Introduction to Mobile Apps

Smartphone began its journey in the 70s, the first phone to be tagged a smartphone was conceptualized in 1971 and was patented in 1973. Ever since then smartphones have been crawling their ways into the mobile market, we only know the story now that Smartphones rule the mobile market. 

 Everyone everywhere uses one or more smartphones, the use of smartphones have risen in recent times and feature phones usage are declining very fast. The smartphones are getting smarter on regular bases, thanks to the Geeks.

What makes a Smartphone smart? 

A smartphone is a mobile phone with more advanced computing capability and connectivity than basic feature phones. Smartphones include the features of a phone with those of another popular consumer device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a media player, a digital camera, and/or a GPS navigation unit. 

Smartphones also include the features of a touchscreen computer, including web browsing, Wi-Fi, 3rd-party apps, motion sensor, mobile payment, and 3G (Some now include the latest 4G LTE capability). All these features mentioned make a typical smartphone smart.

Are Smartphones really smart? 

I personally will give a Yes and No answers. Yes, if at least 50% of all the features included in such a smartphone are used by the user, then the phone is a smartphone. Else the answer is NO, because it makes the phone a mere feature phone if it is used for just the basic Telephony activities like - making and receiving calls, sending and receiving text messages, taking pictures etc. 

A smartphone user makes his or her smartphone smart, and mobile apps (Mobile Applications) make the phone smarter.

Mobile Applications

Mobile applications software (or Mobile Apps for short) - A mobile app is a computer program designed to run on smartphones, tablet computers and other mobile devices. These Apps are usually distributed through the distribution platforms called App Stores. 

The App store is operated by the owner of the Mobile Operating System (OS), this trend of operating App Store started appearing in 2008 (App Store by Apple was the first known App Store) and gained popularity in 2010. There are different Apps developed for different purposes and for different Mobile OS platforms which are downloaded from the platform to a target device.

Importance of Mobile Apps

Initially, mobile Apps were developed to offer general productivity and information retrieval. The rise in demand for apps drove rapid expansion into other categories, such as mobile games, factory automation, GPS and location-based services, banking, order-tracking, ticket purchases and recently mobile medical apps. 

Recently, government regulatory agencies have launched initiatives to regulate and curate apps, particularly mobile medical apps. In some countries like China, mobile apps for corruption was launched last year (Nigeria need this) to help fight corruption in the country

A ComScore study in 2012 reported that more mobile subscribers used apps than browsed the web on their devices. in 2014, apps downloads are expected to hit 179 billion and the number will rise above 268.69 billion in 2017. Figures gotten from Statistica shows 138,809 apps have been downlaoded as of this November 2014. We are living in mobile apps world.

Some Apps are free while others must be bought by users. Apps development has created another avenue for developers to generate income either by developing paid apps or by monetizing their apps.

App Stores

The App Store listed below are listed in no particular order.

Google Play  (Google) - (formerly known as the Android Market) is an international online software store developed by Google for Android devices. It opened in October 2008. In August 2014, there were approximately 1.3+ million apps available for Android, and the estimated number of applications downloaded from Google Play was 40 billion. The largest App store. The best store for Apps developer in terms of market share.

App Store (Apple) - 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, 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. The second largest App store. A platform for developers that want to make big buck with their apps.

Windows Phone Store (Windows) - Windows Phone Store is the third largest App Store globally, it was introduced by Microsoft for its Windows Phone platform in October 2010. 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.

Blackberry App World (Blackberry) - 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. BlackBerry 10 users can also run Android apps.

Amazon Appstore (Amazon) - is an alternate application store for the Android operating system. The Amazon Appstore's Android Apps can also run on BlackBerry 10 devices. It was opened in March 2011.

Samsung Apps Store - An app store for Samsung mobile phones was founded in September 2009. 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.

Nokia Store - 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. In May 2011, Nokia announced plans to rebrand its Ovi product line under the Nokia brand and Ovi Store was renamed Nokia Store in October 2011. 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.

Top 10 most used apps in 2014

Facebook - Facebook is the most used app globally, used by 115 million users monthly. If you find yourself

Youtube - YouTube app comes second on the log with 83.4 million users.

Google Play app - the vehicle for Android phone owners to get new apps, with 72 million users monthly is in third place. Android has nearly 85% market share of phones worldwide.

The Google search app - so prominent on Android phones, with 70 million users.

Pandora - Pandora is the sitting in the fifth position on the log with 69 million listeners, making it easily the world's largest radio station.

Google Maps app - you can find your way anywhere anytime with Google map app with 64.5 million monthly users navigating their ways around town with Google Maps.

Gmail App - over native mail apps on phones, because it's easier to insert attachments and files from Google Drive directly. Some 60 million folks use the Gmail app monthly.

Instagram - The world's most popular photo sharing app where some 60 million pictures are uploaded every day. Instagram reaches 46.6 million users monthly.

Apple Maps - Apple Maps is used by 42 million users monthly.

Yahoo Finance app - which just got a spiffy facelift this summer, and is now easier to navigate. Yahoo Finance also is used by 42 million users monthly.

Make your Smartphones smarter with the best Mobile Applications Software available in different App Stores.

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