Apps, software and who makes them
An app is just a program built for one job. Someone wrote instructions for it, a company published it, and updates keep arriving to fix problems and add new things.
You already know that a program is a set of instructions written for a computer to follow. Another word for a program is software. An app is a program built to do one job, like sending a message, playing a game, or checking the weather.
Software is different from hardware, the physical parts of a computer you can actually touch, like the screen or the chips inside. Hardware is the body. Software is the instructions telling that body what to do.
Who makes apps?
Apps are written by people called programmers, often working in teams, sometimes at huge companies and sometimes as a single person working alone. They write the instructions the app follows, test it to find mistakes, and then publish it so people can use it.
Most phones get their apps from a store, like the App Store or Google Play. These stores review apps before allowing them in, which is one reason it's safer to get apps there than from unfamiliar websites.
Why does my app keep asking to update?
A bug is a mistake in a program that makes it do something it wasn't supposed to do. No program is written perfectly the first time. Programmers keep finding and fixing bugs after an app is already out, which is one reason updates exist.
Updates also add new features, improve how fast an app runs, and close security gaps that could let someone cause harm. Keeping your apps updated is one of the simplest ways to keep a device working well and staying safe.
Pick three apps on a phone or tablet, with a parent's help if it's not your own device. For each one, guess what job it was built to do, in one sentence. Then check the app's description in the app store to see how close your guess was.
Free apps and paid apps
Some apps cost money once, some are free, and some are free to download but sell things inside the app, or show ads, or ask you to pay for a subscription. None of these are automatically good or bad, but it's worth knowing how an app makes money before you use it a lot, and always worth asking a parent before buying anything inside an app.
- App
- A program you open on a phone, tablet or computer to do one job.
- Software
- Programs that run on a computer, as opposed to the physical hardware.
- Hardware
- The physical parts of a computer that you can touch, like the screen, the keyboard and the chips inside.
- Bug
- A mistake in a program that makes it do something it wasn't supposed to do.
What's the difference between hardware and software?
Hardware is the physical parts of a computer you can touch. Software is the instructions telling those parts what to do.
Why do apps keep asking to update?
Updates fix bugs, add new features, and close security gaps, even after an app has already been published.
Name one reason it's usually safer to get apps from an app store.
App stores review apps before allowing them in.
- An app is software built for one job, written by programmers and published for people to use.
- Hardware is the physical parts of a device. Software is the instructions those parts follow.
- Keeping apps updated fixes bugs, adds features and closes security gaps.