Tech Talk
By Tak Sato
Everyone talks about apps, but if you’ve missed the boat on these handy -and free- smartphone and tablet accessories, you don’t know what you don’t know. Take a deep breath, be patient, and let our tech expert explain.
Depending on who you ask, the answer to when the first smartphone arrived is separated by a decade. The iPhone, introduced by the late Steve Jobs (Apple) in 2007, takes the cake as the first widely available smartphone.
Smartphones do more than just make calls. They are like chameleons, or a Swiss Army Knife, morphing on demand into what you need.
App Chat
Smartphones don’t shape-shift like aliens in a Star Trek episode. Apps (short for applications) are what make a smartphone or tablet acquire multiple uses. Apps like Dialer, Camera and others come pre-installed from the factory. Dialer, for example, is your telephone app. Tapping the telephone handset icon will enable you to enter the phone number or name of the person you want to call. Hit the green handset icon to call, red handset icon to hang-up.
Where do you find these apps?
Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android operating systems (iPhone and iPads use Apple, other phones and tablets use Android) have their own apps. Just like Walmart Superstores carry everything in one place, “App Store” (for iPhone and iPad devices) and “Play Store” (for Android-based devices) exist in the digital world, also known as the internet or the cloud. Each carries more than two million apps in their inventories.
How do you get them?
Both App Store and Play Store apps also come factory-installed. Tapping the respective store’s icon (see sidebar) will have you window shopping for apps to install on your device in no time.
Most apps fall into these pricing categories: free, freemium and premium. If I had my druthers, most apps are either freemium or premium-priced because, you know, nothing is truly free these days. So…
“Freemium” is the combination of words “free” and “premium” – a type of business model. It’s free to install but you will see advertisements cycling on the screen. If the ads annoy you, most freemium apps will offer to permanently remove ads in exchange for a fee. At least you’ve test-driven the app before paying. If users tolerate the cycling ads, developers of the apps still make money by selling advertising space to the ad networks controlled by Apple and Google respectively. Tip: Search using the keywords “open source” while window shopping in either store should return a shortlist of truly free apps.
Most premium apps are priced from 99 cents and higher. Tip: Freemium apps in the Play Store will not only say “Free” but also display “Contains Ads” so you can set your expectations. Unfortunately, Apple’s App Store does not currently give you hints – sorry iPhone and iPad users!
Is it safe to pay for an app?
Whether you outright buy a premium version of an app or go the freemium route, you need to pay to get rid of the ads in one of two ways by linking your Google Account or Apple ID you used to initially set up your device, a credit card or by linking it to the Play Store or through an iTunes gift card that you can buy wherever you buy gift cards.
Tip: To minimize exposure if victimized, I recommend the gift card route because damage is limited to the gift card balance and you can always buy another gift card for more purchasing power. This might also curtail impulse buys as both stores additionally sell eBooks, movies and music.
Where are the best sources for app reviews?
Each app “store” (the App Store for iPhones and Ipads or Play Store for Android devices) there are reviews, screenshots and sometimes a video with each app so you can see what you’re getting. Try a Google search for a particular category of an app to get started in the right direction. Most apps are in both stores. The Facebook and Gmail apps, for example, are in both Play Store and App Store.
This brings us to my “driver’s license” analogy: once you have a driver’s license you can drive any make, model and category of an automobile because driving is a transferable skill. “Digital literacy,” the necessary life skill for the 21st Century, is also a transferable skill. Becoming digitally literate enables you to use Apple devices or Android-based devices.
Tak Sato is the founder of the Cleveland-area nonprofit Center for Aging in the Digital World (empowerseniors.org).