Importance of Apps (mobile applications)

The term apps It has become very fashionable in recent years, especially with the takeoff of the possibilities of mobile devices. It comes from the English word ‘application’ (Applications, in Spanish). This is, however, a rather misleading term that leads to a lot of confusion, because since the birth of computing there have been applications. Apps, however, refer to a specific field, that of mobile applications and portable tablet-type devices. Simplifying, applications for personal computers continue to be called by their long name, while we use apps in its short form to refer to the small applications that are used in devices that are also small.

Previously if you needed to read the email, run a program, take a Photography, make phone calls… etc, etc… you needed a device for everything. Currently a small smartphone, or a tablet, can do at least all these things and many more. As always, to do each of them, the device must have two things: the ability to do it (that is, the hardware that allows it), and a program capable of allowing the device to use this hardware (or what is the same: a software for use it). All devices come with preloaded software called

OS that serves as a link and translator between the user and the party electronics of the machine, allowing it to do what the user wants. Apps are generally small programs that allow you to perform very specific functions. This is precisely where its importance lies: such versatile devices can perform thousands of functions, and they will need thousands of apps to do them. As we can see, the importance of apps has been linked to the importance of the mobile and tablet market. Although most enterprise computing is still localized and 'fixed' on personal computers, it is to be expected that in a few years this trend is reversed, and mobile devices become the nerve centers of companies and of course, of the users.

I fall short if I say that there are millions of apps on the internet, whether for Apple, Android or Windows platforms. There are complex apps and others that are simply small codes that perform a very specific function. There are business, games, magazines, photography, news, publishing, economics, sports, configurators... everything you can imagine, and that has a market niche can be found in network.

Apps can come pre-installed on the device (then called integrated apps), however it is more common to download them from the internet. There are large online stores (called 'stores') from where you can see a general list or by categories of existing apps and then download them, either for a fee or for free, depending on the type of application. The largest stores are Android Market and Apple's App Store, each with applications for its platform.