What do iPhone, iPad and Windows Phone apps deploy as?

Question

My understanding is that Android apps all compile and build into APK files, which are like executable JARs. These are the files that Android developers host up on the Android Marketplace and that get downloaded by users at point of sale.

What are the APK equivalents for iPhone, iPad and Windows Phone devices? Surprisingly, there is very little to no public information about this (at least not without having to download and install the respective SDKs, which I shouldn't have to do!). Looking for the file type that developers must upload to the respective marketplace/appstore, and that gets pulled down and ran client-side by the appp user on the respective platform.

Also interested in Blackberry, Nook and Kindle if anybody happens to know. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

1. iOS = .ipa
2. Android = .APK
3. Windows Phone = .XAP
4. Blackberry = .cod/.jad
5. Kindle = .azw for books, .txt, and .MOBI
6. Nook = .APK (as far as I can tell)

Answer 2

.xap is a compressed .zip according to Wikipedia. Also, all .xap are being remade into .appx, the new windows phone format which also works on windows 8.1. So, fi you don't have windows 8.1 (or higher), you won't be able to run windows apps, even non-windows phone ones

Answer 3

File formats with some informational links;

iOS - ipa
Android, Nook, Kindle Fire - apk
Windows Phone - xap
Blackberry - jad and cod

Answer 4

Android for APK
Iphone for ipa
windows phone for  xap
Blackberry for .cod files

application package file (APK) .

An .ipa file is an iPhone application archive file which stores an iPhone app.  

Application Package ( . XAP ) - used in Windows Phone 7 to install programs. Is a file format for compressed archives , actually - zip archive.

Answer 5

android = apk
iphone/ipad = ipa
windows phone = xap