We hear an awful lot, at least in technology circles, about how smartphone apps are destroying the world wide web. As we abandon the computers on our desk for the miniature ones in our pockets, we are spending less time on websites themselves and more within apps dedicated to shopping, reading, chatting, or working.

This step change in how we use technology is supposed to create a thriving new app economy. There are more than 1.5m apps in the iPhone’s App Store today, and a similar number in Google’s Play Store.

Hundreds of billions have been downloaded by smartphone and tablet users. Primary schools are teaching millions of kids to build them.