Mobile applications

Mobile applications, commonly called apps, are software applications used for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computers. While operating systems like iOS or Android run the general functions of the computer device, mobile apps are individual programs used for specialized purposes. Those purposes include VoIP communications, email, web browsing, entertainment, education, business, and shopping. Because smartphones and tablets use touchscreens, mobile applications can effectively change the host device into anything from a calculator to a piano. This versatility has made them very popular, and software developers have found creating them to be incredibly profitable.

Background

Mobile applications are a twenty-first century phenomenon. The release of Apple’s first-generation iPhone in 2007 caused the popularity of touchscreen devices to skyrocket. Tablets, which originated with Apple’s iPad in 2010, added to that popularity. New smartphones and tablets based on the Android operating system developed by Google quickly came on the market.

Along with Apple and Google, which are both based in the United States, South Korea’s Samsung has become a major player with its line of Galaxy devices. Software giant Microsoft has also stepped into the ring with its Windows Phone and Surface tablet. Meanwhile, Amazon.com used its massive consumer base to launch the Kindle Fire tablet.

With such a range of popular devices available, the demand for mobile applications increases every year. Early apps focused on practical matters, like email and temperature forecasts. However, as the processing speed and screen resolution of smartphones and tablets improved, developers realized that they could create a wide range of mobile apps and make a lot of money selling them. Typically, these are sold through app stores like the Apple App Store, the Appstore for Android, the Windows Store, and Google Play. Each of the stores is accessible via the internet, and software that is purchased from them is downloaded and installed directly on a person’s tablet computer or smartphone. Often, the stores impose strict technical requirements on app developers to ensure that high-quality standards are maintained.

These online stores profit from taking a percentage of each mobile application they sell. For example, Apple gets a 30 percent commission on apps it sells. Developers benefit from this arrangement, because selling through Apple allows them to reach many more iPhone and iPad customers than they could independently. Google and Amazon have successfully leveraged their web dominance in search and shopping respectively to promote their own web stores. Like with Apple’s store, customers can browse by category.

Mobile Applications Today

By 2013 more than 1.7 million individual mobile applications were for sale across all platforms, according to a report by ABI Research. The same report attested that 800,000 of those apps were for Android devices; 775,000 were for Apple iOS; 125,000 were for the Windows Phone; and 70,000 were for BlackBerry. According to data from Flurry Analytics, app usage increased by 76 percent in 2014, largely due to the influx of shopping and other apps that allow people to accomplish daily tasks on the go. CNN reported that in January of that year, internet usage on mobile phones had once again surpassed that of personal computers—and the majority of this activity occurred for the first time through apps. By 2017, Comscore reported that mobile apps made up 57 percent of all digital media usage.

Because they are fun to use, many apps focus on entertainment. Games are very popular; Angry Birds, developed by the Finnish company Rovio, became a cultural phenomenon after its release in 2009 and as of 2013 had sold over twelve million copies just for the iPhone. Streaming video also does well; apps for subscription services like Hulu+ and Netflix provide a diverse selection of television shows, movies, and original productions that users can watch on their mobile devices. Music programs such as iTunes also proved very popular, allowing users to download songs in MP3 form. Communications and productivity mobile apps are also in wide use. Nielsen reported that Facebook's social networking app had the greatest number of unique users in 2016. With access to a wi-fi network of sufficient strength, users can make nationwide and even global phone calls and video chats at very low monthly prices via programs like Skype. Many users of tablets are finding this to be an inexpensive alternative to traditional cell phone service, and may even experience higher quality sound with a strong internet connection than they do through their wireless phone carrier.

Many business people use mobile applications to help them keep track of their schedule. For example, they can download a free or low-cost calendar program that will give them reminders before important appointments. Other programs allow them to collaborate with colleagues through their mobile device, viewing shared documents and editing them in real time online. This has proven to be of tremendous benefit to companies’ key employees, who may be based in different cities but still need to work together. This kind of sharing and collaboration is part of a growing trend with mobile applications. Industry watchers expect the trend to grow progressively stronger, ultimately eliminating the need for physical offices in many cases. Because the internet permits worldwide communication, apps fit well with the twenty-first century globalization of business. A company owner in the United States can now review documents on his or her tablet with a business partner in Asia and make changes that will appear on the collaborator’s tablet at the same time.

Cultural exchanges can also take place using mobile apps with real-time sharing capabilities. A composer in Mexico can create a tune on a virtual piano and have it play immediately on the device of a lyricist in England, letting the two creative individuals build a song from opposite sides of the world. While the possibilities provided by mobile apps are boundless, a chief concern with them is that they distract from the physical world. This concern is primarily advanced by parents, who feel that their children spend too much time using mobile applications for social networking and games. As a result, many parents have restricted the amount of time their children can use mobile devices each day. They hope that the restrictions will result in more time spent on things such as homework and playing outdoors. Furthermore, concerns have been raised, as with digital interaction on desktops, regarding the security of such mobile applications, particularly those in the area of banking and personal finance as well as shopping. Reports on this issue have included recommendations for creators to produce more secure apps as well as for users to safely take advantage of apps, including avoiding purchasing or downloading apps from third parties and maintaining software updates.

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