Chapter 15

Apps-O-Lutely!

In This Chapter

Browsing for cool apps

Searching for specific apps

Getting apps onto your iPhone

Deleting and organizing your iPhone apps

Getting the scoop on newspapers, magazines, and books

One of the best things about the iPhone is that you can download and install apps created by third parties, which is to say not created by Apple (the first party) or you (the second party). At the time of this writing, our best guess is that there are more than 700,000 apps available and over 25,000,000,000 (yes, 25 billion) apps downloaded to date. Some apps are free, other apps cost money; some apps are useful, other apps are lame; some apps are perfectly well-behaved, other apps quit unexpectedly (or worse). The point is that of the many apps out there, some are better than others.

In this chapter, we take a broad look at iPhone apps. Don’t worry: We have plenty to say about specific apps in Chapters 17 and 18.

You can obtain and install apps for your iPhone in three ways:

On your computer

On your iPhone

By Automatic Download

To switch on Automatic Downloads on the iPhone, tap Settings⇒iTunes & App Store. After you do so, all apps you buy with iTunes on your computer or buy on other iOS devices will automagically appear on your iPhone.

To use the App Store on your iPhone, it must be connected to the Internet. And, if you obtain an app on your computer, it won’t be available on your iPhone until you sync it with your computer — unless you’ve turned on Automatic Downloads as described in the preceding paragraph.

But before you can use the App Store on your iPhone or computer, you need an iTunes Store account. If you don’t already have one, we suggest that you launch iTunes on your computer, click Sign In near the upper-right corner of the iTunes window, click Create New Account, and then follow the on-screen instructions. Or if you prefer to create your account on your iPhone rather than on your computer, follow the instructions near the end of Chapter 8.

Let’s put it this way: If you don’t have an iTunes Store account, you can’t download a single cool app for your iPhone. Enough said.