In the last chapter, we looked at some of the bonus content you could download and purchase from owning a Samsung Galaxy Tab. In this chapter, we’ll get to the heart of installing and buying apps. We’ll look at not one, not two, but three ways to purchase and install apps with relative safety.
Android’s Unwalled App Garden
You may have heard Apple iOS referred to as a “walled garden,” because you can only purchase or install apps from the Apple App Store on your iPhone or iPad unless you take drastic measures to “jailbreak” or “root” the device and defeat the default limitation on your phone or tablet. There are some good reasons why Apple limits you to only the App Store. They test every app for safety before allowing it into the App Store, and they can pull apps from your device automatically that turn out to be unsafe (a hidden virus or security breach, for example). However, Apple’s choices for app approval have been sometimes controversial. Some developers have accused Apple of being anticompetitive and arbitrary on approval of apps.
With Android, this is not a problem. It is an “unwalled garden.” You can install apps from as many different app markets as you’d like (or no market at all). I still suggest sticking to the big players for safety reasons, which is why I’m going to show you how to install apps from three of them: Samsung, Google Play, and Amazon. These are all large markets with a decent reputation for safety, and two of them are already preinstalled on your device.
Galaxy Apps
You had the chance to register for a Samsung account when you initially set up your tablet (Chapter 1), and you had a chance to download some Samsung apps with your Samsung bonus content (Chapter 3).
You can get to the Samsung app market, Galaxy Apps, by clicking on the “Galaxy Essentials” widget on your Home screen, but if you have removed this widget, you can still get to the Galaxy App store.
First, tap on the app tray icon (Figure 4-1).
Figure 4-1. Tap on the apps icon
Next, tap on the menu/options (Figure 4-2).
Figure 4-2. Menu/options
Now select GALAXY Essentials from the menu (Figure 4-3).
Figure 4-3. Select GALAXY Essentials
You may recall this as the familiar screen from Chapter 3. This is a featured area that shows multiple apps. Tap on Samsung GALAXY Apps to see more apps available from Samsung’s market (Figure 4-4).
Figure 4-4. Tap on Samsung GALAXY Apps
In this area (Figure 4-5), you’ll see featured apps, including staff picks, exclusives, and top downloads. You can also search for apps or find apps by category.
Figure 4-5. The Galaxy App store
Once you find an app that you like, you can tap on it to download. If you want to purchase an app, you’ll need to make sure you have credit card information on file with Samsung. In this case, we’ll download the free Autodesk FormIt app.
Tap on the app to see more information, including a summary of what it does, user ratings, and screen shots (Figure 4-6).
Figure 4-6. The details about the app on the Galaxy App store
If you want to download the app, tap on the “Free” button. If this app were a premium app, the button would say “Purchase” instead. Once you do this, you’ll see a screen detailing exactly how much permission you’re giving the app (Figure 4-7).
Figure 4-7. Permissions—either cancel or accept them and download
Note Although it’s easy to get fatigued with all these permissions screens, it’s important to read through them. If you have a game that wants permission to see your contacts, for example, ask yourself if that’s a reasonable permission for that game, and do not download the app if the answer is “no.”
Once you accept and download an app, you’ll see a status message in the notifications area, and you’ll be able to open and use the app on your tablet when the downloading is finished.
Google Play
The second area to download apps is really the primary area for most Android users. The Google Play store was previously called the Android Market, but now it contains all of the items that Google sells, including apps, books, movies, and music. The online version even contains devices such as tablets, watches, and phones.
You don’t have to do anything special to install the Google Play store. It’s already on your device. You do need to have an active Google Account, if you have not set one up already. You also need a credit card on file in order to purchase apps from Google Play.
Google Play App
To access Google Play, go to the app area, and tap on Play store, as shown in Figure 4-8.
Figure 4-8. Tap on Play Store
It may also be on one of your Home screens. It’s installed there by default, but you may have added or removed the icon shortcut.
One you launch the Play Store app, you’ll go into Google Play (Figure 4-9).
Figure 4-9. Google Play
You can see that this is more of a full-fledged app store. Indeed, it is the largest Android store and the primary store for most Android tablets. A few Android tablets, for example, the Kindle Fire, do not use Google Play at all and cannot use this store.
You can navigate by category tab, such as app or game. You can search for individual apps. You can browse by popularity or by editor’s picks, and you can search for either premium or free apps. You can also buy or rent movies, eBooks, newspapers, and music from the same app and using the same payment system to download. Because the areas are color-coded, it should be less confusing to figure out if you are browsing for apps or movies (sometimes there’s an app and a movie with the same name). Figure 4-10 shows the movie store as a point of comparison.
Figure 4-10. Google Play Movies and TV
If you enter the movie or book section by mistake, or if you ever want to find store options, tap on the left side of the screen as shown in Figure 4-11 and then tap Store home.
Figure 4-11. The menu you summon by tapping on the left side of the screen in Google Play
You can see the apps you’ve downloaded (from Google Play only—you won’t see Samsung Galaxy App store downloads or other app stores here) and you can redeem gift cards or set your preferences to filter your choices by app maturity rating.
