2. The rise of the 'App'.

Originally, mobile devices had to connect to a web site in order to exchange information or to use a service and their small screens made this an awkward experience. A site designed to be viewed on a fixed 1280 x 1024 pixel screen was hardly useable on an early 320 x 480 mobile screen.

Furthermore, web sites were designed with a mouse and icon GUI (graphical user interface) in mind not the touch screen and single finger swipes of a mobile device.

And so programs were developed that ran directly on the computer within a mobile device. A program such as this is called an 'application' or just an 'app'.

There are two types of app.

Native app

The code is written directly in the computer language of the device.

The advantage is that it runs quicker than a web app and it can make use of any special features of the device such as tilt or acceleration.

The disadvantage is that it only runs on that device. The app has to be re-coded to run on a different platform. For example a native app for an iPhone app will not run on an Android device and vice versa.

Web app

A web app runs within the browser on the mobile device rather than running directly on the cpu. The advantage is that the same application is likely to run on many different devices without having to be re-coded. But disadvantages include running slower than a native app and it is more difficult for the application to take advantage of any special features the device may have.