If you’re looking to spread your digital wings a bit, you probably want to find some of the highest quality educational iOS apps available. You probably head over to the official Apple App Store on your chosen iDevice and check out the ‘featured’ area and perhaps the ‘Top Sellers’ list. That’s great and a solid way to see what is being used on devices around the world. 

For the most part, though, all those top apps are either just big names or have had some recent promotion. As someone who once made an iPad app, I know what it’s like to try and get your app onto one of those promoted areas in the App Store. You would do just about anything because, as I found out, your sales and download numbers skyrocket as soon as you crack the top 100 apps in your category.

So how should you avoid the crazy featured and top sellers lists? By becoming familiar with the category filters, of course! It’ll look something like this on your computer:

See that small little link that says ‘Education Collections’ on the right below ‘iPhone Education’? That’s where you want to focus. It’s out of the way and most people don’t use it.

That’s the secret.

You want to use that link to filter down your app choices into what you actually want. That’s how you find the highest quality educational iOS apps that you wouldn’t normally see surfaced on the main App Store. For example, it’s a great way to find apps for elementary school students who need some STEM activities. Or perhaps it’s a great way to find an app for students in need of special education. Maybe just a handy to-do list for teachers gearing up for the new school year? It’s simple to find all this stuff and you don’t even need to search!