The word “app” has come to mean than a traditional mobile app, especially at Meta where the term means different things to different teams. I took on the challenge of re-defining “app” because I’d observed the confusion in action when I joined the team. Here’s the write-up I published after leading a months-long project to clarify the term for all writers at Meta.
Note: I altered or redacted some details in the version I’m sharing here.
We split the definition of the term "app" into two concepts to address how the word is currently used at Meta. There are now two entries for “app” in Meta’s terminology database (aka Acrolinx): one for the more familiar kind of user-facing apps (which we’ve updated), and a new one for the Meta-specific concept of the integrations developers use to interface with our services.
We also suggest there's additional work to be done developing how we talk about these types of integrations to mitigate possible customer confusion and reduce internal debate.
In early 2021, <name redacted> observed internal debate and confusion about the term "app" and gathered a working group to pursue it. They found the word “app” used in a variety of contexts and products across Meta. For example:
Advertisers can promote an “app” (third-party mobile apps like Uber or Candy Crush) on Facebook or Instagram.
Businesses can connect an “app” as a third-party integration, like Shopify, to their Facebook Page or other Meta assets.
Developers create an “app” that is an empty shell for data requests through Meta APIs.
Products like <redacted> are emerging to offer <redacted> experiences.
The working group spent months doing significant work to document where the term is used and identify the many teams using it, and quickly realized this was bigger than a definition. It's also about how teams think about their products, and how we talk about them internally and to the people who use them. Importantly, this group identified these two distinct concepts in use at the company, which have been incorporated into our update.
When we picked up the work in October, we chose to focus solely on how we might make a helpful update to the definition in Acrolinx.
Two important turning points helped bring us to this current update:
We decided to let go of an attempt to define “app” definitively. Instead, we would simply describe how some product teams at the company use the term right now. By adding nuance to the existing definition, we would not solve the challenge of defining “app,” but we would provide a more useful definition.
In consultations with terminologist <name redacted>, (yes, we have terminologists at Meta!), she suggested we create separate definitions for distinct concepts. Aha! The working group had identified two distinct concepts earlier in the year—the answer to revising a definition for ‘app’ was to write two definitions.
We aligned with content designers on several product teams on separate definitions for the two concepts the working group had identified.
Previous definition of "app"
A piece of software designed to fulfill a particular purpose.
New definitions for two concepts of "app"
Concept 1
Software installed to a device or within a product hosted by Meta, which provides an end user with a specific digital experience or enables them to achieve a productive outcome.
Concept 2
An integration created by a developer specifically to connect a tool, plug-in, bot, website, mobile app, etc. with Meta technologies in order to access data through an API.
Our goal was to highlight the complexity of this term, set some boundaries on how it might be used, and provide suggestions for alternative terms and concepts that may be more descriptive for certain contexts. To this end, we also made changes to the terminology notes for these terms within the Acrolinx database:
We flagged both concepts with the Use with Caution status to draw attention to their complexity and encourage people to read the definitions and usage notes.
We updated usage notes with details about use in specific product areas: Workplace, Portal, Milan, Developer Platform, and Facebook Business Suite (please add your products!).
We added related terms (e.g., API, business integration, Business App) to align existing concepts with the term, and provide alternatives to content designers.
These definitions are not comprehensive. We limited the scope of this update to provide information and clarity now on a term that we fully expect to evolve as we journey into the Metaverse. We hope to write more posts on this topic to encourage more discussion about the term, the concepts and how we use them.
There are also larger open questions, like how should we talk about apps vs. the businesses that own them? Questions like this have technical and strategic implications that need deeper investigation.
Finally, we need your help! We encourage content designers from across the company to think about how they use the term “app” – contribute to these concept definitions, add your product areas to these terms and coin new terms for concepts related to “app” to be used in the future. This is language evolving, and we get to be a part of it!
Reach out to Susan or Bill to get involved.