How Apple’s app store changed our world

This illustration picture taken on April 19, 2018 in Paris shows the tablet and smartphone apps for Google, Amazon, Facebook and the Apple Store. (AFP)

SAN FRANCISCO: A decade ago, Apple opened a store peddling iPhone apps, letting users truly take control of their mobile devices.
The resulting app explosion — there are now more than 2 million for the iPhone alone — has changed daily life for billions of people around the world.
It has unleashed new ways for us to work and play — and to become so distracted that we sometimes forget to look up from our screens. It has created new industries — think ride-hailing services like Uber, which would be unimaginable without mobile apps — and pumped up demand for software developers.
But some critics argue that apps have been engineered to addict their users. Apple now plans features to help people track and control usage of time-consuming apps.