Skip to Content

"Gift This App" appears in the app store


When the 2010 baseball season began, I knew I wanted to buy MLB At Bat for a friend. Unfortunately there was no way to do that directly, so I had to settle for a Gift Certificate. Then I discovered that Gift Certificates are only available in $10 increments, starting at $10 and ending at $50.

As of today, that will no longer be a problem. Apple has introduced "Gift This App" for iPhone/iPod touch apps. Simply click on the dropdown menu next to "Buy App" to find the "Gift This App" link. Unfortunately it does not seem to be enabled (yet?) for all apps. When I checked the CBS Sports NCAA app the Gift This App option did not appear.

Then there is the question of what happens if you try to buy an app for someone who already has it? What if you try to send an app to someone who uses a different email address for their iTunes account? What if you buy an app for someone who -- I shudder to even suggest this -- doesn't have an iPhone or iPod touch?

While I am sure that these and other issues will have to be worked out, this is a good addition to the App Store if for no other reason than it will allow people to give the gift of apps without having to go through the extra process of buying a gift card, especially if all you want to spend is $0.99!


Categories

App Store

When the 2010 baseball season began, I knew I wanted to buy MLB At Bat for a friend. Unfortunately there was no way to do that directly,...
 

Add a Comment

*0 / 3000 Character Maximum

13 Comments

Filter by:
Branded treasure hunt

And I also want Dreamwalk App to regift to my friends. I will try this one later. Thanks for this app.

http://www.dreamwalkmobile.com

March 31 2010 at 2:16 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
wichenroder

Region restrictions apply... BOOOOOORING

March 24 2010 at 5:08 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rego

So the moral of the story may be:

Don't gift or give apps if:

You don't know

whether they have an itunes account

whether they have a device to run an app on

whether you have an up to date email address for them

whether they already have the app in question


In short be prepared and always practice safe gifting.

March 22 2010 at 7:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Frederico

Yes, but when will I have the option to regift an app?

Hey, regift didn't pop up as wrong with spellchecker. Maybe David is wrong and dictionary is right?

March 22 2010 at 5:05 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Frederico's comment
chefjd

I have a few apps I would love to regift right now.

March 22 2010 at 5:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
David Emery

"gift" is a noun, not a verb. The proper verb is "to give" and the imperative here would be "give".

So it should be "Give this app". Is that so hard to get right?

This annoys me even more than the inexcusable confusion between "its" and "it's" (Hint: if you substitute "it's" with "it is" and it doesn't sound right, then you've probably written the wrong thing.)

dave (who was a math major and tried to sleep through much of college English...)


March 22 2010 at 3:56 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to David Emery's comment
Brett

In perfect English, you're right (or is that your right?)... but 'gifting' has become common slang and is an accepted use verb.

Save your anger for something that deserves it... like kittens. Hate the kittens.

March 22 2010 at 4:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Andy

Main Entry: gift
Function: transitive verb
Date: circa 1550
1 : to endow with some power, quality, or attribute
2 : present

March 23 2010 at 6:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
OneTraveler

Also, not sure if this is new or not, but i was updating apps the other night, and when Bing started to download it's update I got a warning dialog about how it may contain content not suitable for people under 17....if this is new, it should lend credence to the "Adult" section of the store....

March 22 2010 at 3:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to OneTraveler's comment
TJ Luoma

That warning has been there for some time; long before the "adult" app kerfuffle.

March 22 2010 at 4:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Cody Rogers

It now is available with the NCAA app!

March 22 2010 at 3:44 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
sinless

If it works like music I believe that your recipient receives a code to plug into their iTunes account. It wouldn't fix the "doesn't have the device" problem or what would happen if they already have it, but you wouldn't have to worry about what address is tied to their account.

March 22 2010 at 3:07 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to sinless's comment
Maldaen

I imagine that since iTunes keeps purchase records for apps, it would notify the recipient that they already purchased the app and issue a store credit back to the purchaser.

March 22 2010 at 3:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Buy an ad here

Hot Apps on TUAW

Tweets

© 2012 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.