How to Add Apps to iPhone

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A guide to downloading apps and adding them back to your home screen

Written by Janice Tieperman

Last Updated: July 30, 2024 Fact Checked

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Installing New Apps

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Adding Hidden Apps to Your Home Screen

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Reinstalling Deleted Apps

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Q&A

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Tips

Finding and installing apps is an essential part of the iPhone experience—and in this article, we’ll teach you how to do exactly that. Read on to learn how to install new apps from the App Store, how to move apps back to your home screen from your App Library, and how to reinstall apps that you previously deleted.

Quick Steps

Go to the App Store.
Tap the Search bar and type in the app you’re looking for.
Hit GET to download the app.
Confirm the download by double-tapping the side button and completing a security measure.

Section 1 of 3:

Installing New Apps

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1
Open your iPhone's App Store
. You will find the App Store app icon, which is blue icon with a white "A," on your home screen.
- If you don't see it there, swipe left on the Home screen until you reach the App Library, tap App Library at the top, and then tap App Store.
It's the magnifying glass at the bottom-right corner of the App Store.

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3
Tap the search bar. It's the gray bar at the top of the screen. This opens your iPhone's on-screen keyboard.
- If you're not sure which app you want to download, you can browse for apps instead of searching. Tap the Apps tab at the bottom to browse apps by category, or select the Games tab to see only the games.
If you don't have a specific app in mind, you can type a word or phrase that describes the app, such as "photo editor" or "dating."
It's the blue key at the bottom-right corner of your iPhone's keyboard. This displays a list of apps that match what you've searched.
This opens the app's page, which contains information that can help you decide whether to install the app.
7
Review the app's info page. Before downloading an app, take a look at its info page to learn more about it.
- If the app costs money, you will see its price on the button at the top of the page. If not, you'll see a button that says "GET" (or a cloud icon, if you've installed the app in the past) instead.
- Below that, you'll find one or more screenshots of the app in action. Swipe left across these screenshots to check them out. To see a larger version of a screenshot, tap it to expand it.
- The next section displays a description of the app, as well as the name of its developer.
- The Ratings & Reviews section shows you the app's average star rating (5 stars is the best), and a few select reviews. To view all reviews, tap See all.
8
Tap GET to download the app. It's at the top-right corner of the app's info page.
- If the app costs money, you'll instead tap the app's price (e.g., $0.99) to the right of the app.
- If you've downloaded the app before and then deleted it, you'll instead tap the cloud icon here.
9
Hit the Lock button twice and complete a security measure. Besides tapping this side button twice, you may need to complete a security measure to finalize the transaction, like using Face ID, Touch ID, or submitting your Apple ID password. Once verified, the app will download.^{[1]
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- When the app is finished downloading, the "GET" or price button will change to "OPEN."
Once the app finishes downloading, you can open it directly from within the App Store by tapping OPEN where the GET button was, or by tapping the app's new icon on your home screen.

Section 2 of 3:

Adding Hidden Apps to Your Home Screen

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1
Swipe left to reach the App Library. In the past, you may have deleted apps from your phone’s home screen without removing them from your device entirely. These apps are stored in the App Library, which can be accessed by swiping left at least once.
- You may have to swipe left multiple times if you have multiple pages in your home screen.
This option will pop up in a gray submenu attached to the app. Your desired app will now be added back to your home screen.
If you aren’t happy with the current placement of the app, drag it to a different page or folder.

Section 3 of 3:

Reinstalling Deleted Apps

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1
Open your iPhone's App Store
. You will find the App Store app icon, which is a blue icon with a white "A," on your home screen.
- If you don't see it there, swipe left on the Home screen until you reach the App Library, tap App Library at the top, and then tap App Store.
If you have a profile photo associated with your Apple ID, you will see it inside of a round icon at the top-right corner. If not, you'll see your initials here instead. Tap this round icon to open your account information.
This option is toward the top of the screen.
4
Tap the Not on this iPhone tab. It's in the upper-right area of the page. This displays all apps you've downloaded (both free and paid) in the past that you do not have installed on this iPhone.
- Apps appear in reverse-chronological order by download, meaning that the most-recently downloaded app appears at the top of the list.
It's the cloud icon with a downward-pointing arrow. The selected app will now install on your iPhone.

Community Q&A

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Question

How does this work if I'm using a computer through my phone for installations using my Google account?

Community Answer

It basically downloads a ".APK" file to your computer, which you then have to transfer to your phone.

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How do I install WhatsApp on my iPhone 6 Plus?

Community Answer

You go to app store and then click the search button which is like a magnification glass and then write "WhatsApp" on it.

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How do I uninstall apps on an iPhone 7?

Community Answer

Hold your finger down on an app and you will see "Xs" appear in the corner of all of your apps. Press the X on the app you wish to delete.

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Tips

You can use Siri to look for an app on the App Store by pressing and holding the Home button (or by saying "Hey, Siri" if you've activated this feature) and then saying "Get [app name]".

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