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How do I download iPhone apps from the Apple iTunes store?

I just downloaded the latest version of iTunes, all excited about being able to finally get to the Apple Applications Store and grab some new stuff for my iPhone, but when I restart, it's not there?!


Dave's Answer:

You aren't the first person to encounter this problem: I did too. The problem is that you appear to have diverged from the default configuration and so you now need to go into your preferences and tweak it to let you see the app store in iTunes. It's there (well, access to it is there) you just aren't showing it.

When I first started poking around, I figured that it'd just be a new category in the iTunes Store, actually, y'know, like podcasts and audiobooks, but it's not (rather confusingly, if you ask me, since in so many other areas the app store is functionally identical to the music store).

Start up iTunes 7.7 or newer and you're probably seeing something like this:

itunes no apps

Where's the app store? To find it, you need to go to your Preferences...

itunes apps preferences

As you can see highlighted, you need to ensure that "Applications" is checked. Do so, click "OK" and now there's a new item on the left side of the iTunes window:

itunes with apps

Click on it and you'll get a nice big gray box without anything in it:

itunes applications library

The key to getting online and visiting the App Store is to click on "Get More Applications" on the lower right corner. Now we're getting somewhere!

itunes app store

I'll click on "Twitterific" since I've been eager to get a better Twitter client (what? You aren't following me on Twitter? For goodness sake! Follow my main account @DaveTaylor and, if you're a movie fan, also follow @FilmBuzz too!)

For any given application, there's quite a bit of information available, as shown here:

itunes app store twitterific

You'll want to click on the small "GET APP" button, at which point if you're not already logged in to the iTunes Store you'll need to log in. I also found that I had to agree to some new terms of service wording and go back to click on "GET APP" a second time to actually download the app. Once you do, you'll see:

itunes store purchasing twitterific

Kind of fun if you're used to just seeing sync messages, I'd say!

Once you download it -- and maybe another app or two -- your Applications library will be a bit more visually interesting:

itunes apps downloading

As you can see, while some of the apps are downloaded, others are still just "placeholder" icons as they are sucked out of the App Store. It took roughly one minute per app for me to get them downloaded and I expect that'll be shorter as time goes on since today is the first day of the store and everyone's probably going crazy downloading things.

Now that you have apps on your computer in iTunes, you can use "Get Info" to see more about them:

itunes apps twitterific get info

I'm glad to see how small the applications are, actually. Notice that Twitterific is only 1.2MB, which means I don't need to erase all my music to add a few new apps to my iPhone.

Now that you have the apps you want for your iPhone, the next step is to upgrade the iPhone software itself (see how to upgrade your iPhone firmware to verison 2.0) and restart. Then you'll see an "Applications" tab for your phone in iTunes and you can easily select which apps -- or all applications! -- to copy onto your cellphone.



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Comments

do you have to wait untill tommorow to put them on your i phone/ i touch?

Posted by: chris at July 10, 2008 1:27 PM

As far as I can tell, yes. When you can get the new software for your iPhone, then there's an additional tab that shows up in the iTunes app when you're looking at your phone, an "Applications" tab. We'll see how that shakes out tomorrow! :-)

Posted by: Dave Taylor at July 10, 2008 4:44 PM

Hi Dave, drag and drop them where, how? I have them in my Applications Folder on my Mac iTunes, drag and drop does not work and they don't install during a sync? What step have I missed? Thanks so much, Jim.

Posted by: Jim Scolman at July 12, 2008 9:20 PM

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

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









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