What is application software?

Application software, also known as applications, or apps for short, cover a whole range of programs that can run on almost any device, from your desktop computer and your laptop to your smartphone and tablet. Really, an application is pretty much anything that runs on a device to complete a task.

Application software is generally more intuitive than full-blown software, with a simple user interface (UI) and crucially, built with the end user’s best interests at heart.

The programs can be used for a vast array of different purposes, from managing social media, to productivity software for creating and editing documents or a web browser to navigate the internet, all the way up to more sophisticated use cases, such as enabling you to add entries into a database. Simpler apps with only one function are things like a device’s pre-installed calendar.

What’s important to note is that although the line between software and applications is blurred, there’s one major difference between how the two work. Application software doesn’t use the computer’s core running system like utilities or maintenance programs that are normally preinstalled on a computer or device do. Applications run completely independently and thus, they don’t rely on the computer’s core to provide them with information.

Application software types

Desktop applications

Desktop applications are ‘installed’ on a user’s computer. They are normally pretty high-powered software that uses the computer’s memory directly to carry out an action. Other characteristics include that they allow people to manipulate datasets, graphics or numbers to create an output. Examples of desktop applications include productivity applications such as a word processor, a music player or video player.

Web-based applications

While most application software can be installed directly to a machine, many allow users to access tools through web browsers and some only exist in web format. Not only do these services free up space on a user’s hard drive or network, being web-based means they can be accessed from anywhere in the world at any time, with data being stored in the cloud. This also means the application is kept up-to-date automatically, without the risk of a user running an insecure version.

This has given rise to software-as-a-service (SaaS), in which users agree to a subscription in exchange for application services, often provided through a web browser. Salesforce, Oracle, and Adobe Creative Cloud are some of the most widely used SaaS application suites.

Application suites

Applications are available at standalone products, but also grouped together in application suites, offering a variety of different apps to cover more than just one aspect of your business. Often, these application suites provide multiple applications at a lower price that buying each separately and can provide better interoperability compared to buying lots of different applications from different companies.

Application packages often are themed around a certain part of your business. For example, Adobe’s Creative Suite comprises multiple creative applications designed for editing photos, videos, creating websites and more. An enterprise may want a fully-integrated set of applications to cover their entire business operations and so may comprise
HR applications and customer relationship management (CRM) and more to keep data and performance in check.

Application suites are also available for smaller businesses or home usage too. For example, Microsoft’s Office comprises the company’s full set of productivity applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Apple’s similar productivity suite includes Pages, Sheets and Keynote.

Other app suites are extendable. A computer
anti-virus software, for example, amy include the basics, but user are able to tag on extra services that protect their PCs against other threats, not included in the basic package. In such cases, the number of people using the software can dictate what’s included too, such as password management for personal subscriptions, or protections for file servers on business accounts.