A Desktop Application is a computer program that runs locally on a computer device, such as desktop or laptop computer.

Desktop
Applications have traditionally been limited by the hardware on which they are run. They must be developed for and installed on a
particular operating system, and may have strict hardware requirements to be met to ensure that they function correctly.

Native Mobile Apps are built for a specific platform, such as iOS for the Apple iPhone or Android for a Samsung device and is installed
directly onto the device itself. They are downloaded and installed via an App Store such as the Apple App Store or the Google Play
Store and have access to system resources, such as GPS and the camera function. Mobile Apps live and run on the device itself.
Snapchat, Instagram, Google Maps and Facebook Messenger are some examples of popular Mobile Apps.

Screen size

Desktop computers can connect to a wide variety of monitors, allowing you to invest as much or as little as you want into that
component. Most modern computer monitors are LCDs. Depending on their size, quality, and features, they are generally much
expensive. Desktop app design, on the other hand, is far away from such a hassle. This can afford to incorporate its design with a wide
range of digital content, instead of deferring them to other pages.

Mobile app design includes a smaller screen size. This means less room for text, graphics, and other digital content.

Smartphone screens vary somewhat depending on the manufacturer and model. However, they will always be smaller than a desktop
or laptop as they generally range between four and seven inches.

Interaction

Mobile App uses Gestures while Desktop app uses cursors

Today, almost every mobile device uses a touchscreen, that offers a different way of interaction to the users. Instead of clicking on a
link or browsing with a cursor, users can easily tap their screen and interact with different interface elements.

Content scrolling mobile app column desktop

On a desktop, scrolling with the mouse is pretty easy. Swiping on a phone isn’t that hard either, but pages with long content are much
easier to handle on a desktop. It’s no problem to display thousands of words of content to read. But on a mobile device, scrolling isn’t
quite as easy. This is why it has become a best practice to chunk content on mobile devices.

Presenting chunked content for mobile users is a great way to reduce the amount of scrolling necessary while giving readers the
opportunity to see what content they are most interested in reading. And here is where we can take a lesson from mobile content and
begin to apply it to the desktop. Those content chunks represent specific blocks of information. If you only want to know about Star
Trek History and Production, you can jump right to that and pass up the rest. While the entire page can be read linearly, it can also be
read in any order because each section is, essentially, a self-contained chapter.

Any content on desktop can appear in a traditional multi-column format—just like print content in newspapers and magazines. This
offers a lot of flexibility for designing layouts and positioning text, images and UI elements.
Once content reaches a certain length, mobile apps need to use long scrolling. And that’s not a bad thing! Mobile users actually prefer
continuous scrolling, and this technique conserves screen space while making interaction more fun with gestures. Like minimalism and
the hamburger menu, long scrolling is another mobile design trend that has transferred over to desktop because of its popularity.

Functionality

Desktop = big tasks

Judging by the results of a Gallup Panel survey, user prefer desktop apps for longer, more involved tasks. One reason: mobile screens
limit the number of functions available at once. That’s one reason why Adobe opted for a hybrid Photoshop Mix app instead of porting
all of Photoshop to mobile.

Mobile = experimental

What mobile lacks in functionality, it makes up for with ingenuity. Right now, mobile design is at the forefront of technology and offers
tons of exclusive features that desktop just can’t do.

Here’s just a few examples:

Virtual reality
Augmented reality
Multiple cameras
Accelerometers and gyro sensors
Mobile contact lists
Magnetic sensors
Layout Form Fills Desktop Landscape

Mobile Portrait As you can see here, in mobile section when we fill out forms it is done by portrait and the content of each form is
limited only, while in desktop version almost the whole content of the form is there.

I think that the only similarities that desktop app and mobile app is both of them can connect to a networks, some mobile apps can
also be access though desktop version and vice versa , both of those devices can store create and manage data.