Activity Streams/Primer/Application type
The definition of the Application
type in the Activity Vocabulary is Describes a software application.
This can cover all types of software applications. However, in the context of social network software, this is primarily for a Web or mobile client application.
For example, an iOS application that shows the user their own home timeline would be an Application
.
Another example would be a bot that posts quotes from Emily Dickinson. In this case, the Application
would also be an ActivityPub "actor", with an inbox
, outbox
, and other actor properties.
Sometimes a software service can act like an application. For example, a search index bot would likely be an Application
.
The generator
property of an Object
may be a Application
. Similarly, the instrument
property of an Activity
may be an Application
.
Guidance for publishers
- Use
Application
types where an actor type can be used. - Use
Application
forgenerator
.
Guidance for consumers
- Treat
Application
as a client software application, unless otherwise defined. - Many implementations use the
Application
type to represent an account server, even though this is better represented byService
.