A New App Store Means New Ways of Buying and Finding Apps
Shortly after the first developer release of iOS 11 was available, Brent Dirks gave you a visual tour through the new App Store. Since then, we’ve uncovered more changes to that wonderful repository of app goodness. The location of several important account options has moved, and the App Store is using a new way of processing purchases for paid and free apps. Let’s take a look at these changes to the new App Store.
Finding Your Account Options and Purchase History
The first thing you might be wondering is, “Where the heck did my account options go to?” You could be lost trying to find your Purchased Apps listing, for instance. It’s still there in the new App Store, it’s just squirreled away in a new location. To access it, just tap on your profile picture in the top right corner.
Once you’ve gotten into your account, you can manage all of your settings. You can set up Family Sharing, manage payment information, configure your App Store country and region, and so forth. You’ll also find your purchased apps here. If you receive a promo code, the option to redeem it is located in this window, too. Finally, this is where you would go to send a gift to someone else or sign out of the App Store.
A New App Store Means a New Way to Purchase Apps
The method of purchasing paid and free apps has changed with the new App Store, too. Assuming you have enabled Touch ID for App Store purchases, the App Store will use a panel similar to what Apple Pay uses. The panel that pops up gives you the name of the app, its rating, and the account you’re installing it to. You kick off the install by authenticating with your fingerprint.
Updates are handled very much the same way in the new App Store as in the old. You can enable automatic updates in Settings, or install them manually. It does seem that the new App Store asks me to authenticate less often for updates than it used to, but that could be my imagination.
A More Modern App Store
I’m still growing accustomed to the new App Store, and I haven’t decided whether I prefer it over the old one or not. It definitely makes app discovery versus finding games easier, since apps are now broken out into their own tab. How about you? Are you liking what you’ve seen of the new App Store, or do you wish Apple would have left well enough alone? Let us know in the comments below.
The developer beta for iOS 11 is happening now, and a Public Beta is slated to begin at the end of June. The new version should arrive for everyone in Fall 2017.
