Looking for a last-minute holiday gift for your favorite smartphone addict? Here’s a quick and easy way to make her smile: give her an app.
You can gift apps to a lucky iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch user directly through your own iDevice or iTunes. All it takes is a few taps or clicks, and you can send gifted apps instantly or on a specific date in the future.
Unfortunately, you (still) can’t gift Android apps directly over Google’s online “Play” store. But never fear—where there’s a will, there’s a way.
For iOS (iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch) apps:
Want to gift an app directly from your iPhone or iPad? Just tap the Share button to get started.
Want to gift an app directly over your iDevice? Easy.
- First, open the App Store app, find an app you’d like to give to a special someone, then tap to open the app’s detail screen (the one with the tap-to-buy button).
- Tap the Share button at the top at the top of the screen (or, on an iPad in the top corner of the pop-up window), then tap the Gift button.
- A new email message with details on your gift will slide into view. Type in the email address of the recipient, add a personal message, then (under the Send Gift heading) choose when you’d like the gift to arrive: either immediately, or at a later date.
- Tap the Next button in the top corner of the screen to pick from seven themes for your virtual gift, then tap Next again to wrap up the process.
You can gift an app from iTunes on your desktop in just a few clicks.
Rather send your gift through iTunes? Here’s how…
- Open iTunes, then go to the App Store (click the iTunes Store button in the top corner of the iTunes interface, or click the Store menu at the top of the screen and select Home, then click the App Store tab).
- So, have you zeroed in on the app you’d like to gift? Go to its main product page, find the “Buy” button, click the little “down” arrow right next to it, then select Gift This App.
- Enter the name and email address of your lucky recipient, type in a holiday message, then choose whether to send the gift right now or at a later date.
- Click the Next button to choose a theme for your gift email (you can choose from seven themes, same as you can on an iDevice, then click Next to finalize your purchase.
For Android phones and tablets:
Google Play gift cards are available online and from retails such as Walmart, Target, and Sam’s Club.
No, you can’t gift an app through the Google Play app store, but you can give a Google Play gift card to a special someone.
- Available in denominations of $10, $25, and $50, Google Play gift cards are available online and at brick-and-mortar retailers like Walmart, Target, and Sam’s Club, and they can be used to gift apps, music, and books sold on the Google Play online marketplace.
- Meanwhile, Amazon has its own Android store stocked with thousands of popular apps, which can be redeemed with a digital Amazon gift card.
- Live someone other than the U.S.? If so, good news: Google Play gift cards are (finally) available at international retailers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom; Japan is “coming soon,” according to Google.
Looking for more Android tips? Click here, or click here for help with iOS.
Note: This updated and expanded tip was first published in November 2011.
