Mobile app

A mobile app (short for mobile application), is a software application designed to run on smartphones, tablet computers and other mobile devices. They are available through application distribution platforms, which are typically operated by the owner of the mobile operating system, such as the Apple App Store, Google Play, Windows Phone Marketplace and BlackBerry App World. Some apps are free, and others have a price. Usually they are downloaded from the platform to a target device such as an iPhone, BlackBerry, Android phone or Windows Phone 7, but sometimes they can be downloaded to less mobile computers such as laptops or desktops. 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.^[1]

The term "app" has become popular, and in 2010 was listed as "Word of the Year" by the American Dialect Society.^[2]

Mobile apps were originally intended for productivity: email, calendar and contact databases, but public demand caused rapid expansion into other areas such as mobile games, factory automation, GPS and location-based services, banking, order-tracking, and ticket purchases. This in turn created a large subculture of different online magazines to review these new mobile applications.^[3] This was due to the large amount of apps in the apps store which made internal navigation more difficult.

Distribution

Apple App Store

The Apple App Store opened on July 10, 2008, and as of January 2011, reported over 10 billion downloads. As of June 6, 2011, there are 425,000 third-party apps available, which are downloaded by 200 million iOS users.^[4][5]

BlackBerry App World

Apps for the BlackBerry mobile devices are available through the BlackBerry App World application distribution service. It opened in April 2009, and as of February 2011, was claiming the largest revenue per app: $9,166.67 compared to $6,480.00 at the Apple App Store and $1,200 in the Android market. In July 2011, it was reporting 3 million downloads per day and one billion total downloads.^[6]

Google Play

Google Play (formerly Android Market) is an international online software store developed by Google for Android devices. It was opened in October 2008.^[7] In late April of 2012, AppBrain reported that there are over 430,000 available apps, with 10 billion apps downloaded and installed as of December 2011.^[8]

Windows Phone Marketplace

The Windows Phone Marketplace is a service by Microsoft for its Windows Phone 7 platform, which was launched in October 2010. As of January 2012^[update], it has over 60,000 apps available.^[9]

Amazon Appstore

The Amazon Appstore is an American mobile application store for the Google Android operating system. It was opened in March 2011, with 3800 applications.^[10]

Nokia Store

An app store for the Nokia phone was launched internationally in May 2009. As of April 2011 there were 50,000 apps, and as of August 2011, Nokia was reporting 9 million downloads per day. In February 2011, Nokia reported that it would start using Windows Phone 7 as its primary operating system.^[11] In May 2011, Nokia announced plans to rebrand its Ovi product line under the Nokia brand^[12] and Ovi Store was renamed Nokia Store in Octover 2011.^[13] Nokia Store remains as the distribution platform for its previous lines of mobile operating systems, while Nokia's Windows Phone 7 offering has been integrated into the Microsoft Marketplace.

See also

• Google Apps
• List of digital distribution platforms for mobile devices
• Mac App Store
• Mobile application development
• Mobile application management

References

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