Can’t figure out how you can get apps on your iPod touch? We will guide you through the entire process, so don’t you worry about the intricate details involved.
Other than the ultimate music experience that the Apple iPod touch boasts of, the device is also popular for the wide range of apps that its manufacturer has to offer. Additionally, you also have the option of resorting to Cydia apps, but that’s only if you are comfortable jailbreaking your device. Even though iPod touch is pretty much a user-friendly device, finding and downloading apps can be a tedious task at times, especially if it happens to be your first attempt.
How to Download Apps on the iPod touch?
The best place from where you can download apps for iPod (as well as iPhone and iPad) is the iTunes Store―Apple’s software-based online digital media store. The fact that 10 billion apps have been downloaded from the iTunes Store as of January 22, 2011, speaks volumes about the popularity of these apps. As of today, there are 300,000+ apps available for download at this media store, along with music of course. But how do you access the iTunes Store to download them? In order to make the process simple Apple has the official App Store―an app that allows users browse and download applications from the iTunes Store.
The available applications can either be downloaded directly on your iPod touch, or first downloaded on your PC or Mac via iTunes and then transferred to the iPod. If you intend to download some app directly on to your iPod touch, you will have to resort to Wi-Fi network. If you don’t have Wi-Fi network (or if the available network is not trustworthy), you can always use a Wi-Fi router to hook your modem. Using the Wi-Fi network, you will have to open the web browser in your iPod touch and access iTunes Store. All the apps are arranged in categories, you just have to find the app you want and download it.
The best part about downloading the app directly on the target device is that you don’t have to sync it to the PC/Mac, which is nothing but added work. In some situations, you may have no option, but to download these apps on your Mac/PC with the help of USB modem or broadband internet connection, and then transfer them onto your iPod. While the downloading process will be the same, you will have to sync your iPod touch to the Mac/PC to transfer these apps onto it. Alongside free apps, there also exist some paid apps for which you will have to shell out anything starting from $0.99.
How to Get Apps on the iPod Touch Without iTunes?
Other than the iTunes Store, you can also download apps for your iPod touch from the Cydia Store; only after jailbreaking the device though. Cydia Store is much like the App Store, the only exception though, is that you can access it only through a jailbroken Apple device. However, now that jailbreaking is not considered illegal, you can go ahead and jailbreak your iPod touch and download Cydia replacement software on it. Through Cydia, you can download thousands of apps, which are not available with the official App Store (and even those which were available at one point of time.)
- Software: In order to download Cydia apps on iPod touch, you will have to download Cydia replacement software on it.
- Repositories: Once you are done with this step, you can access Cydia sources, a.k.a. Cydia repositories, wherein all the apps and themes are stored, and download them.
- Download: After you have added the repositories, you can access them, scroll through the list, choose the app that you want to download, and tap on the Install tab in front of its name to download it. The program will begin downloading the app as soon as it gets a confirmation from you.
- Cost: As in case of App Store, even Cydia Store has thousands of apps―both free and paid, on offer.
It is very difficult to say which is better, the App Store or the Cydia Store. Just because Cydia offers all those apps which have been rejected by App Store, it doesn’t mean that the apps available at Cydia Store are of poor quality. Some developers are loyal to Cydia and thus, prefer to make their apps available for download directly on Cydia. A better option therefore, is to decide what you are actually looking for. It’s highly unlikely that the App Store will not have it, but if they don’t, then you always have the option of going for the alternative.