Nearly everyone uses apps to work, play, shop, read, watch movies, chat, and so on. But do we really know what they are or how they work? How is a native application different from just using the website? And what is a web app? 

If you need to create an app for your business or want to understand how to choose the right apps and tools for your workflow, understanding the fundamentals helps. Read on to learn about how different types of apps function, and find examples of useful, powerful apps that are helping ecommerce business owners like Raven Gibson of Legendary Rootz build and scale their businesses more effectively.

Before smartphones, we referred to a piece of software as an “application” or a “program” if it ran on computers. But after Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, he began referring to all the programs it ran—email, the Safari web browser, and games—as “apps.” Apple doubled down on the term “app” with the “There’s an App for That” ad campaign in 2009, and the word entered into the common lexicon.

But is an app any different from an application? No—both are software programs. The term “app” is a shorter, catchier term to refer to applications on mobile devices. But really, they’re all the same thing. You can run a lot of so-called “iPhone apps” on Mac desktops and laptops.

Programmers build apps by writing software (i.e., code in a programming language) to tell the hardware (i.e., smartphones, tablets, or laptops) what to do. The instructions specify the layout of the app, where to display images and buttons, and what to do when a user clicks or taps those buttons.

In practice, most app developers use an integrated development environment (IDE) as their workspace, a specialized word-processor for writing software—like Visual Studio or Xcode, for example. These tools organize and structure your app’s code, offer autocomplete, and generally make the job easier. They often utilize an AI assistant to help write the code.

Once developers compile the app, they run it, test the user interface, check specific functionalities, test compatibility with different devices, and submit it to an app store. And then they start working on the next version.

While there are apps for all sorts of different purposes—gaming, communicating, posting social media content—there are also different types of apps for distinct browsers or computer hardware. Here are the most common types of apps:

In the context of apps, “desktop” has come to refer to desktop or laptop computers. Desktop apps run on computers rather than tablets and smartphones, and are often more complex and capable than their mobile counterparts. Initially, this was because phones and tablets were less powerful than computers, but now it’s more about the user interface differences (e.g., touch versus mouse/trackpad or screen size).

Desktop apps can spread out over multiple windows, organize extensive features into menu items, and interact more easily with other apps. Adobe Photoshop, for example, is an app that would be difficult to use on a small touchscreen, versus Lensa, an AI-powered built for mobile.

Mobile applications work specifically on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. The best mobile apps prioritize a smooth user experience, forgo excessive complexity, and revolve around touch interaction. If you’re building a mobile shopping app, then you might prioritize fast search, easy browsing, and platform-integrated payments.

For example, the Shop app is designed for easy mobile shopping in Shopify-powered stores, and also provides order tracking and shipping status updates via mobile notifications.

A native app is written specifically for a particular platform. A native iOS (iPhone’s operating system) app, for example, will use Apple’s programming languages (Swift or Objective-C) and Apple’s application programming interfaces (APIs). Native apps typically follow the design principles of the platform they’re written for, such as how menu items align or dialogue boxes look. They will also adopt operating system conventions, like ⌘+comma to bring up app settings on the Mac, or Ctrl+P to print on Windows. Numbers is Apple’s take on Excel, and showcases how deeply native an app can be.

“'I’m a spreadsheet girly,” says Raven. On an episode of the Shopify Masters podcast, she talks about the apps she uses to run her business. “I use Numbers. I love to be able to export and import CSVs. That really helps me with bulk importing products.” Raven uses bulk import on her Numbers spreadsheet to visualize all of her orders and customer profiles at once. This helps her ensure everything is in order on the back end of her website and aligns with the customer’s order.

In contrast to a native app, a cross-platform app works across different platforms, like Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and a variety of web browsers. You don’t need a specialized developer for each platform, and you only have to maintain one app and one code base. Cross-platform apps can also refer to software applications with cross-platform compatibility. In this case, the vendor maintains several versions for various platforms. 

Modern cross-platform apps usually use Electron, a framework that’s essentially a custom Chrome web browser in which the app runs. Electron apps are often huge compared to other native apps, because each one includes a Chrome browser along with the app’s code. The downside is that the app may not feel perfectly designed for any platform, and it won’t be able to take advantage of the deep-level features of the host operating system.

“Notion is probably my favorite software. I have a database where I keep all of my ideas,” says Raven. Notion is a cross-platform workspace app that runs in the browser, as a desktop app, and as a mobile app. “Ideas spark, and instead of rushing into them, I take that idea and I put it in Notion. I have a database where I keep track of all my ideas, who I envision wearing a design, and how I want to market it.”

Web applications run in the browser and can run on multiple platforms. A web app uses modern web technologies like JavaScript to create an app-like experience. Web apps are often optimized for a dominant browser—oftentimes, Google Chrome—but should also run mostly fine in Safari and Firefox. 

Web apps offer several significant advantages. You can interact with them on mobile devices without having to access an app store, and since the app exists on servers, instead of on the user’s device, it’s always up-to-date. Web apps can rely on powerful web servers instead of relatively limited phone hardware. For example, Canva, a free web-based photo editing and graphics app, works entirely on your internet browser.

Web apps are great, but they don’t offer offline access. Progressive web apps solve this by downloading themselves onto your device and storing their data locally. They also add an icon to your home screen, system tray, or dock, and allow push notifications.

Progressive web apps use modern web technologies and are as responsive as local apps. Technically, they are still running in a browser, but unlike a cross-platform Electron-based app, they use the browser engine that’s already built into your OS.

Hybrid apps feel like regular apps that run on your device, but much of their functionality runs inside a custom web browser window. Businesses find hybrid apps convenient to develop because you can more easily tailor them to work across different platforms, and you can update the apps’ contents without having to update the app itself. Hybrid apps require a persistent internet connection.

Pay-later service Klarna uses hybrid apps, which allow its web technologies and APIs to be seamlessly deployed inside apps, including third-party apps.

In the context of apps, “legacy” means outdated or that the app runs on older architectures. For example, when Apple launched its Apple Silicon Macs, all the apps made for Intel Macs were incompatible and became legacy apps. Apple created Rosetta 2, a translator that allowed all those old legacy apps to run on the new machines. Legacy apps can also be old apps that are no longer supported, either because they have been replaced, discontinued, or the company that makes them no longer exists.

A quick peek at the Shopify App Store shows you that there truly is an app for everything. The suite of apps you choose to help run your business will vary depending on your needs. While a cross-platform app might be best for some purposes (ubiquitous communication via Slack, for example), sometimes a short and sweet web app is a better choice. Here are some examples:

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What is an app FAQ

What is an app, and how does it work?

An app is software that runs on a computer to allow the user to perform specific tasks. It consists of a user interface (the part you see, with the buttons that you tap or click on), the code (a set of instructions that one or more developers have written, which tell the computer what to do), and the data (what the computer acts upon). It works by calling on any or all of the built-in features of the computer’s operating system, adding its own custom features, and presenting them to the user via the screen.

Are free apps really free?

Yes, some apps really are free, though there are other ways to monetize them. For example, free game apps, news apps, and social media apps often feature ads or in-app purchases. Ecommerce platforms may have free apps because they want customers to use those apps to shop for products or services.

What is the difference between an app and a mobile website?

A mobile website is a website optimized for a small-screen phone web browser, such as Chrome or Safari. The browser loads it every time you visit the website, and you need internet access to use it. An app is software that lives locally on your phone and offers offline functionality. It can also offer a richer experience and more features than a mobile website.