App development · lesson 1 of 24 · free

What is an app? — App development for students

An app (short for application) is a program made to do one job for its users: a game, a calculator, a step counter, a flashcard trainer. A phone app is downloaded from an app store, installed, and gets its own icon on the home screen; many apps keep working with no internet. A website is different: it needs no installing and opens in a web browser from its web address or a link. Apps come in kinds — games, learning apps, tool apps and health apps.

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Got it? Practise ↓

Developer's tip

Install or visit — “an app is installed on the phone; a website is visited in a web browser”

  1. App = application: a program installed on a phone to do a job for its users.
  2. An app comes from an app store and has a home-screen icon; a website opens in a web browser from a web address.
  3. Kinds of apps: games, learning apps, tool apps, health apps.

Use it for: Understanding the apps you use every day and choosing whether your idea should be an app or a website.

Worked example: 📱 Which one is installed on a phone: an app or a website? → an app

  1. Websites open in a web browser and need no installing.
  2. Apps are downloaded from an app store and installed.

Check: A website opens from a link — no install needed ✓

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✏️ Practice

Work it out in your head or on paper, type the answer and press Check. Stuck? Press “Show me how”.

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🏁 Lesson 1 test

20 questions. Check each answer, then go to the next one. Get 16 or more right to pass.

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🖨️ App Dev Worksheet: What Is an App

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