Web apps often look the same as desktop apps, except they are installed on a remote server and – importantly – run inside a web browser like Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. This means anyone with access to the internet can use them and they never need to install the application on their computer.

To use a new piece of software is no harder than going to a different website. Gmail, Microsoft Office 365, accounts system Xero, Salesforce CRM, project-management app Basecamp, and social media tool Buffer are all examples of services where you don’t need to install anything to use them; they are simply accessed online. The features these applications provide would have traditionally only been available through one of the desktop apps described earlier.