The newly launched Mac App Store may sport a familiar , iTunes - like face . But there ’s still plenty to distinguish with Apple ’s new source for buying Mac software .
Weasked if you had any motion about the Mac App Storeand came up with a list of our own . Then , we spent Thursdaydiving into the Mac App Storeto get some answers to those question . Here ’s what we ’ve been able to find out so far .
The basics
How do I get at the Mac App Store ?
After you update , the App Store app will be in your Dock , next to the Finder .
It ’s as unsubdivided as upgrading toMac OS X 10.6.6 , an update to Snow Leopard that Apple released Thursday . Once you ’ve installed the 10.6.6 update , you ’ll find an App Store ikon in your Dock , right next to the Finder . ( you could also enter the store from the Apple bill of fare . ) That ’s a different approach than what Apple used with its iOS App Store , which you access through iTunes . But the layout of the Mac App Store is similar to what you ’ve become accustomed to with Apple ’s retail outlet for mobile apps .
After you update, the App Store app will be in your Dock, next to the Finder.
I have a Mac that ’s not running Snow Leopard . Can I habituate the Mac App Store ?
No . The Mac App Store only work on Snow Leopard . Apps you download might cultivate if you prompt them to a Mac not endure Snow Leopard , though . However , if you have an older PowerPC - based Mac , the apps wo n’t form — App Store apps are all Intel - only .
Do I have to update to OS X 10.6.6 to expend the Mac App Store ?
Apps download right in your Dock and then remain there once they’re installed.
Yes . As noted above , Mac OS X 10.6.6 actually start the Mac App Store and installs the Modern App Store app . It ’s a must .
What ’s the modal cost of apps found at the Mac App Store ?
There ’s a spate of variability . There are barren apps , of course . But then , Apple ’s Aperture is $ 80 , Things and Acorn toll $ 50 , Delicious Library sells for $ 40 , OmniGraffle Pro will run you $ 200 , and Distribute is listed at $ 700 . Apple has priced its iWork apps at $ 20 each ( twice the cost of the iPad versions ) , and its iLife apps at $ 15 . Some developers have cut their cost , while others have observe them the same . It will take a while for people to compute out what the right prices for Mac Apps are in the Mac App Store .
We didn’t buy BBEdit on the Mac App Store, but it’s installed.
Can I buy apps from the Mac App Store just like I grease one’s palms iOS apps ?
passably much . On your iOS equipment , you ’d utilise the App Store app , and so it is on the Mac . When you want to buy something , you enter in your iTunes ID and password and , godsend — it ’s purchase . The app download automatically , too , and what you bought is automatically placed in the Dock . ( you could move it out later , if you require . )
If I live outside the U.S. , can I bribe apps from the U.S. Mac App Store ?
The Mac App Store is open to pretty much every country that lets you buy hooey from Apple—90 in all . It seems like most of the international riddance issues involving iTunes medium do not exist on the Mac App Store , so you should be able to buy in your own country and get the same hooey you ’d get in the U.S.
Do apps download instantly to my Mac ’s Downloads pamphlet or will they be added to iTunes like iOS apps ?
Apps download right in your Dock and then stay on there once they ’re installed .
Neither . When you corrupt a Mac App Store app , it ’s set up straight off in your Applications brochure and added to your Dock .
Does that mean that Mac App Store purchases have to remain in my Dock permanently ?
No , once they ’re in your Dock they behave like any other app . you could cart them out ( or control - get across and deselect Options - > Keep in Dock ) to banish them .
What befall when you move an app from the Applications leaflet after buying it on the Mac Apple Store ? Will it still be recognized and updated ?
you may move the app out of the Applications folder after it has been installed , and they ’ll bunk alright . We ’re not sure how this will affect update , since the apps we just buy have n’t required updating yet .
What happen if I set up the App Store version over top of an existing edition ? Like Evernote , for example .
We had that exact experience . When we set up Evernote 2.0.1 from the Mac App Store , it replaced variation 2.0 that was already instal on the Mac . All the save information was preserve — no problems .
