The App Store is fully-accessible with VoiceOver, so you can easily download apps onto your iPhone or iPad.
The App Store is an app (normally on page 1 of your phone or iPad). To open it, find it and then double-tap on it to select it.
To download an app, you will first need to find it in the App Store. If you are already on the app’s page, you can skip this step.
To find an app, single-tap your finguer near the bottom of the screen. VoiceOver should announce the name of a tab. Swipe right until you hear “Search tab”, then double-tap.
After that, type the name of the app you would like in the search field, and click Search.
Once the results load, swipe through them until you find the app you want.
If you already know what the app does and you are ready to download it, swipe right once after VoiceOver announces the app’s name to find the Get button, and then double-tap to select that button.
If you would like some more information about the app, double-tap on the app name and find the app description that will be somewhere in the page that opens.
If the Get button isn’t there and instead there is a button labelled with an amount of money (e.g. £2.99) the app you are trying to download is a paid app and you will need to pay for it before you can download it (which will require additional steps that we will not cover in this article).
After you click the Get button, a few things could happen.
Don’t panick! Not all of the below things will happen to you, we just need to cover them all as different things happen based on your set up.
If at this point you are asked for your Apple ID password, enter it and click Sign in. This is not the code you use to unlock your phone. If the device you are on is a shared device, you may need to ask for the password or have someone type it in.
If you hear Double-click to install, position your phone in front of your face (for Face ID) and double-click the side button. You will likely hear this if you have an iPhone X or later.
If you hear “Touch ID to install”, place the finguer that you set up for Touch ID on the home button. You will likely hear this on iPhone 8 or earlier. Do not press the home button, as this will move you to the home screen.
If your account is set up so you have to have apps approved by your parents before they are downloaded, an alert should appear at this point. Click “Ask” to send the app request. If you were asked to send a request, the app will only download once the request is approved.
If you don’t need to request apps, the app will start downloading once you have gone through the screens that appear after clicking the Get button.
The whole process isn’t as complicated as it sounds, and the more you practise the better you will get.