Mobile app

For Wikipedias mobile apps, see Help:Mobile access

Applications.
A mobile app is a software application designed to run
on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. Most such 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 or other media or more apps. Some preinstalled 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.
The ocial US Army iPhone app presents the services technology
Native mobile apps often stand in contrast to desktop ap- news, updates and media in a single place
plications that run on desktop computers, and with web
applications which run in mobile web browsers rather and variety of apps made discovery a challenge, which in
than directly on the mobile device.
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 reg1 Overview
ulate and curate apps, particularly medical apps.[4] Some
companies oer apps as an alternative method to deliver
Apps that are not preinstalled are usually available
content with certain advantages over an ocial website.
through distribution platforms called app stores. They began appearing in 2008 and are typically operated by the Usage of mobile apps has become increasingly preva[5]
owner of the mobile operating system, such as the Ap- lent across mobile phone users. A May 2012 comScore
ple App Store, Google Play, Windows Phone Store, and study reported that during the previous quarter, more moBlackBerry App World. Some apps are free, while others bile subscribers used apps than browsed the web on their
[6]
must be bought. Usually, they are downloaded from the devices: 51.1% vs. 49.8% respectively. Researchers
platform to a target device, but sometimes they can be found that usage of mobile apps strongly correlates with
downloaded to laptops or desktop computers. For apps user context and depends on users location and time of
[7]
with a price, generally a percentage, 20-30%, goes to the the day. Mobile apps are playing an ever increasing role
distribution provider (such as iTunes), and the rest goes within healthcare and when designed and integrated cor[8][9]
to the producer of the app.[1] The same app can therefore rectly can yield many benets.
cost a dierent price depending on the mobile platform. Market research rm 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
2012s US$18 billion.[10] 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.[11]

The term app is a shortening of the term "application

software". It has become very popular, and in 2010
was listed as "Word of the Year" by the American Dialect Society.[2] In 2009, technology columnist David
Pogue said that newer smartphones could be nicknamed
app phones to distinguish them from earlier lesssophisticated smartphones.[3]

Mobile apps were originally oered for general productivity and information retrieval, including email, calendar,
contacts, stock market and weather information. However, public demand and the availability of developer 2 Development
tools drove rapid expansion into other categories, such
as those handled by desktop application software pack- Main article: Mobile application development
ages. As with other software, the explosion in number
1

DISTRIBUTION

face and present interactions through text instead of

graphic elements. They emulate conversations with real
humans.[13] There are two main types of conversational
interfaces: voice assistants (like the Amazon Echo) and
chatbots.[13]
Conversational interfaces are growing particularly practical as users are starting to feel overwhelmed with mobile
apps (a term known as app fatigue).[14][15]
David Limp, Amazons senior vice president of devices,
says in an interview with Bloomberg, We believe the next
big platform is voice.[16]

Developers at work

3 Distribution

Developing apps for mobile devices requires considering

the constraints and features of these devices. Mobile devices run on battery and have less powerful processors
than personal computers and also have more features such
as location detection and cameras. Developers also have
to consider a wide array of screen sizes, hardware specications and congurations because of intense competition
in mobile software and changes within each of the platforms (although these issues can be overcome with mobile
device detection).

See also: List of mobile software distribution platforms

Mobile application development requires use of specialized integrated development environments. Mobile apps
are rst tested within the development environment using
emulators and later subjected to eld testing. Emulators
provide an inexpensive way to test applications on mobile phones to which developers may not have physical
access.[12]

Google Play (formerly known as the Android Market)

is an international online software store developed by
Google for Android devices. It opened in October
2008.[17] In July 2013, the number of apps downloaded
via the Google Play Store surpassed 50 billion, of the over
1 million apps available.[18] As of September 2016, according to Statista the number of apps available exceeded
2.4 million. The store generated a revenue of 6 billion
U.S. dollars in 2015.

