Why can't I find an app in the app store?

Question

Why can't I find an app in the app store?

Hi all! I am trying to download a 3rd-party app that will enable my kid to text from her wifi-only iPad Mini with a friend who has a non-iOS device. I have found the app online that I think will work.

So here's where my troubles start.

1. I can't access the app store from her iPad. It just won't let me search. I type in what I want to find, I hit "Search"... and nothing happens. It's an old iPad. No problem.

2. I hook up her iPad to my iMac. I find the app using Chrome... (and then I tried) Safari. There's no way to download the app directly from this page (there IS on my husband's PC). No problem. I go to the App Store. I search for the app. I can't find it to save my life. On my husband's PC, it shows up right away.

I love my iMac, but I can't figure out why my husband's PC is working so much better... with Apple software! It's almost like my searches are being blocked somehow.

So... here's my question. Why is the "Download now" button NOT showing up using either Chrome or Safari? Why can't I find the app directly in the App Store?

iPad mini Wi-Fi

Posted on Dec 16, 2017 10:45 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Dec 17, 2017 5:42 PM in response to DigitalChickster

Thanks for your replies. We were able to download the app using my husband's PC and his iTunes allowed us to put it on my daughter's iPad. So that problem has been solved. Why I could not do it on my iMac is still a big question!

Here's the link to the app: Text Free: Texting App + SMS on the App Store

It does say it will work on an iPad (and it does). I didn't WANT to download through a browser. I just mentioned that because on the PC that WAS an option. When I couldn't find the app at all using the App store (again, it showed right up when on the PC), it would have been just one more option.

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Answer 2

Dec 16, 2017 10:56 AM in response to DigitalChickster

You can only install Apps on an iPad from the iOS App Store.

If you are downloading it through a browser its most likely not an App that can be run on an iPad.

Make sure the iPad is connected to Wifi, and that the App in question is in fact available for the iPad.

What App is it exactly?

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Answer 3

Dec 17, 2017 5:44 PM in response to DigitalChickster

And don't get me wrong. I'm an avid Apple user... have been since the 90s. It's just frustrating when I find the rare thing that works better on a PC than on my iMac. And since I'm dealing with Apple software, it's doubly frustrating!

If you go look at the link I posted above, let me know if you see a "Download now" button. I didn't have one at all. And let me know if you can find the app in the app store... it didn't show up for me. I'm wondering if I have some setting that is blocking it for me somehow.

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Answer 4

FoxFifth

Level 10

468,801 points

Dec 16, 2017 10:53 AM in response to DigitalChickster

With iTunes 12.7 and later, iOS apps are no longer managed using iTunes. See: Changes in the new iTunes - Apple Support

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Answer 5

kb1951

Level 10

124,145 points

Dec 17, 2017 5:56 PM in response to DigitalChickster

I had no problem going into my App Store on my iPad Air 2 and finding the app. It had the ‘get’ button.

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Answer 6

Dec 17, 2017 6:03 PM in response to kb1951

OK, so it's a problem with my computer. Good to know. The thing is it didn't work using Chrome OR Safari. So I'm at a loss. But I really appreciate your letting me know.

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