Introducing Yahoo! Applications
| What Are Yahoo! Applications? | What Are Updates? | What Are Connections? | Who Creates Applications? |
What Are Yahoo! Applications?
An application (sometimes called an "app") is fun or useful software that can enhance your experience on Yahoo!.
In many ways, you can think of an app as a web site within Yahoo!'s web site. What makes them unique from other sites, though, is that applications can show you personalized information (only with your express permission) using your Yahoo! profile information (such as your name, picture, list of connections, and more).
This means you don't need to download software or create a new account with every application you try out; simply add it to Yahoo!, give it permission to use your information to run, and engage with your friends inside the app within seconds.
Applications are free, require no downloads, and go with you wherever you're signed into Yahoo!. They have "home pages" on Yahoo! that you can go to directly, or you can access them anytime from Yahoo!'s universal header.
Many apps generate updates and broadcast them to your connections, which lets your friends see which apps you’re using and shows you what cool stuff they’re spending their time on.
Some apps were built by Yahoo!, but independent developers
created most of them. 
This accounts for
the wide variety of apps that are available, and for the differences
in how you use each application.
What’s Next
We cannot tell you exactly how each app operates, because every app is different. However, we can tell you about the concepts that are common among all apps, and how to perform the tasks that will allow you to manage your apps. The first common feature to understand is updates.
Words to Know
- Application: fun or useful software that can enhance your experience on Yahoo!. Think of an application (or app) as a website within Yahoo!’s website. Apps are free, require no downloads, and go with you wherever you’re signed into Yahoo!.
- Connection: a person you spend significant time online time with and with whom you want to share personal information. Connections have privileged access to each others’ profiles.
- Profile: a public web page associated with your Yahoo! ID where you can share personal information with others. You and each of your connections have a profile that others can view.
- Update: an event based on your Yahoo! Applications activity. Events often take the form of a sentence that is written to your updates module after you take a certain action within an app.