Mobile user interface (UI) Design is also essential. Mobile UI considers constraints and contexts, screen, input
and mobility as outlines for design. The user is often the
focus of interaction with their device, and the interface
entails components of both hardware and software. User
input allows for the users to manipulate a system, and devices output allows the system to indicate the eects of
the users manipulation. Mobile UI design constraints include limited attention and form factors, such as a mobile devices screen size for a users hand. Mobile UI
contexts signal cues from user activity, such as location
and scheduling that can be shown from user interactions
within a mobile application. Overall, mobile UI designs
goal is primarily for an understandable, user-friendly interface.
Mobile UIs, or front-ends, rely on mobile back-ends to
support access to enterprise systems. The mobile backend facilitates data routing, security, authentication, authorization, working o-line, and service orchestration.
This functionality is supported by a mix of middleware
components including mobile app servers, Mobile Backend as a service (MBaaS), and SOA infrastructure.
Conversational interfaces display the computer inter-

The two biggest app stores are Google Play for Android
and App Store for iOS.

3.1 Google Play

Main article: Google Play

3.2 App Store

Main article: App Store (iOS)
Apple's App Store for iOS was not the rst app distribution service, but it ignited the mobile revolution and was
opened on July 10, 2008, and as of January 2011, reported over 10 billion downloads. The original AppStore
was rst demonstrated to Steve Jobs in 1993 by Jesse
Tayler at NeXTWorld Expo[19] As of June 6, 2011, there
were 425,000 apps available, which had been downloaded by 200 million iOS users.[20][21] During Apples
2012 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple CEO
Tim Cook announced that the App Store has 650,000
available apps to download as well as 30 billion apps
downloaded from the app store until that date.[22] From
an alternative perspective, gures seen in July 2013 by
the BBC from tracking service Adeven indicate over twothirds of apps in the store are zombies, barely ever installed by consumers.[23]

4.1

3.3

App wrapping vs. native app management

Others

Amazon Appstore is an alternative application store

for the Android operating system. It was opened in
March 2011 and as of June 2015, the app store has
nearly 334,000 apps.[24] The Amazon Appstores
Android Apps can also be installed and run on
BlackBerry 10 devices.
BlackBerry World is the application store for
BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry OS devices. It
opened in April 2009 as BlackBerry App World.

3
available mobile apps used in business settings. The strategy is meant to o-set the security risk of a Bring Your
Own Device (BYOD) work strategy. When an employee
brings a personal device into an enterprise setting, mobile
application management enables the corporate IT sta to
transfer required applications, control access to business
data, and remove locally cached business data from the
device if it is lost, or when its owner no longer works with
the company. Containerization is an alternate BYOD security solution. Rather than controlling an employees
entire device, containerization apps create isolated and
secure pockets separate from all personal data. Company control of the device only extends to that separate
container.[34]

Ovi (Nokia) for Nokia phones was launched internationally in May 2009. In May 2011, Nokia announced plans to rebrand its Ovi product line under the Nokia brand[25] and Ovi Store was renamed
Nokia Store in October 2011.[26] Nokia Store will 4.1 App wrapping vs. native app management
no longer allow developers to publish new apps or
app updates for its legacy Symbian and MeeGo opEspecially when employees "bring your own device", moerating systems from January 2014.[27]
bile apps can be a signicant security risk for businesses,
Windows Phone Store was introduced by Microsoft because they transfer unprotected sensitive data to the Infor its Windows Phone platform, which was ternet without knowledge and consent of the users. Relaunched in October 2010. As of October 2012, it ports of stolen corporate data show how quickly corporate
has over 120,000 apps available.[28]
and personal data can fall into the wrong hands. Data
Windows Store was introduced by Microsoft for its theft is not just the loss of condential information, but
[35]
Windows 8 and Windows RT platforms. While it makes companies vulnerable to attack and blackmail.
can also carry listings for traditional desktop programs certied for compatibility with Windows 8,
it is primarily used to distribute Windows Store
appswhich are primarily built for use on tablets
and other touch-based devices (but can still be used
with a keyboard and mouse, and on desktop computers and laptops).[29][30]
Samsung Apps was introduced in September
2009.[31] As of October 2011, Samsung Apps
reached 10 million downloads. The store is available in 125 countries and it oers apps for Windows
Mobile, Android and Bada platforms.
The Electronic AppWrapper was the rst electronic
distribution service to collectively provide encryption and purchasing electronically[32]
F-Droid Free and open Source Android app
repository.
There are numerous other independent app stores
for Android devices.[33]

