Over the years cell phones have gone from a bulky Motorola DyanaTac 8000x that was 13 inches long, weighed 2.5 pounds and featured one application, a contact list. Today we have several phones at our disposal. From touchscreens to gesture capabilities and phones with microphones that allow voice input that results in immediate action, as well as the ability to directly manipulate content. In this article I will explore the growth of mobile applications and delve into one of the most popular platforms on the market today, Apple's iOS. A Brief History of the Cell Phone First generation cell phones were designed and developed by cell phone manufacturers. Because of the fierce competition, trade secrets were very closely guarded, and unless you were an inner-circle developer, you couldn't write applications for the phone. It was around this time that the first time-wasting games became available on these phones. Nokia became famous for putting the 1970 game Snake on its first devices. These early telephones changed the way people communicated. As phones have grown in popularity and dropped in price, people have demanded more from their mobile gadgets/devices. The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) was developed to meet these needs. WAP was basically a stripped down version of HTTP, which is the basic protocol for the World Wide Web. However, WAP fell short, it became frustrating for users to use it, as it was slow and difficult to read on small screens low resolution. Users wanted more from their devices, and WAP wasn't meeting those needs. That's when traditional desktop application developers got involved. Cell phone manufacturers realized that if they wanted to continue selling and being s...... middle of paper...... Apple is infinite. Works Cited"Apple - iOS 7 - Features." Apple - iOS 7 - Features. Apple. March 12, 2014. Bohn, Dieter, and Aaron Souppouris. "The limit." The limit. September 16, 2013. The limit. March 08, 2014.Gordon, Jen. "Mobile GUI Design - Web Designer Magazine Article." Mobile GUI Design - Web Designer Magazine Article. January 22, 2010. March 8, 2014 .Koetsier, John. “VentureBeat.” VentureBeat. July 17, 2013. VentureBeat. March 12, 2014.Poh, Michael. “Hongkiat.com.” Hongkiatcom RSS. Hongkiatcom RSS. March 12. 2014 .