Industry guru Dave Taylor offers free tech support on a wide variety of technical and business topics, including HTML, Apple iPhone, online advertising, Cascading Style Sheets, Web design, management, Unix, Linux, search engine optimization, online dating, Mac OS X, shell script programming and Microsoft Windows.

How do I download a new application to my Apple iPhone?

I've been hearing a lot of buzz about the new Skype for the iPhone 3G, but am a bit lost about how to download specific applications onto my phone. Can you show me all the steps?


Dave's Answer:

There are two ways you can download an iPhone app onto your iPhone, the easier of which is probably to just grab it directly from your iPhone. If you prefer, however, you can launch iTunes on your computer, pop over to the Application Store, find it and download the app (Skype in this case) and copy it onto the phone next time you sync.

Let's make things straightforward, though, by documenting how you can find and download an application directly onto your iPhone without using iTunes or any computer at all, actually.

First step is to find the "App Store" icon on your phone:

apple iphone download app 01

Tap it once and you'll see that there are a lot of ways you can navigate through the store and the many thousands of applications available. This is the "Featured" section shown here:

apple iphone download app 02

Along the bottom, tap on "Search" and start typing in the app name you desire. As you go, it'll show you whatever matches it can find. Here I am typing in "Skype":

apple iphone download app 03

Tap "Search" on the lower right and you'll see all the matches shown along with their user ratings and prices:

apple iphone download app 04

It's the last of these that we want, so I'll just tap on "Skype" and get quite a bit more information on the iPhone app:

apple iphone download app 06

That's what we want! To download it, tap on "Free" (if it's an app with a price, you'd see the price here, it's still a button, though).

The "Free" button promptly changes to an "INSTALL" button, as you can see:

apple iphone download app 07

No huge surprise, tap on "INSTALL" and you'll be prompted for your iTunes Store password:

apple iphone download app 08

Once you've entered the password and tap "OK" you'll -- rather confusingly -- leave the App Store and find a new icon on your Apple iPhone desktop screen with an empty download progress bar:

apple iphone download app 09

Wait a few seconds and it'll start filling in. Eventually it replaces the name "Loading..." with the actual application:

apple iphone download app 11

Now you have a new Skype application for your iPhone too.

Doable? I think so!



Help others find this article at Del.icio.us, Digg, Netscape, Reddit, and Stumble Upon    

Ringaza Free Bonus Ringtones and Wallpapers!


Subscribe!

Never miss another useful Q&A article again! Subscribe to AskDaveTaylor with Google Reader.

Comments

Very nice. My boyfriend just bought me an iPhone and I love it, but was wondering how to add different programs to it.

Posted by: Dog Chic at April 5, 2009 5:40 PM

I have something to say, now that you mention it, but ...
Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you for all your efforts on this Web site by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!











Remember personal info?


Please note that I will never send you any unsolicited email. Ever.

While I'm at it, please note that by submitting a question or comment you're agreeing to my terms of service, which are: you relinquish any subsequent rights of ownership to your material by submitting it on this site.








Ask Dave Taylor: The iPhone App: Advertisement



Follow me on Twitter @DaveTaylor

Search
Find just the answers you seek from among our 2300+ free tech support articles by using our Lijit search engine.


Help!





Subscribe to
Ask Dave Taylor!

Add to Google Reader
Add to My Yahoo!
Subscribe in NewsGator Online

RDF   XML

Free Updates!
Sign up and get free weekly updates and special offers on books, seminars, workshops and more.


Recent Entries
Book Links
© 2002 - 2010 by Dave Taylor. All Rights Reserved.

Note: This web site is for the purpose of disseminating information for educational purposes, free of charge, for the benefit of all visitors. We take great care to provide quality information. However, we do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this web site or on any linked site.

[whiteboard marker tray]
"Ask Dave Taylor®" is a registered trademark of Intuitive Systems, LLC.