Here is a step-by-step walkthrough that details how you can sign-up on iTunes Store and purchase applications for iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 and iPod Touch.

Install iTunes 7.7 if you haven’t done so already. Launch iTunes and click on the iTunes Store link in the side bar. iTunes store will try and deduce your country from your IP address and will directly take you to the correct store for your geography. Sometimes it is unable to guess your location (as happened with me) and in that case, you’ll be redirected to a page with flags of all the countries where iTunes Store is now available. You’ll see the Indian tricolor here, click it to navigate to iTunes Store for India.

It might so happen, that your location is guessed wrongly and you are taken to iTunes Store for a different country. Scroll all the way down and select your country from the drop-down list (or click the flag icon next to it to go to the page with flags for all countries).

Perhaps the first thing that you’ll notice is that there is no music available for purchase in India. At this point, India only gets the App Store subset. I am trying to see the glass half-full here, so lets explore how we purchase an app (or download a free one).

Click on the Sign In button in the top right corner of the iTune Store pane.

You’ll be prompted for signing in with your Apple Id. If you’ve ever logged in and posted on Apple’s support forums, you already have an Apple Id that you can use here. Otherwise, click on the Create New Account button to get started.

I’ll assume that you already have an Apple Id, but you haven’t used with iTunes store before. You’ll probably get a message box saying that “This Apple ID has not yet been used with the iTunes Store”. Click the Review button.

You’ll now get a welcome splash-screen inside the iTunes Store pane. Click the Continue button to get started.

The next screen will show you the iTunes Store Terms & Conditions. Read it if you have time, inclination and love for legalese or check the box next to “I have read and agree to the iTunes Terms and Conditions” like the rest of us. Click the Continue button.

This is where you’ll need to provide your credit card and billing information. Sadly, this information is mandatory for completing the sign-up process – even if you want to download the free applications. Visa, Master Card and American Express cards are accepted.

Update: Looks like there is a workaround to avoid giving out your credit card. As a bonus, you can sign up for the US iTunes Store and also enjoy freebies like iTunes free single of the Week. Don’t count on it to work forever though!

Click the Done button. iTunes Store will now verify your information and hopefully will tell you that your account has been successfully created.

Click the Done button to come back to the store.

At this stage you should be already signed in – the text on the Sign In button changes to your Apple Id when you are. If not, just click on the Sign In button and provide your Apple Id and Password. Browse through the available applications. You can click on an application’s icon to see more details about it. If you want to buy it, just click on the Get App button.

The app will be automatically queued for downloading. Your credit-card will be automatically charged if the app is not free. Once the app finishes downloading, it’ll show up under the Applications section of your Library. (The Applications section will be automatically enabled once you have an app or you can enable it yourself from Preferences > General).

The next time you connect your iPhone (3G or the older one with iPhone 2.0 firmware) or iPod Touch (again with 2.0 firmware), the app should sync and become available on your home screen. I am yet to get my hands on the 2.0 firmware, so I’ll update this post with my experiences once I have it up and running. Update: Firmware 2.0 and the iTunes App Store experience in India.

Overall the purchase experience is quite smooth. There are some quirks though – especially for the Indian users. The application prices are quoted in US $. What comes on your credit-card statement in Indian Rupees will depend on the exchange rate on the day the charge hits your card. Also, if you have the mini iTunes Store enabled, instead of suggestions relevant to your currently playing song, you’ll just get an empty frame – a direct consequence of the iTunes Store in India being App only.

Did we miss something? Got questions about purchasing apps from the iTunes Store? Let us know in the comments and we’ll try and get you an answer.

This entry was posted Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 10:37 pm and is filed under Tips, iPhone, iPod, iTunes. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.