What if I lose my purchase apps because my Mac doss down or hard drive dies . Will I have to compensate for them again ?
No . Like Io App Store apps , if you render to purchase an app you ’ve antecedently bought , the App Store realise this and offers to let you download it again for free .
Is there a download sizing limit for apps sell in the store ?
None that we ’re aware of , though of course the bigger the app , the longer the download . So developers are encouraged to keep filing cabinet sizes down .
Is Apple applying content standards to the apps sold in the Mac App Store ?
As with the iOS App Store , Apple is curating the Mac App Store , both for content and for proficient reasons . The difference is that on the Mac , if someone ’s app is rejected by Apple , they can still sell it to Mac substance abuser . They just wo n’t have the marketing engine of Apple ’s App Store behind them .
What are some of those restrictions ? In other tidings , what apps wo n’t I see in the Mac App Store ?
You wo n’t see trial , demo , or beta apps in the store . ( Apple encourages developer to carry those things to their company Websites . ) Like the iOS App Store , Mac apps that use programming technique not bless by Apple wo n’t make the undercut . Neither will apps that offer their own update chemical mechanism or misuse the tidy Mac OS X Indian file system . ( For model , apps can not store database in ~/Documents . ) To gain Apple ’s approval , apps also can not download standalone apps outside of the store , and they ca n’t install kernel telephone extension .
In other Word , apps like WireTap Anywhere , TotalFinder , and CandyBar are not allowed by Apple ’s current policies .
What are the option to the Mac App Store ? Will software ( let in demos , betas , and other non - commercial-grade reading ) still be available from traditional sources — marketer internet sites , mail club , the Apple computer memory , and so forth ?
The entire Internet is an alternative to the Mac App Store . developer do not have to make their apps exclusive on the Mac App Store . All traditional sources of Mac software system rest unchanged as of January 6 ; there ’s just a unexampled source , the Mac App Store . presumptively it will very quickly become the most important informant , given Apple ’s backing , but the others are n’t going to go aside any time soon .
How does the Mac App Store software - update summons mesh with the existing Apple Software Update dick ?
It ’s a honest interrogative and we ’re not really sure what the solvent will be . Presumably all the apps you purchase in the Mac App Store will update via the App Store app itself , using the Updates tab . Some orchard apple tree - made apps like iLife and iWork currently expend Apple ’s Software Update mechanism , it ’s unreadable if that will continue , or if Apple will funnel all of that into the Mac App Store over metre . ( You may update in dissimilar places based on where you bought your software , in the short term . In the longsighted term , the App Store app will probably be the answer . )
Can iTunes gift posting be used in the Mac App Store ?
Yes . So far as we can recite , there ’s no wall between money you expend in one part of Apple ’s mammoth e - commerce empire and another part . If you ’ve catch a giving posting to redeem , you may just snap on Redeem in the App Store app and put in your code , just as you would in iTunes or in the App Store app on iOS devices . Then again , we ’ve also seensome people on Twitterreport that the two stores may not be connected . We ’re just not sure yet .
Licenses and copy protection
Can I bribe an app on one Mac for use on all my computers ?
Yes , you may install apps bought from the Mac App Store on any and every Mac that you personally own and apply .
What about the five - Mac restriction that I have with TV I bought from iTunes ? Does that influence for Apps too ?
No . Apps do n’t check to see if you ’ve using an iTunes - empower Mac . They can ask you to swear your Apple ID and password , but that ’s a unmarried check and it ’s just to aver you are who you say you are . Once your identity is verified , that ’s it . There ’s no authorizing or deauthorizing or enumeration of unlike Macs .
Does that mean I could buy one copy of an app and set up it on every Mac in my business organisation ?
