How to download and install iPad apps

It was a gift. Or maybe, you saved for a while and finally were able to buy it for yourself. Either way, you got a new iPad and are looking forward to see all the great things you can do with it. You’ve seen some cool apps out there and want to give them a try.

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Weather is cold and grey outside and you want to play some games with your kids. Your iPad is great but how do you download and install new apps?

The process is very simple but before we begin, you’ll need an Apple ID or Apple account to access the app store. Check the following post if you are not sure if you have an Apple ID or if you need to Create an Apple ID.


Applicable to:
iPad versions: iPad 2, iPad mini, iPad Air
iOS versions: iOS 5, 6, 7, 8 and up

Assuming that you have an Apple ID we can go ahead and start the App Store. Make sure your Wi-Fi is enabled and that you are connected to the Internet. If you are unsure on how to connect, take a look at

https://smartipadguide.com/how-to-connect-ipad-to-wifi

Tap the following icon:

iPad-app-store-icon

The App Store appears.


iPad-app-store

There are 6 items on the bottom menu. Featured, Genius, Top Charts, Categories, Purchased and Updates.

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In addition, there’s a Search box on the top right corner.

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Featured

The Featured menu will show you featured apps and it’s currently divided into 2 tabs: New and Release date.

Genius

When Genius is activated, iPad will recommend or suggest new apps based on the apps that you have already installed.

Top Charts

Top Charts will show you the “Top paid iPad apps”, the “Top free iPad apps” and the “Top Grossing iPad Apps”.

At any time you can scroll up and down or sideways (left – right) to see the catalog of available apps.

iPad-app-store-top-charts

Categories

Categories, as its name suggests, will let you navigate the available Apps by category. From Business to Travel, Utilities to Photo & Video, there’s plenty of categories and Apps to choose from.

iPad-app-store-categories

Purchased

This menu will display all the Apps that have been installed onto your iPad. You can navigate all the list by tapping on the arrows that appear on the top left and top right of the screen.

Note: The list will show all iPad Apps including paid and free Apps.

Updates

All Apps are subject to change. Software developers might find problems (a.k.a. bugs) on the already released Apps or add new functionalities and may distribute new versions of your already installed Apps with fixes or upgrades. The Updates menu will display a list of the already installed iPad Apps that could be updated.

Installing an App

In this section, we’ll go through an example of how to download and install an iPad App. Make sure your Wi-Fi is enabled and that you are connected to the Internet.

Tap on the App Store icon to open it

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Tap on the Categories menu.

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Tap on the Search box that’s located on the top right corner. The keyboard appears.

iPad-app-store-search-box

Type the following App name:  “Skype for iPad” and tap on the “Search” button on the keyboard.

You will see a list of Apps appear. Also, next to each App you will see a button with a price inside (i.e.: $0.99, $1.99, $4.99, etc) or the text “Free” for free apps.

Skype-for-iPad

Locate “Skype for iPad” and tap on the “Free” button next to it. The button will change to  “INSTALL APP”.

Tap on “INSTALL APP”.

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The “Apple ID Password” dialog box appears. Enter your password. Assuming you entered the correct password, the app will begin to download and after a few seconds or minutes (depending on speed and app size) you will see the app icon on your iPad screen.

password-dialog-box

Once finished, you can tap on the app icon to start the app.

iPad-skype-icon

In a similar way you can now go ahead and download other apps for you iPad.

In a future post, I’ll be showing you more about what Skype is and what you can do with it.

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