How to Search for Apps in the New Windows Store
After discovering what’s new in the latest version of Windows Store, it’s about time that we start learning how to look for apps using the Search feature that is integrated within the app itself. Modern apps are a new trend in PCs and if you’re still tied up to your old Windows 7 machine, you need to start taking distance from it a little bit and get acquainted with the merged PC and Tablet world offered by Microsoft’s latest operating system named Windows 8.1.
But before we get into the details, you first need to know some facts about the apps that are available in Windows Store. First, you will find some which will not require you to pay a dime while there are others that will first offer a free trial that will expire within a certain period of time and afterwards, you can pay to get the premium version and have it installed on your computer. No matter what type of app (either free or paid) you want to install, you need to learn how to search for it from the Windows Store screen but before we go to the details of how this is done, you first need to know what apps are capable of doing to your Windows 8.1 machine.
What Does a Modern Style App Do?
Aside from filling up the Start Screen with tiles representing each one of the apps that you install to your Windows 8.1 machine, modern style apps which are also called mobile apps instantly add more functions to your PC. For instance, you can quickly find out the latest weather news without using a web browser by installing a weather app or find out what’s new in your Facebook and Twitter pages by installing the apps that will allow you to access your account in any of these social networks.
Modern style apps also offer a brand new user experience if in case you are bored with using the traditional desktop apps and if you installed the latest Windows Update to your computer, you will be able to deal with these modern style apps the desktop program way. To find out some of the awesome features and functions included in the latest Windows Update for Windows 8.1, you can read our tutorial that describes these things and some other improvements.
Accessing the Windows Store App
Before the latest update for Windows 8.1 became available, accessing the Windows Store app required that you first open the Start Screen by pressing the Windows key or clicking on the Start Button located at the extreme-left end of the taskbar then after doing so, you need to click on the Windows Store tile which is pinned on the Start Screen by default.
If in case you don’t see the Windows Store tile on the Start Screen, it might have been accidentally unpinned from it and to access its shortcut, you will need to get to the Apps view screen by clicking on the circle button with an arrow down icon inside it located at the bottom-left portion of the Start Screen.
After you click on the button, the Apps view screen will open and from here, all you need to do is look for the shortcut that is labeled “Store” located under the “Shopping” apps category and when you find it, just click or tap on it to finally open the Windows Store.
Finally, if you installed the latest update available for Windows 8.1 then you should be able to see a Windows Store thumbnail that is pinned on the taskbar. Just click on the thumbnail and you should be able to open the Windows Store app and start accessing its contents. Next, since you already have an idea of what modern style apps are, got familiar with what they can do to your Windows 8.1 machine and learned how to access the Windows Store which is the place for downloading them, it is time to discover the steps in searching the right app that you want to install into your machine.
Searching for Apps to Install
Once you arrive on the Windows Store screen, you will need to learn how to search for the specific app that you want to download and install into your Windows 8.1 machine but first, try to find out to what possible category the app could belong. For instance, if you want to download an app that can play music, video and any other video contents then you need to click on the “Categories” link located on the bar at the top of the Windows Store screen and after doing so, you will see all available categories pop-out just at the bottom portion of the bar at the top where the “Categories” link sits.
Now, since you are looking for an app that can play music or video, you will need to click on the “Music and Video” apps category as shown on the screenshot above to access the list of apps that are grouped under it. From this list, simply choose the one that you want to install into your Windows 8.1 machine. If you are having a hard time in choosing the right app, you can read the description on each one of them then just decide which one you would really love to have afterwards.
Using the Search Input Box
At the top-right portion of the screen also sitting on the bar where the quick access links are located is a box which you can use in doing a search for a specific app which you know the name of. This box allows a quicker search process since you don’t have to do too much scrolling and reading through app descriptions. For instance, if you really know the name of the app that you really want to download and install then simply enter the app’s name into the box. After doing so, a suggestions screen will appear listing some apps that matches the specific name which you entered into the box.
If you see the app that you are looking for inside the suggestions box, you can simply click or tap on it to finally access the descriptions screen and have the installation process fired up! However, if the app that you are looking for is not available from the suggestions box, you should not get disappointed because you can still find it by pressing the “Enter” key or clicking on the search button located at the extreme-right end of the search input box and after doing so, the screen which contains the apps that matched with the word which you entered into the Search input box.
More App Searching Tips Coming Up!
As you can see, using the search feature that is integrated with the Windows Store app on your Windows 8.1 machine is quite easy. However, there are still more stuff that you need to learn about the app which we will be taking up in our next tutorial. For now, just take time exploring with the links, thumbnails and other stuff found on Windows Store’s main screen and in time, you will surely be able to use this online apps marketplace like a boss!