Kalmar "active aikace-aikace" ba daidaitaccen jumla ba ne tare da ma'anar ƙamus. Sai dai kuma, ta fuskar fasaha ko haɓaka software, aikace-aikacen da ke aiki yana iya komawa ga shirin kwamfuta ko aikace-aikacen software wanda a halin yanzu ke gudana kuma mai amfani ke amfani da shi.Application da ke "active" na iya zama bude kan allo, amsawa ga abubuwan da masu amfani suka shigar, da yin ayyuka a cikin ainihin lokaci. Wannan ya bambanta da aikace-aikacen "marasa aiki", wanda maiyuwa yana gudana a bango amma a halin yanzu ba ya amfani da mai amfani ko yin kowane ɗawainiya.Gaba ɗaya, "active application" na iya komawa zuwa kowace manhaja ko tsarin da ke aiki a halin yanzu ko kuma ake amfani da ita don wata manufa ta musamman.