App store in the context of Mobile operating system

A mobile game is a video game that is typically played on a mobile device. The term also refers to all games that are played on any portable device, including from mobile phone (feature phone or smartphone), tablet, PDA to handheld game console, portable media player or graphing calculator, with and without network availability.The earliest known game on a mobile phone was a Tetris variant on the Hagenuk MT-2000 device from 1994.

In 1997, Nokia launched Snake. Snake, which was pre-installed in most mobile devices manufactured by Nokia for a couple of years, has since become one of the most played games, at one point found on more than 350 million devices worldwide. Mobile devices became more computationally advanced allowing for downloading of games, though these were initially limited to phone carriers' own stores. Mobile gaming grew greatly with the development of app stores in 2008, such as the iOS App Store from Apple. As the first mobile content marketplace operated directly by a mobile-platform holder, the App Store significantly changed the consumer behaviour and quickly broadened the market for mobile games, as almost every smartphone owner started to download mobile apps.

The Microsoft Store (formerly known as the Windows Store) is a digital distribution platform operated by Microsoft. It was created as an app store for Windows 8 as the primary means of distributing Universal Windows Platform apps. With Windows 10 1803, Microsoft merged its other distribution platforms (Windows Marketplace, Windows Phone Store, Xbox Music, Xbox Video, Xbox Store, and a web storefront also known as "Microsoft Store") into Microsoft Store, making it a unified distribution point for apps, console games, and digital videos. Digital music was included until the end of 2017, and E-books were included until 2019.

As with other similar platforms, such as the Google Play and Mac App Store, Microsoft Store is curated, and apps must be certified for compatibility and content. In addition to the user-facing Microsoft Store client, the store has a developer portal with which developers can interact. Microsoft takes 5–15% of the sale price for apps and 30% on Xbox games. Prior to January 1, 2015, this cut was reduced to 20% after the developer's profits reached $25,000. In 2021, 669,000 apps were available in the store. Categories containing the largest number of apps are "Books and Reference", "Education", "Entertainment", and "Games". The majority of the app developers have one app.

A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a phone, tablet, or watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop applications which are designed to run on desktop computers, and web applications which run in mobile web browsers rather than directly on the mobile device.

Apps were originally intended for productivity assistance such as email, calendar, and contact databases, but the public demand for apps caused rapid expansion into other areas such as mobile games, factory automation, GPS and location-based services, order-tracking, and ticket purchases, so that there are now millions of apps available. Many apps require Internet access. Apps are generally downloaded from app stores, which are a type of digital distribution platforms.

Apple TV is a digital media player and microconsole made by Apple Inc. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include streaming media, TV Everywhere–based services, local media sources, sports journalism and broadcasts.

The first generation Apple TV was introduced in 2007 and was primarily intended to download and play content from the iTunes Store. The second generation model in 2010 was redesigned as an all-streaming device and is only compatible with HDMI-equipped enhanced-definition or high-definition widescreen televisions. The fourth generation model released in 2015 introduced the tvOS operating system and support for third-party apps via an app store.

The App Store is an app marketplace developed and maintained by Apple, for mobile apps on its iOS and iPadOS operating systems. The store allows users to browse and download approved apps developed within Apple's iOS SDK. Apps can be downloaded on the iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, and some can be transferred to the Apple Watch smartwatch or 4th-generation or newer Apple TVs as extensions of iPhone apps.

The App Store opened on July 10, 2008, with an initial 500 applications available. The number of apps peaked at around 2.2 million in 2017, but declined slightly over the next few years as Apple began a process to remove old or 32-bit apps. As of 2024, the store features more than 1.9 million apps.

NeXTSTEP is a discontinued object-oriented, multitasking operating system based on the Mach kernel and the UNIX-derived BSD. It was developed by NeXT, founded by Steve Jobs, in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was initially used for its range of proprietary workstation computers such as the NeXT Computer. It was later ported to several other computer architectures.

Although relatively unsuccessful at the time, it attracted interest from computer scientists and researchers. It hosted the original development of the Electronic AppWrapper, the first commercial electronic software distribution catalog to collectively manage encryption and provide digital rights for application software and digital media, a forerunner of the modern "app store" concept. It is the platform on which Tim Berners-Lee created the first web browser, and on which id Software developed the video games Doom and Quake.

The Digital Services Act (DSA) is an EU regulation that entered into force in 2022, establishing a comprehensive legal framework for digital services accountability, content moderation, and platform transparency across the European Union. It significantly updates the Electronic Commerce Directive 2000 in EU law by introducing graduated obligations based on service size and risk levels, and was proposed alongside the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The DSA applies to all digital intermediary services, including hosting services, online platforms (such as social networks, online marketplaces, pornographic platforms, app stores), and search engines. It establishes a tiered regulatory approach: basic obligations for all services, enhanced duties for online platforms, and the most stringent requirements for Very Large Online Platforms (VLOPs) and Very Large Online Search Engines (VLOSEs) with over 45 million monthly active users in the EU.

Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store or Play Store, and formerly known as the Android Market, is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certified devices running on the Android operating system and its derivatives, as well as ChromeOS, allowing users to browse and download applications developed with the Android software development kit and published through Google. Google Play has also served as a digital media store, with it offering various media for purchase (as well as certain things available free) such as books, movies, musical singles, television programs, and video games.

Content that has been purchased on Google TV and Google Play Books can be accessed on a web browser (such as, for example, Google Chrome) and through certain Android and iOS apps. An individual's Google Account can feature a diverse collection of materials to be heard, read, watched, or otherwise interacted with. The nature of the various things offered through Google Play's services have changed over time given the particular history of the Android operating system.

A package manager or package management system is software that supports installing, upgrading, configuring, and removing software for the host system in a consistent manner.

A package manager deals with packages, distributions of software and data in archive files. Packages contain metadata, such as the software's name, description of its purpose, version number, vendor, checksum (usually a cryptographic hash function), and a list of dependencies necessary for the software to run properly. Upon installation, metadata is stored in a local package database. Package managers typically maintain a database of software dependencies and version information to prevent software mismatches and missing prerequisites. They work closely with software repositories, binary repository managers, and app stores.

Windows Phone Store was a digital distribution platform developed by Microsoft for the Windows Phone. It allowed publishers to release apps which could be downloaded to users smartphones.

The app store was initially launched as Windows Phone Marketplace alongside Windows Phone 7 in October 2010. With the rollout of Windows Phone 7.5, Microsoft unveiled the Marketplace, which offered over-the-air installation of apps. In August 2012, Microsoft renamed the Marketplace to Windows Phone Store. In July 2015, the Windows Phone Store was replaced by the Windows Store, which would act as a unified solution for all Windows-powered devices. This process was complemented by the Apps on Windows website, an interim solution before the unified Windows Store. The Windows Phone Store shut down for Windows Phone 8.1 systems on December 16, 2019.