Q: How do I give a specific App as a gift to another iPhone user? Also, can I control the date the gift is redeemable? For example, can I purchase the Apps now, but keep the recipient from receiving them until Christmas Day?
– Hubert
A: You can purchase individual apps as a gift from either the App Store on your iPhone or from within the iTunes app on your desktop. To purchase a gift from the App Store on your iPhone or iPod touch scroll to the bottom of the app page and you should see a “Gift This App” button immediately below the screenshot section.
From within iTunes on your PC or Mac, simply click the drop-down arrow that appears to the right of the “Buy” button and choose “Gift This App” from the drop-down menu that appears.
When purchasing an app as a gift from your iPhone or iPod touch the gift is sent out via e-mail. Purchasing a gift from iTunes gives you the option to either send the gift out via e-mail or print out a gift card yourself.
There is no way to send a gift at a later date—the e-mail will be sent as soon as the gift is purchased.
Note, however, that the e-mail address used for the gift recipient has nothing to do with who can redeem the gift—only the actual gift code matters. This means that you can e-mail a gift to yourself and then simply choose to forward it on to the recipient when you actually want to give the gift. Alternatively, you could just print out the gift notice from iTunes and either physically send it to the person, or print to a PDF that could be sent via e-mail.
