Are Apps Software?
Apps are to software as snakes are to reptiles.
By that text above you probably got the answer already but we wanted to break it down even further. Snakes are reptiles, and reptiles are snakes…and lizards…and turtles… and crocodiles.
Apps are software and software is apps…mobile apps…web apps…programs.
We had to clarify the difference between mobile and web apps because frankly there is one. A mobile app is a software that is used on a mobile device such as a phone. A web app is a software that is used on a device with access to a website. Phones act as computers nowadays so sometimes it’s hard to distinguish between the two.
Most commonly your mobile app is one of the squares on your phone with round corners.
You may not even realize you’re using a web app. You might just think you’re on a website (and you’re not wrong). The web app allows a user to interact with the website in a way that a normal website can’t. Think PayPal or Venmo. Those are web apps within websites (and they’re mobile apps as well).
Sometimes for the sake of differentiation, it’s easier to just say app when referring to software on your phone and websites for software on the web. Just know, that apps are software and snakes are reptiles.