Apple has released a new version (4.2) of its Apple Store app, and it’s now available for download from the App Store.
The update brings two important features: Personal Pickup and
EasyPay. The former lets you buy something in the app and pick up your
order at any Apple Retail Store. The feature is only available in the
U.S. and Apple claims “most in-stock orders are available for pickup
within an hour.”
EasyPay makes your in-store purchases simpler by letting you scan the
barcode of a product and complete the transaction in the app. It sounds
like the future of shopping: you enter a store, select a gadget, pay
with your phone, and walk away. But the feature has several limitations,
and some of its aspects are unclear.
First of all, due to the limitations of the older iPhone models’
cameras, the feature only works on iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. Secondly, it
can only be done with “select accessories.”
Most importantly, we’d like to know whether the feature will require
any sort of assistance — receiving a printed receipt, for example — from
Apple personnel. If the answer is yes, it defeats the purpose, and if
the answer is no, it might make protection from theft a bit more
challenging for Apple, with people simply walking out the store with a
bunch of gadgets, without talking to an Apple employee first. We’ve
asked Apple about the specifics involving EasyPay and are waiting for
their answer.
The app also lets you track current and previous orders, and brings support for Canada and China.
The app requires iOS 4.2 or higher. Unfortunately for iPad owners,
Apple Store is still not optimized for that device, meaning it will work
as an up-scaled version of the iPhone app.
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