Talk:Mobile app

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 29 January 2019 and 8 March 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Olive00.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 01:08, 18 January 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 28 May 2019 and 2 July 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Potatocircle.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 01:08, 18 January 2022 (UTC)

Lede

I'm afraid the lede, as it stands now, is not actually accurate according to the rules of the English language. In particular, I have a problem with the following clause:

Mobile apps, also called mobile applications,

"Mobile app" is not, in fact, the primary descriptor of the object in question. "App" is the shortened form of "application", and not a noun in itself. I'm changing the lede to reflect this. If you disagree, feel free to revert and discuss in accordance with WP:BRD. Thanks for reading. Evanh2008, Super Genius Who am I? You can talk to me... 11:05, 19 December 2011 (UTC)

I don't understand what you mean by saying that "'App' is the shortened form of 'application', and not a noun in itself." An abbreviation is still a noun. 218.161.18.204 (talk) 06:20, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

WikiProject Apps Proposal

A proposal for a WikiProject Apps has been made at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals/Apps. If you are interested feel free to join the discussion. Thank you. XapApp (talk) 02:47, 8 April 2013 (UTC)

Haking Ranitivari (talk) 17:29, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

Misleading name

The phrase "mobile application" gives the impression that mobile refers to application. However, a 'mobile app' is not any more mobile than any other application. I can, say, take a tower with me that contains the programs cat and grep, and then I could could cat and grep mobile applications because I'm taking them with me. It's just that the tower itself isn't quite as portable as other devices, like smartphones and tablets. The name 'mobile device application' is a lot more reflective. For this reason, I am changing it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.173.159.241 (talk) 08:25, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Hi. First, your edit was very badly coded, so I have reverted it for now.

As for you opinion, I disagree with that too. (So, you may consider my revert a BRD revert if you wish.) Names and phrases in English are quite arbitrary. Example: Fire department looks like a department that causes fire. "Extinguishing department" would be more befitting. "Anti-radiation missile" also sound like a missile that destroys radiation while in reality, it tracks radiation to destroy is source. "Bomb squad" sounds like a group of terrorists; in reality, they are bomb neutralizing squad.

The phrase which you are complaining about is what the public uses with that meaning, like my other examples. Wikipedia naming policy forbids Richard Stallman-like behavior of changing common names into obscure names because a group of editors think that's how it should be.

Best regards,

Codename Lisa (talk) 12:46, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

P.S. If you think you can achieve some significant consensus for your edit, consider an official move request. Best regards, Codename Lisa (talk) 12:53, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

Yay! Way to go Lisa! That should put most people off getting involved with this article!86.171.118.156 (talk) 08:41, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

Haking Ranitivari (talk) 17:30, 7 September 2017 (UTC)

Popular apps

What are the most popular apps by number of users? What is the market share of various categories (IM, social networking, shopping, etc.)? -- Beland (talk) 02:22, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

List of mobile apps: split off

This list is entirely unencyclopaedic, violates WP:GLOBALIZE and in my view should be deleted or at least split off to a separate article. The list itself is not credible because "popularity" can be measured using a range of methodologies. The choice of August 2014 is also unexplained. What about July 2014 or October 2014, or January 2005? kashmiri ^TALK 21:45, 12 December 2014 (UTC)

Hi. I could very much defend the list against the GLOBALIZE problem, as it is almost impossible to accurately measure the subject in, say, Cuba, African countries or Iraq. I'd say that the article is simply doing its best. But the other objection renders my counter-argument futile: The meaning of "popular" must be explained in the article, otherwise, the list should go.

Spliting it off into another article is out of question per WP:SIZERULE and WP:N. Doing the split would be like shooting oneself in the foot. But let's figure out if there is an alternative to deletion, e.g. remedying the methodology problem.

Best regards,

Codename Lisa (talk) 20:45, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

Top Apps

What's the point of this? It seems unencyclopedic and far too time- and country-specific. Anyone else think it should be removed? 218.161.18.204 (talk) 06:20, 16 December 2014 (UTC)

I agree with your assessment, and have removed the section. I added the link as an external link in that section instead.Dialectric (talk) 17:45, 7 May 2015 (UTC)

play store. 197.235.65.128 (talk) 17:34, 15 August 2023 (UTC)

Examples of some apps, please, perhaps some of the most popular ones; and more clarity

Can someone please add a section describing some of the most popular apps. I came to this page to find out, and couldn't. In fact is even a single actual app mentioned?

So an app is a program that runs on a small computer (either a smartphone, which is pocket-sized, or a tablet, which is slightly larger) that connects to the internet using the mobile phone network. Is that right?

The article cites a source saying that in 2012 more people who own smartphones used apps on them than browsed the web on them. Right, so what kind of apps were they using? What are the main types of app? Are most of them games? Chat programs? Diaries? Accounting programs? Programs for looking at photographs? I have no idea.

