Video narration
If the apps you tap are software, what keeps your phone running underneath them? Software is the programs and instructions that tell a device what to do. The apps are only one part; other instructions keep the device working. Here's the important difference: each kind does a different job. System software runs and manages the device. An operating system coordinates the phone and lets other programs run. Application software helps you do tasks, like messaging or finding a route. Programming software gives people tools to create other software; it helps build programs rather than doing the user's everyday task. These are common, broad groups sorted by job, not appearance; software can be grouped in other ways. So what keeps your phone running? System software, especially its operating system. Apps handle tasks, and programming software helps build them.