Professional mobile application management helps companies protect their data. One option for securing corporate data is app wrapping. But there also are some disadvantages like copyright infringement or the loss of warranty rights. Functionality, productivity and user experience are particularly limited under app wrapping. The
policies of a wrapped app can't be changed. If required,
it must be recreated from scratch, adding cost.[36][37]
Alternatively, it is possible to oer native apps securely
through enterprise mobility management without limiting
the native user experience. This enables more exible IT
management as apps can be easily implemented and policies adjusted at any time.[38]

5 See also
Enterprise mobile application
Mobile commerce
App store optimization

Enterprise management

6 References

Main article: Mobile application management

Mobile application management (MAM) describes software and services responsible for provisioning and controlling access to internally developed and commercially

[1] Siegler, MG (June 11, 2008). Analyst: Theres a great

future in iPhone apps. Venture Beat.
[2] ""App voted 2010 word of the year by the American
Dialect Society (UPDATED) American Dialect Society.

Americandialect.org. 2011-01-08. Retrieved 2012-0128.

[3] Pogue, David (November 4, 2009). A Place to Put Your
Apps. New York Times. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
[4] Yetisen, A. K.; Martinez-Hurtado, J. L.; et al. (2014).
The regulation of mobile medical applications. Lab on
a Chip. 14 (5): 833840. doi:10.1039/C3LC51235E.
[5] Ludwig, Sean. December 5, 2012. venturebeat.com,
study: Mobile app usage grows 35%, TV & web not so
much
[6] Perez, Sarah. July 2, 2012. comScore: In U.S. Mobile
Market, Samsung, Android Top The Charts; Apps Overtake Web Browsing. techcrunch.com
[7] Matthias Bhmer, Brent Hecht, Johannes Schning, Antonio Krger, and Gernot Bauer. 2011. Falling asleep
with Angry Birds, Facebook and Kindle: a large scale
study on mobile app usage. In: Proceedings of the 13th
International Conference on Human Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (MobileHCI '11).
ACM, New York, NY, USA, 47-56.
[8] Marcano-Belisario, Jos S.; Gupta, Ajay K.; O'Donoghue,
John; Morrison, Cecily; Car, Josip (1 January 2016).
Tablet computers for implementing NICE antenatal
mental health guidelines: protocol of a feasibility study.
BMJ Open. 6 (1): e009930. doi:10.1136/bmjopen2015-009930. PMC 4735209 . PMID 26801468 via
bmjopen.bmj.com.
[9] Ventola, CL (2014). Mobile devices and apps for health
care professionals: uses and benets. P T. 39: 35664.
PMC 4029126 . PMID 24883008.
[10] Mobile apps revenues tipped to reach $26bn in 2013.
The Guardian. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 19 September
2013.
[11] VisionMobile, Plum Consulting, "European App Economy analyst report, September 2013
[12] Mobile Application Development Guidelines.
hitech. 2013-11-14. Retrieved 2011-04-05.

by

[13] Brownlee, John. Conversational Interfaces, Explained.

Fast Co. Design. Fast Company Inc. Retrieved July 4,
2016.

