The original Macintosh had an Applications folder. App is what I use to cut through tech speak for people at work because the shortcut is less daunting. They have apps on their phone. They must not be scary like Programs and Applications.
I’d say it gets a little different with command line utilities — maybe “utility” is the appropriate term here, but I’d call something like grep a program, not an application (again — “utility” also works).
To be sure, grep is extremely powerful, but its scope is limited.
What’s the difference between an application and a program?
The original Macintosh had an Applications folder. App is what I use to cut through tech speak for people at work because the shortcut is less daunting. They have apps on their phone. They must not be scary like Programs and Applications.
Historically, an app is something with very limited uses, and a program is more powerful.
Adobe PhotoShop is a program. Apple Photos is an app.
I’d say it gets a little different with command line utilities — maybe “utility” is the appropriate term here, but I’d call something like
grepa program, not an application (again — “utility” also works).To be sure,
grepis extremely powerful, but its scope is limited.