No , the licence you consort to when you participate the Mac App Store says that app downloads are for Macs that you personally own , and that ’s a license for personal utilization . Apps that are signify for professional exercise are licensed for you or for a single computer used by several citizenry . While there ’s no expert balk to you installing them on multiple Macs at body of work , you ’ll be violating the license arrangement . It ’s the same scenario as if you buy a undivided - user transcript of iWork and install it on ten Macs at piece of work — you could do it , but you ’re violating the license arrangement , making the act ethically questionable .
Are there syndicate pack licensing options in the App Store ?
No , apps are purchased for and possess by a user linked to a single Apple ID . But if you lumber in with that ID on all the Macs in your house , you could download and install your apps on each one .
How does the Mac App Store handle volume licenses ? How about educational discount rate ? Are those offered in the App Store , or do I have to go direct to the software vendor for that kind of discount rate pricing ?
As far as we have sex , there is no volume licensing for Mac App Store apps . However , accord to Ken Case at The Omni Group , educational discounts are usable , but only on a volume licensing ground . For that , you ’ll have to get hold of Apple .
Is there any DRM that would preclude me from using a Mac App Store leverage on another calculator ?
Some apps provide you to freely copy to other Macs and they ’ll endure without a hitch ( though this seems to be a proficient supervision , and not an intentional design ) . Other apps will postulate the purchaser of the app to lumber into the Mac App Store . When you launch such an app , a login window appears , display the purchaser ’s invoice name ; you then have to move into that account ’s watchword . If you accede a dissimilar account , the app does n’t work .
Say I migrate to a young Mac . Will I be able to take my App Store purchases with me ?
As mentioned above , when you move an app to another Mac , you might have to enrol in the login information of the purchaser . If you have that info , you ’re all set . you may also just re - download all your apps directly from the Mac App Store ( as long as they ’re still available ) by lumber in on the new Mac and check the Purchases yellow journalism .
Existing apps
Does the App Store realise software system I already own ? Will that prevent me from inadvertently buying computer software that ’s already on my Mac ?
We did n’t grease one’s palms BBEdit on the Mac App Store , but it ’s set up .
Well , the good news is that the Mac App Store can know some of the existing third - party apps that you own … provided that they are install , of course . alternatively of a button with a monetary value , you will see a button labeled “ put in , ” so you ca n’t make an impulse buy upon seeing a familiar side in the storage . But this does n’t work withallapps — the store is just depend for apps with the same version number and “ bundle ID , ” a unique identifier , in all the apps set up on your Mac .
If the adaptation of the app you have installed matches the one in the shop , it will register as “ establish . ” Some developer modify their variant Book of Numbers on the apps they submit for the store , others change only the bundle ID but kept the version number , while a few leave everything alone , which is why some apps seem as “ instal . ” Read on for the downside to this money - saving perk .
If I have an existing Mac diligence that is tell apart as “ Installed ” , does that entail I ’ll get updates through the Mac App Store ? Will I get update notifications for apps I bribe straight off from developers ?
Once a developer updates their app in the Mac App Store , it will no longer cross-file as “ Installed , ” and you will need to re - buy it from the store to commence come update from the store . At this prison term , Apple declare oneself no sort of system for transitioning an subsist licence you own for an app into the Mac App Store . This is partly why some generous developer have gone out of their means to offer highly discount prices on their wares for a limited time at the computer storage ’s launch . They want to give users who prefer the Mac App Store way of updating software a cheaper elbow room of opting into the ecosystem .
What if the Mac App Store does n’t recognize my antecedently purchased software as put in ?
You ’ll have to be measured not to buy the software until you determine that you want to opt into the Mac App Store ecosystem , perhaps when there is a major raw version or the developer has a fire sales event . Many developers have state that they will maintain disjoined , non - Mac App Store versions of their apps and update them , at least for some time , for user who can not or do not need to buy into the Mac App Store . A few developers , though , have moved their apps entirely into the Mac App Store , and significantly slashed their terms , at least for a limited prison term , to serve with the transition .
How do I uninstall apps installed via Mac App Store ?
The same agency you uninstall most other Mac apps : afford your Applications leaflet and drag the app to the methamphetamine .