EXTERNAL LINKS

[19] Carey, Richard. Electronic Recollections, By Ricard

Carey. AppStorey.
[20] 10 Billion App Countdown. Apple. 2011-01-14.
[21] Rao, Leena (July 7, 2011). Apples App Store Crosses
15B App Downloads, Adds 1B Downloads In Past
Month. TechCrunch. AOL Inc.
[22] Indvik, Lauren (June 11, 2012). App Store Stats: 400
Million Accounts, 650,000 Apps. Mashable.
[23] App Store 'full of zombies claim on Apple anniversary.
BBC News.
[24] Amazon App Store for Android. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
[25] The evolution of Nokia and Ovi | Nokia Conversations
The ocial Nokia Blog. Conversations.nokia.com.
Retrieved 2011-08-25.
[26] Fraser, Adam (10 October 2011). Ovi Store renamed as
Nokia Store, now built using Qt. Conversations by Nokia,
ocial Nokia blog. Nokia. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
[27] Changes to supported content types in the Nokia Store.
The Nokia Developer Team. October 4, 2013. Retrieved
November 12, 2013.
[28] Arghire, Ionut (30 October 2012). Windows Phone
Store Has 120,000 Apps Now, More to Come. Softpedia. SoftNews NET SRL. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
[29] Miller, Michael (September 14, 2011). Build: More Details On Building Windows 8 Metro Apps. PC Magazine.
Retrieved February 10, 2012.
[30] Roso, Matt. Heres Everything You Wanted To Know
About Microsofts Upcoming iPad Killers. Business Insider. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
[31] Basic Information about Samsung Apps Store. content.samsung.com. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
[32] Wyatt, Robert A. Software Shop. Wired. Wired Magazine.
[33] RedGage. RedGage. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
[34] Taware, Varun. Containerization is a winning strategy
for smarter BYOD management. Betanews. Retrieved
11 November 2015.
[35] Rob, Thomas (8 May 2009). Energy Smart Mobile
app. mobileapp-development.com. United Kingdom:
Case Study.

[14] Errett, Joshua. As app fatigue sets in, Toronto engineers

move on to chatbots. CBC. CBC/Radio-Canada. Retrieved July 4, 2016.

[36] Average Cost to Develop an App for iPhone Android.

Citrusbits Mobile App Development Company. 3 April
2015. Retrieved 16 May 2016.

[15] Schippers, Ben. App Fatigue. TechCrunch. AOL Inc.

Retrieved July 4, 2016.

[37] Security, Subbu Iyer, Director of Product Management,

Bluebox. 5 things you no longer need to do for mobile
security. Network World. Retrieved 16 May 2016.

[16] Soper, Spencer. Amazon Bets on Bigger Market for

Voice-Enabled Echo. Bloomberg. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved July 4, 2016.
[17] Chu, Eric (13 February 2009). Android Market Update
Support.
[18] The Future of Mobile Application. UAB. Retrieved 11
November 2015.

[38] Enterprise IT Spotlight: enterprise mobility management

- 451 Research - Analyzing the Business of Enterprise IT
Innovation. 451research.com. Retrieved 16 May 2016.

7 External links

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

8.1

Text

Mobile app Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_app?oldid=754959508 Contributors: Dreamyshade, William Avery, Pigsonthewing, Mushroom, David Gerard, Beland, Hydrox, Bender235, Mr. Strong Bad, Oop, Diego Moya, Velella, RHaworth, Rjwilmsi, Ian
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Uruiamme, Superzohar, Barek, MER-C, Bakilas, Swpb, JMyrleFuller, Lmxspice, Jim.henderson, CommonsDelinker, Markhh, Acalamari,
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FrescoBot, Pinethicket, I dream of horses, Therealpowerower, Yunshui, Lotje, Crysb, Tbhotch, Mean as custard, Skamecrazy123, Petermcelwee, Rkmelton, ThomasWF, Dcirovic, Evanh2008, AvicBot, ZroBot, Contribute23, Sadeqs, Unreal7, Kilopi, Petrb, ClueBot NG,
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Highdog318, Nnotova, Dissident93, Smartmo, Codename Lisa, MilfordBoy1991, Makecat-bot, Nozomimous, Profesjonalizm, Jfbonner,
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Maddie17217, Anitaparmar and Anonymous: 149

8.2

Images

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8.3

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