What the Heck is a Mobile App, Anyhow?

In 2010, when we started the Mobile Apps Showdown at CES we knew just what an app was. The iPhone was just a toddler, the iTunes store had about 125,000 apps. The Android phones were just gaining market share.

Today Apple has 2 million apps and the Google Play Store has nearly the same. Today the apps do more than run on a mobile phone. They power wearable devices, door locks, and in-car entertainment. They've become an important part of how stores keep their customers loyal, how the world augments itself and how it shows itself virtually. On your wrist, your eyes, your thermostat, your t-shirt. There are literally billions of app developers. Apps will morph over time -- groupings, card systems, loyalty rewards ---the app will become a chameleon able to fit seamlessly into the context of what we're doing at any given moment.

So what's an app? Like porn, the real definition of a mobile app is probably "I can't define it but I know it when I see it".

How do you get to see new apps in action? Shameless plug for the longest standing mobile app competition in the business.... the Mobile Apps Showdown at CES. We want to gather apps into one giant app-contest emcee-ed by Yahoo's David Pogue and replete with an online vote and live audience vote determining the winner.

A crew of expert judges sift through the apps to find the top ten and the crowds vote on winners. Even if you're not a winner, you will get seen. By lots of folks. The election is over, the tryptophan coma is too, and the holiday cheer is nearly here. Great week to get your apps entered into The Mobile Apps Showdown.

Watch a video from 2016 to get you in the mood.