Chapter 11. Buying apps at the Windows Store

In this section:

• Searching for apps

• Exploring search options

• Reading app reviews

• Installing free apps

• Viewing your apps in the Windows Store

• Buying an app

• Rating and reviewing an app

• Access Windows Store options and sync app licenses

The Windows Store, available through a tile on the Start screen, offers access to a collection of free and paid apps that let you easily expand the capabilities of Windows 8.1 and personalize your computing experience. You’ll find apps there that enable you to do just about anything from tracking your workouts to playing games to watching full episodes of your some of your favorite TV shows.

In this section, you discover how to find the app you need, either searching for it or by browsing different categories in the Windows Store itself. After you know how to find the apps you want, you can download free apps and buy paid ones. You can also discover how to find app reviews, to make sure that you’re getting the best app for you, and how to add your own app ratings and reviews to help others find their way.

Searching for apps

If you know the name of the app you want, or have an idea of what it might be called if it were available, you can search for it. You can type just about anything in the search window; you can type the name of your favorite TV channel, your favorite game, or the name of a goal you’d like to achieve (like Healthy Lifestyle).

Find an app

1. From the Start screen, click the Store tile.

   

2. Right-click an empty area of the screen.

3. Note the available categories (there are more than are shown here).

4. Click Home to return to the home page.

   

5. Use the scroll bar to access the categories available, including Picks For You, Trending, New & Rising, Top Paid, and Top Free.

   

6. Click Top Free. (Note what’s available.)

   

   Tip

   Skype comes preinstalled with Windows 8.1, so if you click Skype in the results you’ll see “Installed” on the Details page. However, you can use that page to write a review, see related apps, and to access additional apps created by Skype, like Skype WiFi (which enables you to use Skype at over 1 million public WiFi hotspots worldwide).

7. Right-click an empty area of the screen.

8. If you don’t see Lifestyle, click the right arrow to move to the right; click Lifestyle. (Note the left arrow appears here in the screenshot to the left of Travel.)

   

9. Click inside Search For Apps.

   

10. Type Skype. (Note the options.)

    

Tip

In Step 8, you can use your mouse wheel to scroll through the categories to find Lifestyle.

Try This!

From the Windows Store’s home page, type inside the Search For Apps window for something generic, such as Weather, and press Enter on the keyboard (or click the search icon in the Search For Apps window). Click the arrow under All Prices, and click Free to cull the results.

Exploring search options

If you right-click an empty area of the Windows Store’s Home page, you have access to the various categories available, including but not limited to Top Paid, Top Free, Photo, News & Weather, and Travel. You can click any of these to view the apps available in that category. After you’ve clicked something, you can scroll through what’s available. However, if you perform a search for a category, say Travel, you have more options than just scrolling through what’s available. When you search in this manner, you can sort the results list for apps by category, price, and other options, such as what is deemed most relevant to your search, what’s newest, what has the highest ratings, and what has the highest and lowest price.

Explore search options

1. Click the Store tile.

   

2. Right-click an empty area of the screen.

3. Click any category to view the results. (We clicked Games.)

   

4. Type the category name (e.g., Games) in the Search For Apps window.

5. Click the Search icon.

   

   Tip

   As you explore the Windows Store, notice the Back arrows that appear. Use the Back arrow to return to a previous screen in the Store.

6. From the options, select the following:

   1. From All Categories: the name of the category you typed.

   2. From All Prices: Free And trial.

   3. From Sort By Relevance: Sort by highest rating.

   

7. Scroll through the available apps.

   

Reading app reviews

Before you buy any app, it’s a good idea to see what other people think of it. Even though some apps are free and even though paid apps aren’t typically as expensive as desktop software such as Microsoft Office, you still want to make the best choice you can for your needs, saving yourself time and money by getting the right app, right from the start.

Read reviews

1. Using the methods in the previous tasks, locate an app you’re interested in.

2. Click the app to display details.

   

3. Scroll to Ratings And Reviews.

4. Read the reviews.

   

Tip

When you view the details of an app in the Windows Store, you can also view a list of related apps, additional apps available from the same publisher, and more. Make sure to scroll through all of the options while on the details page.

Installing free apps

The best way to learn how to obtain (and ultimately manage) apps is to install a few free apps that pique your interest. After you have these installed, you can learn how to use the apps you acquire, how to uninstall apps you don’t like, and how to move from a free version of an app to a paid one, among other things.