Does the small computer need to be connected to the internet to run an app? Or can you take the SIMM out and still run some of the apps? If you can, then why is "mobile" in the definition?

Are all the files that the app uses stored on the smartphone? Or are they stored server-side by some company? Does that vary by app? Where are most of the files stored for some of the most popular apps?

Where on Wikipedia am I supposed to find out the answers to these basic questions about apps if it's not the page on "apps"? That's not a rhetorical question.107tchepty (talk) 14:52, 31 July 2015 (UTC)

I've now read the page at qz.com that was linked to at the bottom of the article. It gives a list from 2014 of the most used apps, listed by unique US "visitors". (What does it mean to "visit" an app?)

I've had a look at the top 10 apps listed on that page. Every single one seems to be for accessing a website, whether it's at google.com or wherever.

I don't know much about apps. I'm trying to find out the basics. That's why I'm here.

The question that I'd ask, and doubtless other people in my position will also ask, is this: if it's all about accessing websites, why not use a web browser? That will allow you to browse to websites that show photographs, run search engines, sell stuff, publish stock prices and maps, provide webmail, run social media stuff, etc., and access any web-based services for which you've set up an account, e.g. banking. Most web browsers can also run video, and you'll need a sound program to play audio. Why are people running other programs, called apps, on their small computers to do some of these things? seems a sensible question that someone might look in Wikipedia to try to find an answer to.

Do "apps" give you any more than this? It doesn't seem that the top 10 do: they're all about accessing websites.

Specific uses of apps seem to break down into social media, looking at photographs, watching videos, buying music, searching the internet, using webmail, reading maps, listening to radio, and checking stock prices. That covers all of the top 10 apps.

5 of the top 10 apps are for accessing services provided by one company, Google; 2 for services provided by Facebook, and 1 each for Pandora, Apple and Yahoo.

So have I now learnt some of the basic info about apps? Or am I getting some stuff wrong? I may well be. But surely the basic info about apps is what should be included in the Wikipedia page on apps rather than requiring that someone follow a link to an outside page and then do some work putting together what they find there. In short, I want to come here and find out what the top apps are, what the top types of apps are, what they're all about (which seems to be connecting to websites), and what companies' servers they connect to (which seem to be above all Google, followed a long way behind by Facebook, then Pandora, and then Apple and Yahoo).

Apparently Google, the US-based advertising company, dominates 'appspace'.

It's unclear to me why people need to run apps when the type of program used on larger computers for accessing websites is a web browser, including when the larger computer accesses the internet using the mobile phone network. So what's the reason that apps are needed on smaller computers? Or aren't they needed? Is the connection with the servers different? Or are apps the equivalent of basically fancy buttons on a web browser's GUI?

This is the sort of information that should go here please, suitably amended of course if I've got some of it wrong.107tchepty (talk) 17:44, 31 July 2015 (UTC)

All I've got is personal, anecdotal. Mostly I run apps that need a connection. Facebook, Google Maps, Wikipedia. All do things that can be done, and are often done, by a Web page. On the road, each provides a neater, crisper, quicker interface on the small screen and slow 3G connection than the Web version does. Often I run the mail and calendar apps, especially when underground and out of touch, reading what was downloaded when I had a connection and uploading what I wrote when I again get a connection. Sometimes I run the camera, picture retoucher, magnetic dip meter, or other programs that have no need for a connection. Not often. My photography is mostly with the real camera I always carry, but yesterday morning its battery ran dry when I attended a much photographed event. A friend wanted me to snap and Email a photo, so the camera phone provided that service. Most of the photography I observed at the event was by thousands of camera phones, though some was by real cameras like mine. Perhaps there's reliable sourcing on the Web that surveys such things. Jim.henderson (talk) 11:51, 2 August 2015 (UTC)

== What is an APP == Samana

What is an APP? Since about 2010 the term has become very common, in the context of smartphones, and was fairly easy to understand: modular computer application software that interacts with users, obtained and managed via the "store" associated with that smartphone, with typically simple/limited/narrow functionality.

However, now that Microsoft Windows (8 and 10) have evolved to include very similar "apps" on desktop computers, the usage and meaning of the term is becoming very ambiguous and confused. This seems like an intentional marketing scheme. There is a big difference in Windows 10 between traditional desktop application programs and the new app-store managed tile "apps". But in the Win10 context MS is using the term "app" to include all application software of any kind, making it very hard for any of us to talk easily about the significant differences -- which makes it hard for users to think about and be aware of the differences... which seems to be the point as MS tries to migrate all users away from traditional local-install desktop software towards their curated app-store ecosystem.

• www.adventmediainc.com/Articles/so-what-is-an-app

An “application” or “app” is simply a program that does something. There are basically four types of apps, “OS apps” “desktop apps,” “Web apps” and “Mobile apps.” We'll discuss Mobile Websites too.

