We were asked on another post about why we choose to call our products (specifically Citizen Space) ‘apps.’ It’s a fair point, as iOS and Android applications seem to have a monopoly on the term ‘app,’ so why are we using it?
But apps aren’t just for mobile phones. It’s short for “application software” which simply describes a program that helps users perform tasks. Our products, like Citizen Space and Budget Simulator for example, do this, but just so happen to be hosted online. So instead of making apps designed to run on a mobile device (such as an iOS or Android application), we make apps which run in an internet browser. The concept of “web application” isn’t new either, it’s been around for over a decade and includes Webmail clients and Wikipedia.
So in summary, we make web applications. And it’s trendy that web, mobile and operating system applications (think Mac App Store) get shortened to “apps.” It also lets us increase productivity and reduce repetitive strain injury risk by typing seven fewer letters 😀
Coda: as of 2019 we no longer use the word ‘apps’. Citizen Space, Dialogue and Simulator are all still web-based applications, delivered as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) but we find it works better to refer to them as ‘platforms’ and/or ‘tools. So eh.
