3 ms·
at the risk of telling you what you already know... programmes on the mac have the extension .app; it's roughly equivalent to .exe in Windows (except it's not
by cubicle67 16y ago
at the risk of telling you what you already know...
programmes on the mac have the extension .app; it's roughly equivalent to .exe in Windows (except it's not a binary, more like a .jar). When the iPhone started, I guess 'App' was the natural name for them, and thus App Store came naturally as well.
Now it's come to the mac, it's makes even more sense, because it's back where it (Apps) started
- generalk 16y agoMinor historical note: the .app extension for application bundles is a holdover from NeXTSTEP. I don't think that has anything to do with the usage of "app" on the iPhone, and I think the Mac App Store is branded that way for similarity with the iPhone store.
- pohl 16y agoI don't think that has anything to do with the usage of "app" on the iPhone Really? Why not? The iPhone is, after all, running a decedent of the NeXT codebase too.
- RodgerTheGreat 16y agoMacintosh programs have always been called "Applications", and "App" is a natural slang contraction of "Application". I'd say we're overthinking this, folks.
- neovive 16y agoGood point. Although, if everyone moves to the Mac App Store, I wonder if you'll ever get to see the .app extension anymore. I'm assuming apps will all be maintained in a proprietary db.