(great tech introduction)

• bogost.com/blog/what_is_an_app/

• www.worldstart.com/windows-10-what-is-an-app/

"There are two kinds of apps. Apps and Desktop Apps. Desktop Apps are programs that only run on a PC with full Windows 10 that has enough computing power to support them..."

It will be very challenging but vital for relevant WP articles to be as clear and helpful as possible about addressing "What is an APP?"-71.174.176.65 (talk) 14:52, 4 April 2016 (UTC)

External links modified (February 2018)

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Hi Wikipedians,

Should we replace {{dead link}} tag to http://www.visionmobile.com/EUApp with http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2018/621894/EPRS_BRI(2018)621894_EN.pdf ?

--Moana122 (talk) 11:33, 5 September 2018 (UTC)

typo

there is a typographical error in this article, which is protected and cannot be modified. 'oiginally' is misspelled, and should be corrected to read 'originally'

Semi-protected edit request on 4 December 2018

106.76.209.131 (talk) 17:18, 4 December 2018 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. DannyS712 (talk) 17:36, 4 December 2018 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 22 January 2019

Please change the following to update the article with a 2018 figure and replace a current deadlink.

We would like to change the following deadlink:

VisionMobile, Plum Consulting, "European App Economy" analyst report[permanent dead link], September 2013

To Quick Mobile Fix, "THE EVER CHANGING APP MARKETPLACES & HOW OUR LIVES COULD BE AFFECTED." January 2019 https://www.quickmobilefix.com/blogs/news/the-ever-changing-app-marketplaces-how-our-lives-could-be-affected

change body of text to update from:

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.[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]

to:

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.[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.

In comparison, figures from App Annie looking into iOS and Google Play downloads, grew to an all-time quarter record in Q1 2018, to $18.4 billion [12], this puts into comparison, the huge difference and ever growing marketplaces that Apple and Android offers, and how they are being used by the public.[11] Jordan Humphreys (talk) 14:52, 22 January 2019 (UTC)

 Done as it says in the source and that would be a record. Iggy (Swan) 18:41, 26 February 2019 (UTC)

Apps that share individual user's data with other companies

The following companies share a user's individual data with 3rd parties.

• Flo Period & Ovulation Tracker from Flo Health Inc (Ref 1)
• HR Monitor from Instant Heart Rate (Ref 1)
• Realtor.com from Move Inc (Ref 1)

Saurabhat (talk) 21:48, 22 February 2019 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Hiàn (talk) 00:38, 25 February 2019 (UTC)

References

Semi-protected edit request on 1 February 2020

[Flipkart] was founded in October 2007 by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, who were both alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi and formerly worked for Amazon. The company initially focused on online book sales with country-wide shipping. Mercy cstpl (talk) 07:36, 1 February 2020 (UTC)

 Not done. It's not clear what changes you want to make. –Deacon Vorbis (carbon • videos) 16:05, 1 February 2020 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 14 April 2020

In describe about hybird apps and native apps can add ref to explain. Exenatus (talk) 09:17, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

References

Not done, first of all it's a WP:BLOG and secondly it's there to promote the company. – Thjarkur (talk) 13:23, 14 April 2020 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 7 June 2020

203.144.80.251 (talk) 09:02, 7 June 2020 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. TheImaCow (talk) 09:15, 7 June 2020 (UTC)

Privacy Implications

Needs a section on the privacy implications of apps. Chris Fletcher (talk) 05:06, 3 April 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 6 September 2021

2601:185:8301:9130:708C:E5AC:B034:EEB0 (talk) 02:38, 6 September 2021 (UTC)

A place to post really scary men in Vermont and Canada. Like Dominique Golliot?

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. — IVORK _Talk 03:35, 6 September 2021 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• Starting an app on a smartphone - video.webm

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 22:23, 18 October 2021 (UTC)

Flutter

Hi, I’m a mobile app developer. Since this article was written, Flutter has taken off as a hybrid platform. I’d suggest adding it to the list of examples. I’d also suggest changing what you say about hybrid platforms not being as fast/as good of a user experience. That was absolutely true as recently as 2019. But the technology has gotten way better and they are basically indistinguishable from native at this point. Great article! 142.126.158.144 (talk) 12:15, 17 December 2021 (UTC)

I've added flutter. For discussion of efficiency / ease of development, we need WP:RS sources that discuss this to use as references.Dialectric (talk) 21:35, 17 December 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 21 February 2023

don't change simply add the cost of native applications and mention all native programing tools out there Yousr Ezz (talk) 06:21, 21 February 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Lightoil (talk) 00:19, 22 February 2023 (UTC)

@Lightoil 197.241.43.99 (talk) 05:36, 22 March 2023 (UTC)