Get a free app

1. Locate an app by using any of the methods in the first two tasks of this section.

2. Click the app to display details.

   

3. Click Try, if prompted.

   

4. Click Install.

   

Tip

Apps you download from the Windows Store are not pinned to the Start screen; you have to find them in Apps view or search for them using the Search charm. To put a tile for a new app on the Start screen, locate it first, right-click it, and click Pin to Start.

Tip

After you click Install, you might find that some apps have a Buy button and a Try button. If you click Try, you can try the app for a while; sometimes this trial is a certain number of hours or a specific number of uses. If you decide you like the app, you can buy it by using the buy option available in the app itself (which will take you to the Windows Store), or you can return to the store.

Viewing your apps in the Windows Store

You can view all the apps that came with Windows 8.1 and all of the apps you’ve acquired from the Windows Store from Apps view. In that view, you can sort the apps by name, by date installed, by most used, and by category. You can also view the apps you own from inside the Windows Store. You’ll do the latter here.

View your apps in the Windows Store

1. Right-click the screen while inside the Windows Store.

2. Click Your Apps.

   

   Tip

   When you sign in to other Windows 8-based computers with your Microsoft account, you can view and use all of the apps you’ve purchased, from any of those devices (up to 81).

   Try This

   While at the Start screen, type the name of an app you want to find. You will see it in the Search results, where you can open it or right-click it to access options to pin the app to the Start screen or uninstall it.

3. Click the arrow in the first window, and select All Apps.

4. Click the arrow in the second window, and click By Name.

   
   

5. Click the arrow beside All Apps, and choose a single device, if applicable.

   

Buying an app

If you installed a free trial of an app, you can upgrade to the paid version in one of two ways. You can either click the option to buy the full version from inside the app itself or locate the app in the Windows Store and click Buy. If you simply want to buy an app that you’ve located and never tried, click Buy and follow the prompts while inside the Windows Store. Keep in mind that you’ll need to configure some way to pay for the app, which you’ll have to do only once.

Buy apps

1. Locate an app in the Windows Store, and click it.

   

2. Click Buy.

   

3. Click Confirm.

   

4. Enter your Microsoft account password.

5. Click OK.

   

6. Enter payment information, including your billing address. You won’t be prompted if you’ve already entered your information.

7. Click Submit.

   

Tip

App publishers occasionally offer updates. These will be installed automatically unless you specify otherwise. To access the option to turn off automatic updates, while in the Windows Store click the Settings charm. Click App updates. Change the setting for Automatically Update My Apps from Yes to No.

Rating and reviewing an app

Just as you benefit from others’ reviews of an app before you invest your time and money in it, other people can benefit from your reviews. You can post a rating for any app that you download from the Windows Store: a one-star rating is low, and a five-star rating is high. You can also submit a written review along with your star rating.

Rate and review an app

1. From the Start screen or Apps view, click a tile to open any app or press Windows logo key+I.

2. Click Rate And Review.

   

3. Click the star rating.

4. Enter a title.

5. Enter your review.

6. Click Submit.

   

Tip

Your reviews have to comply with Windows Store guidelines, or they can be removed. If you spot a review that’s in some way offensive or not in compliance with the rules, you can click the Report This Review link on the review to report the item to Microsoft.

Configuring Windows Store preferences

While in the Windows Store, you can use the Settings charm to configure Windows Store options; there are several to choose from. From the Your Account option, you can change users, enter account information for a user, redeem gift cards, and you can manage the computers you’d like to install your apps on. From the Preferences option, you can configure browsing and recommendation settings for the Windows Store. From the App Updates option, you can opt to automatically update apps (or not), and you can manually check for app updates. If there’s a problem with app licenses, you can sync licenses here too.

In this task, you’ll explore how to sync app licenses. This will enable you to fix problems with apps if you aren’t seeing up-to-date information for the apps you own (if that ever happens). You’ll also see how to access other Windows Store options for future reference.

Access Windows Store options and sync app licenses

1. With the Windows Store open to the Home page, press Windows logo key+I.

2. Note the options, including Your Account and Preferences, and then click App Updates.

   

3. Click Sync Licenses.

4. Click the Back arrow to return to the Windows Store.

   

Try This

Repeat the steps here to view what’s available from Your Account and Preferences.