallet account. See the “Configuring Google Wallet” section earlier in the chapter for more information.
1. Touch the app you want to buy.
What If the Currency Is Different?
When you browse apps in Google Play, you might see apps that have prices in foreign currencies, such as in euros. When you purchase an app, the currency is converted into your local currency using the exchange rate at the time of purchase.
2. Scroll down to read the app’s features, reviews by other people who have used it, and information on the person or company who created the app.
3. Scroll left and right to see the app screenshots.
4. Touch the price button to begin the process of purchasing the app.
5. In the App Permissions dialog, review any permissions the app needs. Some apps, such as the app shown here, do not need any special permissions.
6. Touch Continue to accept the app permissions and proceed with the purchase.
7. Touch Buy to purchase the app. You will receive an email from Google Play after you purchase an app. The email serves as your invoice.
Pay with a Different Means of Payment
If you need to pay using a different means of payment than the card shown in the payment dialog, touch the price button to expand the dialog. Touch the Payment Options button to display the Payment Options dialog, in which you can choose another card you’ve set up, add a new card, redeem a voucher, or buy Google Play credit.
Manage Apps
Use the My Apps section of Google Play to update apps, delete them, or install apps that you have previously purchased.
1. Touch the Menu button.
2. Touch My Apps.
3. Touch All to see all apps that you have purchased or downloaded from the Play Store.
4. Look for the Installed readout to see whether the app is currently installed.
5. Touch an app marked with Free to install a free app again. The Free readout shows a free app that you previously installed, but that is no longer installed.
6. Touch to remove an app from the list of apps, then touch OK in the Remove dialog that opens.
Install an App You Have Previously Purchased
On the My Apps screen, you can touch an app marked with Purchased to install again an app that you previously purchased and installed, but that is no longer installed. Because you have already purchased the app, you do not need to pay for it again.
Allowing an App to Be Automatically Updated
When the developer of an app you have installed updates it to fix bugs or add new functionality, you are normally notified in the Notification bar and Notification pane so that you can manually update the app. Google Play enables you to choose to have the app automatically updated without your intervention. To do this, open the My Apps screen and touch the app you want to update automatically. Touch the Menu button, and then touch Auto-update; after you do this, a check mark appears to the right of Auto-update on the menu. Be aware that if these updates occur while you are on a cellular data connection, your data usage for the month will be affected.
Uninstalling an App
When you uninstall an app, you remove the app and its data from your HTC One. Although the app no longer resides on your phone, you can reinstall it as described earlier in this section because the app remains available in your Google account.
2. Touch Settings.
3. Touch to enable or disable notifications of app or game updates.
4. Touch Auto-Update Apps to display the Auto-Update Apps dialog.
5. Touch to turn off automatic updating of apps.
6. Touch to allow apps to update automatically at any time over whichever connection is available. Because this option may use a lot of cellular data, it is not usually a good choice unless you have a very generous plan or someone else is paying for it.
7. Touch to allow apps to update automatically only over Wi-Fi connections. This is usually the best choice if you allow automatic updating.
8. Touch to allow or prevent an app icon from appearing on your Home screen for each app that you install.
9. Touch to clear the Google Play search history. Your HTC One clears the search history without prompting for confirmation or telling you that it has done so.
10. Touch to adjust or set your content filtering. The Allow Apps Rated For dialog appears.
11. Touch to select the check box for each category you want to allow. Touch to deselect the check box for each category you want to disallow.
12. Touch OK to close the Allow Apps Rated For dialog. The Content PIN dialog appears.
13. Type a personal identification number (PIN) to restrict access to the content-filtering settings you have applied.
14. Touch OK to close the Content PIN dialog. In the Confirm content PIN dialog that appears, type the PIN again and touch OK.
15. Touch Password to set a password for restricting purchases on your account.
16. Touch to return to the main Google Play screen.
Why Lock the User Settings?
Imagine if you buy a HTC One for your child but want to make sure that he doesn’t get to any undesirable content. First, you set the content filtering to restrict the content visible in Google Play. Next, you set the PIN so he can’t change that setting. A similar idea goes for limiting purchases.
Accidentally Uninstall an App?
What if you accidentally uninstall an app or you uninstalled an app in the past but now decide you’d like to use it again? To get the app back, go to the My Apps view in Google Play. Scroll to that app and touch it. Touch Install to reinstall it.
Keeping Apps Up to Date
Developers who write Android apps often update their apps to fix bugs or to add new features. With a few quick touches, it is easy for you to update the apps you have installed.
1. If an app you have installed has an update, you see the update notification in the Notification bar.
2. Pull down the Notification bar.
3. Touch the update notification.
4. Touch one of the apps that has an update available.
5. Touch Update.
Update All Your Apps at Once
If updates are available for multiple apps, you can update them all in one move by touching Update All on the My Apps screen.