When you select an app, you’ll see an area showing ratings, screen shots, and price, similar to what you see in the Galaxy App store (Figure 4-12).
Figure 4-12. The app information page
If you want to download the app, tap on the Install button.
The app will show you all the permissions it requires, and it will also offer a drop-down menu to choose where to install the app. You may have more than one Android tablet or phone, or a combination of tablet and phone. You can actually select an app on one device and have it installed on a different device. Select your device and tap Install (Figure 4-13).
Figure 4-13. Install the app
You’ll see a notification of download progress, and then you can use the app, just like the apps from the Galaxy App store.
From the Web
You don’t actually have to use Google Play from your tablet or phone. You can also go to the website (play.google.com) when logged into your Google account (Figure 4-14).
Figure 4-14. Google Play website
Remotely download apps or books from the website, and they’ll download to your Samsung Galaxy Tab S and be waiting for you when you next use your tablet. You can use this same trick with most app stores, including Samsung and Amazon’s. The option that you get from Google Play that you don’t get from your tablet is the option to order devices. You can order a variety of hardware including phones, tablets, watches, Chromecasts, and Chromebooks, but you can’t do this from the version of Google Play that runs on your tablet.
The Appstore for Android
The Amazon Appstore is the most complicated to install out of the apps we’ve explored so far, but Amazon offers a free paid app of the day, and sometimes they have specials with multiple apps, so if you’re a persistent website visitor, you can establish quite the library of premium apps for free. You’ll need an Amazon account to use the Appstore, which you should already have if you’ve ever purchased anything from Amazon.
First, visit the Appstore (www.amazon.com) from either your computer’s browser or the browser on your tablet and go to the Appstore for Android (Figure 4-15).
Figure 4-15. The Appstore for Android
Now, click or tap on the Get Started area. This is going to walk you through the steps, but the important ingredients here are that you need to allow third-party apps, and you need the link to download Amazon’s third party app. So, let’s enable third party apps:
- On your Galaxy Tab, tap on Settings (Figure 4-16)
Figure 4-16. Settings
- Tap on Security
- Tap on the checkbox next to “Unknown Sources.” You’ll see a dialog box asking you if you’re sure you want to do this (Figure 4-17). That’s because downloading apps outside the app store runs the risk that the app will have been maliciously written. Because we’re going to use the Amazon Appstore, we’re not entirely straying into apps from just anyone. Amazon tests their apps for compatibility and security, and by using the Amazon Appstore App, you allow Amazon to pull dangerous apps from your device—just like you do with the other two app stores.
Figure 4-17. Confirm that you want to turn on this option
Now that you’ve taken care of the fiddly part with your Galaxy Tab preferences, you need to install the Appstore App.
You can get the app in one of several ways:
- You can input your email on Amazon’s Appstore page (Figure 4-18) or you can take a picture of the QR code with your tablet and follow the link. You also can type http://www.amazon.com/getappstore into your browser window or just tap on the link if you’re looking at this page in your tablet’s browser window.
Figure 4-18. Multiple ways to get the Appstore App
- Amazon will offer you a link to the app. Go ahead and tap on that. What you’re going to download will be an .apk file. .apk is the extension that Android apps use, and if you hadn’t enabled “unknown sources” in the preferences, Android just won’t let you go any further.
- You’ll see your downloaded .apk file in the notifications panel (Figure 4-19). Go ahead and tap on it.
Figure 4-19. Tap on the .apk file
- You’ll now see an alert showing you the permissions that the Appstore app requires (Figure 4-20), and you’ll have the chance to Install or Cancel. Obviously, you want to Install.
Figure 4-20. The Appstore app is finally being installed
- Now you’ll just need to click on the Appstore app when you want to download apps from Amazon.
- Log in using your Amazon account.
The interface of the Amazon Appstore looks slightly different from the other app stores, but the basic information and concept is the same (Figure 4-21). Browse for apps and download them. The Appstore app can detect if you already have an app on your device from another app store, so you won’t end up installing several duplicates of the same thing.
Figure 4-21. Amazon Appstore
If you purchase the “free app of the day” on Amazon on a regular basis (something I’ve done daily for years now whether or not I had a device that could even use them at times), you will amass quite the library of premium apps that you can install whenever you wish. Apps that you don’t install will remain in your library for later use.
Other Third-Party Markets
Samsung and Amazon aren’t the only app stores outside of Google. There’s Getjar (http://www.getjar.mobi/) and countless other stores. Some may be more reputable than others. In general, I’d advise to stick with the three stores I’ve outlined in this chapter, because they come from large companies that vet the available apps.
Summary
In this chapter, we explored three different app stores. Two come automatically on your Samsung Galaxy Tab, and one (Amazon) is something that you have to download and install separately. You can find countless apps and bargain shop for deals in these three app stores.
In the next chapter, we’ll start digging into using your device for business and pleasure. We’ll set up a calendar, check email, look at Web conferencing, and go through other regular tasks.