A cell phone app, often called a mobile app is any application that can be installed on a smartphone. These applications, although doing the identical thing are developed differently for phones running Android® operating systems or Apple®. The app, of which there are hundreds of thousands of them help the smartphone user do something other than make a phone call or send a text message, there are restaurant guide apps as well as games, maps, banking access, literally, anything you can think of. The term app can be used for computer software but the term has almost become universally used to denote software which has been downloaded with the express purpose to use on a cell phone.
The common uses for apps:
As the cell phone evolved and matured, the earliest apps usually involved some form of integration with computer functions; the early apps were email and internet access. These types of apps remain very popular and are used by millions of cell phone owners. Today, stand-alone apps such as games, calculators, etc are extremely popular; a perfect example is the game “Angry Birds” which has been downloaded something like 250 million times. There are apps that integrate the built in features and functions of the smartphone, features such as GPS, motion sensors and a microphone. Using the smartphone GPS allows developers to create Restaurant Guide Apps which integrate with maps and direction finders.
Most apps that have been developed are stand-alone however there are those that work in harmony with a web site allowing the phone and the web site to communicate with one another, gathering and displaying information such as restaurant reviews made by individual diners but available to all.
Getting the apps:
In many cases the apps are purchased but many are free. Often the free version is supported by advertising or has limited features. There are two different sources for apps, one is for phones that run on the Android® operating system, the other is Apple®. The simplest way to get the app is to use the phone itself to access the correct app store based on the operating system, once there, choose the app you want, pay for it and download it directly. This method of getting apps to the phone eliminates a middle step of downloading to a computer and then uploading to the phone.
