Gift giving is always a part of the holiday season whether people love it or hate this kind of activity. Some people love shopping for gifts while there are some people who view gift shopping as a big task especially when they think about the crowded stores and expensive prices this holiday season. Fortunately, there is another alternative for holiday gifts this season and it is in the form of mobile apps.

Mobile apps are ideal gifts because people do not need to brave the holiday traffic because it is very convenient to use. Aside from that, it is less expensive compared to other gifts and it is extremely useful to people depending on what their needs are. Most mobile devices have tapped into this "gift-giving" service in apps but some mobile devices are not able to fully develop this so users need to find a way to access it.

Here is a guide for doing gift giving through mobile apps:

Apple

One option for gifting apps through Apple is through the iTunes gift card which gives the person a chance to select what they want in iTunes. This could be an app, movies, books, music, etc. Users that are using Apple devices like iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch, could also opt for giving specific apps as gifts. Using an iOS device, select the app that you have chosen and open the information through the preview page. Once it is open, a link stating "Gift This App" would appear on the list located at the top right (iPad) or at the bottom of the page (iPhone and iPod Touch). Follow the instructions and you will be able to purchase and send it as a gift. If not using an iOS device, users could still purchase apps for other people via iTunes. Users can access the app and then click the drop down box stating "Buy App" and then choose "Gift this App".

Blackberry

There are two ways to do gift giving through Blackberry. Blackberry apps are actually accessible through Mobihand which lets users purchase the apps as a gift. Users could choose the app and then select the option titled "send it as an e-gift" located at the app's right top information page. Another option for Blackberry is the "BBM mobile gifting platform". This option was announced last February but is not yet fully implemented. This service is more inclined for family use since the users request the app that they want and it would need approval from the carrier program and in a family setting, it is usually the parents that would be billed for the said app.

Android

As for Android, there is really no direct gift giving option but users could purchase certain Android apps from other sources like Amazon.com. Users could opt to purchase gift cards from Amazon.com and it would enable recipient to choose from the wide choices in the store ranging from music to books. There is just a basic requirement for this option though and that is Amazon Appstore should already be installed in the recipient's device.