A World Without Apps

Summary

In “A World Without Apps,” Michel Beaudouin-Lafon critiques the dominant software paradigm: apps as self-contained silos of functionality. In this model, users are forced to switch contexts constantly — not because their tasks require it, but because the architecture does. What if, instead, we built computing environments that mirrored how people actually work — flexibly, fluidly, and across tools?

Beaudouin-Lafon proposes a fundamental shift: replacing apps with a model based on substrates and tools. A substrate is a shared, persistent environment where data lives — think of it as the canvas or workspace. Tools are modular, interoperable operations that act on that substrate — more like instruments than sealed-off applications. This separation allows functionality to be reused, combined, and layered in context-specific ways, rather than locked behind app interfaces.

This architecture makes computing more composable, more expressive, and more human. It enables workflows to adapt to users — rather than the other way around. And critically, it encourages an ecosystem where data is first-class, tools are lightweight, and context isn’t sacrificed at every window switch. In place of app silos, we get a space for real interaction: dynamic, emergent, and tailored to how we think and create.

So my challenge to you is this: […] go ahead and forget everything you know about interfaces. Imagine you wake up tomorrow: your apps are gone from your laptops and smartphones. Your data is still there — but your apps are gone. And because you’re tasked with redesigning future interfaces: Do you think you will reinvent apps if you had never seen an app before? Well, I hope not. I think a world without apps isn’t the kind of desert I showed at the beginning — it’s this kind of lush environment where substrates can create a rich ecology of tools, content, and digital matter. Michel Beaudouin-Lafon

Key concepts

• Beyond app silos The core critique: apps are isolated silos that force users to fragment their workflows. This vision advocates for dissolving those rigid boundaries in favor of a more integrated, task-oriented computing environment.
• Substrates as shared workspaces Substrates are persistent digital spaces where content lives. Unlike documents trapped in apps, they remain accessible and editable across different tools, supporting continuity and collaboration.
• Tools as modular operations Tools are lightweight, interoperable actions that can be applied to any substrate. They're more like instruments than applications — composable, reusable, and deeply contextual.
• Decoupling function from interface Functionality is no longer tied to a specific app. Instead, users gain the flexibility to apply tools across contexts, combining them fluidly without constant mode- or window-switching.
• A more expressive digital ecology This model enables richer interaction: users shape and explore ideas directly, using tools that adapt to them — not the other way around. The result is a more intuitive, expressive, and human-centered computing environment.

This vision flips the script on how we interact with digital systems. Instead of switching between boxed-in apps, users inhabit a shared digital space where tools adapt to the task at hand. It’s a move from fragmentation to flow — one that treats users less like operators of machines and more like creators working with expressive instruments. It opens the door to computing environments that are more fluid, more humane, and more aligned with the messy brilliance of how people actually think.

This idea was originally presented by Michel Beaudouin-Lafon in his talk A World Without Apps at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST 2019).