But, more to the point “app” entered the casual lexicon about 15 years when smartphones became ubiquitous.
The term “application” has had a well understood meaning for far longer than that. That’s simply when people started conflating “app” with “mobile app” due to some clever marketing by "App"le.
If you’re speaking to someone and they say “is there a web_site_ I can use, like on a laptop?” and they respond with “yes, there’s an app”
I think that answer would be pretty unambiguous. If you hear that answer after asking that question and your first thought is that they mean “smartphone app”, you could just ask “is it a smartphone app or web app?” But if you had already told them you wanted to access something from a laptop and they tell you there is an “app” then you can normally safely assume that it’s not a mobile app.
The term “application” has had a well understood meaning for far longer than that. That’s simply when people started conflating “app” with “mobile app” due to some clever marketing by "App"le.
I think that answer would be pretty unambiguous. If you hear that answer after asking that question and your first thought is that they mean “smartphone app”, you could just ask “is it a smartphone app or web app?” But if you had already told them you wanted to access something from a laptop and they tell you there is an “app” then you can normally safely assume that it’s not a mobile app.
Have you somehow never interacted with technical support or customer service?
The moron I got at my isp the other day insisted that “internet” and “wifi” were the same thing.
You can in no way assume that because you said laptop, they are directing you to a web app.