The term “App” has been around for a long time. I don’t think there’s a reasonable way to determine when “Application" first got shortened to “App”. I have read many theories. Generally. Apple tends to get a lot of credit for the popularity of the term, partly because of their add campaign a while back stating “There’s an app for that” over and over in a series commercials. The same basic Apps can run on most iDevices, be they iPhones, iPods Touches, iPads, iPad Minis, etc. The ads ran starting in January of 2009, and by December of that year, Apple had filed for a trademark, to prevent others from using that same phrase.
If you’re curious, a key reason some Apps cannot cross between iDevices, often relates to screen resolution. Well coded Apps will work in multiple resolutions, and most any iPhone or iPod App will run on a larger screened iDevice (like in an iPad Mini, or iPad) but at a reduced resolution. Similar issues came up when certain iDevices went to the higher-resolution “retina” displays. Lots of Apps had to be updated, and even if you’re not using the display at all (you can switch the video totally off with screen curtain under voiceover— I think that takes a three-fingered triple-tap), the App still needs to know how to work with the display or it may act strangely, or even crash. The standard challenge is trying to use an iPad app on an iPhone when it wasn’t written to work with the lower resolution screen, but there are other computability issues between various iDevices now and then too. I don’t think there are any absolute answers about what App means at this point, but In my experience, I agree that the term currently tends to imply the software referenced is for a smart phone, and quite often an iPhone or other iDevice (iPad, iPod, etc.). With that said, I’m a Macintosh user— have been since the 1980’s, and I can tell you for certain that I have an “App" called “App Store” on my Macbook Pro, and I can go there and buy Applications (“Apps”) for my Macintosh, so the term is clearly broader-reaching than smart phones. I shop for Mac software there, just like I shop for Apps in the App Store for iDevices with a different "App Store” Application on my iPhone (or any iDevice). As to Android phones, they compete with iPhones, so as soon as there were “Apps” on iPhones, there were quickly Apps (by that same term) on Android phones, Apple can trademark a phrase, but not a common term like “App”. No way that would ever fly. Also, on a Macintosh, under the more recent OS versions, the .app extension turns a regular folder (or "directory", if you prefer) into so-called "application bundle"—which includes the application “executable" and related resources (icons, graphics, property files, localizations, etc.) Visually, an App tends to have a unique appearance on a Macintosh (the company selling the software usually makes a custom icon up), which gives many users the impression they are launching a single executable item, but you can option-click (Macs don’t have a right button on the standard mouse or trackpad, so optional clicks (such as a right-click on a Windows PC) are done by holding down the option key [or some other modifier key] as you click). If you do this, a directory will open for an App, just like with opening any other folder. To relate this to a Windows machine, the "app” folder is analogous to the directory created when you install a Windows program. So on a Macintosh, it is possible to navigate into the “App", and run the Unix Executable File directly. (Macintosh OSX is Unix-based.) The typical Application folder a modern Macintosh will be filled with Apps, normally listed as "applicationname.app" If you open a Mac Application Folder, and there aren’t many items inside ending with .app, it would only be due to having the “show all filename extensions” option disabled within the finder preferences (under the advanced tab). Sorry if that is too much info., but I hope it is at least bit helpful. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.the-jdh.com/pipermail/jfw_lists.the-jdh.com/attachments/20140515/f8c18ff5/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ Jfw mailing list [email protected] http://lists.the-jdh.com/mailman/listinfo/jfw_lists.the-jdh.com
