# Is an "app", by definition, something else? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 14, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-app-by-definition-something-else/625125 "2012-06-14T12:47:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-app-by-definition-something-else/625125/21 "2012-06-15T15:46:17Z")
Eh? That’s where the old one came from too. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-app-by-definition-something-else/625125/22 "2012-06-15T18:38:48Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Are we even sure that the modern concept of “app” came from the older concept, and that both just didn’t come from a shortening of application? > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Eh? That’s where the old one came from too. I think BigT meant that maybe “app” applied to smartphone apps arose independently of “app” for “big-ass software application” though from the same roots. Kind of like two species that have a common ancestor. Actually I think the concept of what “app” means hasn’t changed, it’s that that platform has changed. In the 1960s an application was something that was on a mainframe computer that took up half a building and was used by trained users. Today an application is something that’s in everybody’s pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-app-by-definition-something-else/625125/23 "2012-06-15T21:42:24Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > Steam does, however, store game applications in a folder called “Steamapps”. But I can’t say for sure if it always did that or not. The name of the folder is an implementation detail; I meant that Steam never refers to them as “apps” in the UI of the program. But you’re right, it indicates that, at least, someone at Valve considers them apps. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-app-by-definition-something-else/625125/24 "2012-06-15T22:37:24Z")
> [@Blakeyrat](#): > > The name of the folder is an implementation detail; I meant that Steam never refers to them as “apps” in the UI of the program. > > But you’re right, it indicates that, at least, someone at Valve considers them apps. Yes it was just intended as an interesting (well perhaps not) fact. ---
**Author:** ![StephenG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@StephenG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StephenG)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-app-by-definition-something-else/625125/25 "2012-06-16T00:01:09Z")
> [@amanset](#): > > While I agree with the next guy that it is just a short form of “Application” it is interesting that the file extension for Applications on OSX is .app With apologies for the hijack, applications in OSX aren’t files – they’re packages. (Right-click / ctrl+click one and select Show Package Contents.) Packages are like folders, in that they contain multiple files. Packages, however, do run a program when double-clicked. For instance, double-clicking Safari.app runs /Applications/Safari.app/Contents/MacOS/Safari. To return to the thread topic, yes, that makes sense as an abbreviation for “application”, just like “exe” is an abbreviation for “executable”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-an-app-by-definition-something-else/625125.md?page=1)