Phone Apps

 

Mobile app

A mobile application, also referred to as a mobile app or simply an app, is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Apps were originally intended for productivity assistance such as email, calendar, and contact databases, but the public demand for apps caused rapid expansion into other areas such as mobile games, factory automation, GPS and location-based services, order-tracking, and ticket purchases, so that there are now millions of apps available. Apps are generally downloaded from application distribution platforms which are operated by the owner of the mobile operating system, such as the App Store (iOS) or Google Play Store. Some apps are free, and others have a price, with the profit being split between the application's creator and the distribution platform. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on desktop computers, and web applications which run in mobile web browsers rather than directly on the mobile device.

In 2009, technology columnist David Pogue stated that smartphones could be nicknamed "app phones" to distinguish them from earlier less-sophisticated smartphones.^[1] The term "app", short for "software application", has since become very popular; in 2010, it was listed as "Word of the Year" by the American Dialect Society.^[2]

Overview

Most mobile devices are sold with several apps bundled as pre-installed software, such as a web browser, email client, calendar, mapping program, and an app for buying music, other media, or more apps. Some pre-installed apps can be removed by an ordinary uninstall process, thus leaving more storage space for desired ones. Where the software does not allow this, some devices can be rooted to eliminate the undesired apps.

Apps that are not preinstalled are usually available through distribution platforms called app stores. They began appearing in 2008 and are typically operated by the owner of the mobile operating system, such as the Apple App Store, Google Play, Windows Phone Store, and BlackBerry App World. However, there are independent app stores, such as Cydia, GetJar and F-Droid. Some apps are free, while others must be bought. Usually, they are downloaded from the platform to a target device, but sometimes they can be downloaded to laptops or desktop computers. For apps with a price, generally a percentage, 20-30%, goes to the distribution provider (such as iTunes), and the rest goes to the producer of the app.^[3] The same app can, therefore, cost a different price depending on the mobile platform.

Apps can also be installed manually, for example by running an Android application package on Android devices.

Mobile apps were originally offered for general productivity and information retrieval, including email, calendar, contacts, the stock market and weather information. However, public demand and the availability of developer tools drove rapid expansion into other categories, such as those handled by desktop application software packages. As with other software, the explosion in number and variety of apps made discovery a challenge, which in turn led to the creation of a wide range of review, recommendation, and curation sources, including blogs, magazines, and dedicated online app-discovery services. In 2014 government regulatory agencies began trying to regulate and curate apps, particularly medical apps.^[4] Some companies offer apps as an alternative method to deliver content with certain advantages over an official website.

With a growing number of mobile applications available at app stores and the improved capabilities of smartphones, people are downloading more applications to their devices.^[5] Usage of mobile apps has become increasingly prevalent across mobile phone users.^[6] A May 2012 comScore study reported that during the previous quarter, more mobile subscribers used apps than browsed the web on their devices: 51.1% vs. 49.8% respectively.^[7] Researchers found that usage of mobile apps strongly correlates with user context and depends on user's location and time of the day.^[8] Mobile apps are playing an ever-increasing role within healthcare and when designed and integrated correctly can yield many benefits.^[9][10]

Market research firm Gartner predicted that 102 billion apps would be downloaded in 2013 (91% of them free), which would generate $26 billion in the US, up 44.4% on 2012's US$18 billion.^[11] By Q2 2015, the Google Play and Apple stores alone generated $5 billion. An analyst report estimates that the app economy creates revenues of more than €10 billion per year within the European Union, while over 529,000 jobs have been created in 28 EU states due to the growth of the app market.

Types

Mobile applications may be classified by numerous methods. A common scheme is to distinguish native, hybrid, and web-based apps.

Native app

All apps targeted toward a particular mobile platform are known as native apps. Therefore, an app intended for Apple device does not run in Android devices. As a result, most businesses develop apps for multiple platforms.

While developing native apps, professionals incorporate best-in-class user interface modules. This accounts for better performance, consistency and good user experience. Users also benefit from wider access to application programming interfaces and make limitless use of all apps from the particular device. Further, they also switch over from one app to another effortlessly.

The main purpose for creating such apps is to ensure best performance for a specific mobile operating system.

Hybrid app

The concept of the hybrid app is a mix of native and web-based apps. Apps developed using Apache Cordova, Xamarin, React Native, Sencha Touch and other similar technology fall into this category.

These are made to support web and native technologies across multiple platforms. Moreover, these apps are easier and faster to develop. It involves use of single code base which works in multiple mobile operating systems.

Despite such advantages, hybrid apps exhibit lower performance. Often, apps fail to bear the same look-and-feel in different mobile operating systems.

Web-based app

A web-based app is coded in HTML5, CSS or JavaScript. Internet access is required for proper behavior and user-experience of this group of apps.

These apps may capture minimum memory space in user devices compared to native and hybrid apps. Since all the personal databases are saved on the Internet servers, users can fetch their desired data from any device through the Internet.