A helper application is an external viewer program launched to display content retrieved using a web browser. Some common examples include Windows Media Player and QuickTime Player for playing streaming content.
Unlike a plugin(whose full code is included into browser code), a small line is added to the browser code to tell it to open a certain helper application in case it encounters a certain file format.
Famous quotes containing the word application:
“May my application so close
To so endless a repetition
Not make me tired and morose
And resentful of man’s condition.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)