WiFi Italia

While no doubt well intentioned, this seems like a bad idea from the get go. Apps don't work on laptops. They also have significant privacy and security issues (they can generally access your entire address book for example). Italy has a really good record of making digital innovation as difficult as possible (the "PEC" certified email system is a case in point). If they are serious, then the system has to be friction-less, no logon required. I suspect this implementation will be abandoned sooner rather than later.

Apps don't work on laptops.

The desktop/laptop versions of Windows use Apps.

"App" is just a new name for "program." Windows simply calls programs "apps" now since the iPhone made the name trendy.

Whether a Windows laptop or PC can run an "app" depends on whether one has been developed for that platform - just as whether an "app" can run on Android or iOS (iPhone) depends on whether one has been developed for that platform. Will there be a WiFi Italia app for Windows? We'll see. The Windows phone itself is basically dead. If WiFi Italia is intended for mobile phones, then there isn't much incentive to develop it for Windows. But maybe? I'm not sure why one would even need an "app" to connect to WiFi anyway.

Windows simply calls programs "apps"

No. In addition to old-school style software one can install on a windows machine, there are also dedicated desktop/laptop apps one can install via their own app store. For example, if I want to read kindle titles on my laptop I can do it in two ways. I can downloaded Kindle viewing software from the amazon site and manually install it, or I can download a Kindle app from the Microsoft windows App store. While they both have similar (but not identical) functionality, they are separate programs.

There is no app needed for Wifi Italia. It's just a coordinated login network that has been adopted by many networks to either act as or supplement their own login system. It's been available for a couple of years.

Michael, apps and programs can be downloaded without a "store" as well. Google and especially Apple try to control the apps in their store and make it harder for you to install apps from other sources besides their stores - but you can. I installed a Dutch Vodafone app on my Android for example - and because I couldn't get it through Google, I downloaded it from another source. It's the same file a Dutch user would have gotten directly from Google's Play store.

"App" is just short for "application," another name for "program." Pure marketing. "App" sounds cooler than "program" or "application."

A number of the larger cities in Italy have had this going for several years. When I signed up around 5 or 6 years ago it was established in Genova (that's my logon is from), Vicenza, Venezia (where I have used it the most), and Bologna. I happily used in all over the years. A bit of signal problem when I used it in various vaporetto lines though.

Rather than dying out as predicted above it appears to be growing.