Apple’s App Store has recently undergone a significant redesign with the introduction of iOS 11 and has now adopted a more curated approach to showcasing its two million-plus apps.
In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to navigate the App Store’s all-new interface to help you discover apps that will transform the way you work and play.
At a Glance
Upon launching the App Store, you are greeted with the Today tab, along with links to four other tabs along the bottom of the screen: Games, Apps, Updates and Search.
Today
Today is essentially a blog highlighting a handful of the App Store’s many apps. Updated daily, Today features roundups, tutorials and tips, as well as the App Store’s chosen app and game for that particular day.
Games
Curated by expert gamers, Games showcases popular games, organised by category. Scroll down and you’ll see the App Store’s top free and paid games, new releases, and the best of each genre.
Apps
Apps features the App Store’s most popular non-gaming apps, again, organised by category for your convenience.
From brand new releases to newly updated apps, and everything in between, Apps has something for everyone.
Updates
Updates lists apps that need updating, as well as apps that have been recently updated.
Underneath each app, there’s a description of what’s included in the update, and once it’s been updated, you’re given the opportunity to launch the app to check out what’s new.
Search
Search lets you keyword search the entire App Store for a particular app, and also displays a list of search terms for apps that are currently trending.
Download and Install Apps
Downloading and installing apps couldn’t be easier.
Browse the App Store until you discover an app you’d like to try, and then tap Get if it’s a free app, or the price if it’s a paid app.
When prompted, enter the password associated with your Apple ID, and then press Install.
The chosen app will download and install automatically, but may take a few minutes depending on the file size of the app and the internet speed.
Pricing
Apps adhere to one of the following four pricing models:
- free
- paid
- freemium, and
- paidmium
Free
Free apps cost nothing to download, though are generally supported by advertisements.
Sometimes, you’re able to pay a small fee to remove the advertisements, but they don’t generally affect the app’s performance.
Paid
Paid apps start from as little as £0.99 and, once purchased, you’ll have access to every feature the app has to offer.
Freemium
Freemium apps are free to download, but offer in-app purchases. Take match-three puzzle game Candy Crush Saga, for example. Candy Crush Saga is free to download and play, however, the app offers a variety of paid extras—such as unlimited lives and boosters—to enhance the gaming experience.
Netflix is another example of a freemium app as it’s free to download and trial for a short amount of time, but, unlike Candy Crush Saga, requires a monthly subscription to unlock.
Paidmium
Paidmium apps cost money to download, but then require an additional purchase further on down the line.
Award-winnng DJ app djay 2 is one such app that has adopted the paidmium monetisation model, costing an initial £4.99 to download, then more still in in-app purchases to access every feature.
Rate and Review Apps
Ratings and Reviews are a good indicator as to what an app is like before you take the plunge and download it. Each app features a star rating between one and five, accompanied by user reviews, detailing the apps’ merits and flaws.
If you’d like to rate and review an app, visit the app’s App Store page and then scroll down to Ratings & Reviews. Select a star rating to rate the app, or tap Write a Review to leave a review.
Manage Your Account
Your account is where you can manage your payment information, purchases, subscriptions and the like.
Tap your avatar in the top right-hand corner of the screen to access your account. Here, you can view a list of every single app you’ve ever downloaded, and redeem or send a gift card or code.
Press Apple ID and enter your password to view the account details. Once you’re logged in, you can add or update your payment information and change the country or region associated with your account.
You will, however, need a valid method of payment for your chosen country in order to do so.
Tap Ratings and Reviews to view a list of every rating or review you’ve ever written, that can be removed by swiping left and selecting Remove, and flip the Personalised Recommendations switch to On to allow Apple to base your iTunes, App Store and iBooks recommendations around your downloads, purchases and other activity.
Press Subscriptions and then select an app to cancel, extend or resubscribe to said app, and select Purchase History to view the purchase history for the past 90 days.
Go Explore
In this tutorial, I've shown you how to navigate the App Store’s all-new interface to help you discover apps that will transform the way you work and play.
As you can see, the App Store’s chock-full of awesome apps and Apple have now, thankfully, redesigned their store to reflect that.
