Since you have to be logged into your Apple ID and iTunes account when you download an app, whether you have to purchase the application or it is a free download and install, Apple keeps track of which apps you have purchased in the past. This allows you to re-install an app you have uninstalled, either from the iPad's App Store, or from iTunes - inside iTunes, this can be done either by restoring the app from an iPad backup, or by re-downloading the app from the iTunes Store. In this tutorial, we will show you how to re-install a removed app from the iPad itself, in just a few finger taps!
Re-download and install iPad apps
Follow these very simple steps to get a previously installed app back on your iPad:
- First, once inside your iPad, click on the Home button to see your Home screen, and start hunting for the "App Store" icon; tap on it when you find it.
- When your iPad opens the App Store, tap inside the search field shown in the top right corner of the screen; and start typing the app name once the keyboard pops up.
- As you start typing, your iPad show an AutoComplete dropdown menu of suggestions, and you will soon see in it the name of the application you want to reinstall on your device: tap on its name. If you get a result page, tap on the icon of the app in question until you get to its official "homepage" in the store.
- For free apps, there is no concern about double charges, so you can just click on the "Install" button, optionally supply your Apple ID password if prompted to do so, and the app will start downloading without further ado.
- In the case of paid apps (non-free applications in the App Store), Apple will know that you have already purchased that app, and not require you to purchase it again. In case you are using multiple Apple ID's, just make sure that you are currently logged in under the same iTunes account you used to purchase that particular app in the first place, otherwise it will of course show the price you need to pay to download and install it.
This is all there is to re-downloading and re-installing free or paid iPad apps you previously purchased from the App Store!