All terms
A decentralized application, where the backend is a smart contract rather than a company server.
A dApp has a normal looking front end and an unusual back end. Instead of a company database and API, the logic and state live in smart contracts on a blockchain that anyone can call directly.
The practical consequence is that the front end is a convenience, not a gatekeeper. If the website disappears, the contracts keep running and anyone can build a new interface to them.
Uniswap the website could be taken offline tomorrow and Uniswap the protocol would keep working. Several alternative front ends already exist.
That a dApp has no company behind it. Most have a front end on ordinary hosting, an admin key, and a team that can upgrade the contract. The contract may be decentralized; the application you actually use often is not.
Common questions
What makes an app a dApp?
Can a dApp be shut down?
Where this comes up on the site
The guides that actually use this word, rather than a list of everything we have written.
Where to go next
More web3 terms
Want this explained out loud?
Some of these land faster in conversation than in writing. Sessions are one to one and you can ask anything, including the things that feel too obvious to ask.