A third-party app is an application that is created by a developer who is not the manufacturer of the device the app runs on or the owner of the website that hosts the app. You could think of them as first-party apps, although that term is not used very broadly (we will use it in this article to clarify what is what).
What is a third-party app?
Third-party apps can be welcomed or disallowed by the device owner or the website. For example, the Safari web browser app that comes with the iPhone is a first-party, built-in app created by Apple, but the App Store contains other web browser apps that Apple has approved for use on the iPhone but that it has not developed. Those apps are third-party apps. Facebook allows some apps that it has not developed to run on its social media site. These are third-party apps.
There are several situations where you may come across the term 'third-party app'.
First-party apps are applications that are created and distributed by the device manufacturer or software creator. Some examples of first-party apps for the iPhone are Music, Messages, and Books.
