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There’s an app for everything. There are even apps for apps.

Using a smart phone like the iPhone — which offer various applications, or “apps” — has been growing quickly in popularity in recent years. Nearly 50 percent more kids ages 6-11 were using cell phones in 2009 than in 2004, and 27 percent of teens use their phones to go online, according to CommonSenseMedia.org, a media watchdog site.

Children are now experiencing unprecedented levels of digital sharing, from unlimited text messages to social networks. But these new activities carry with them an overwhelming amount of potentially inappropriate or harmful content that can make parents uneasy.

With the recent surge in media reports of cyberbullying, cyberstalking and other online dangers, many parents are urging their kids to use caution when it comes to revealing personal details online.

And as iPhones and iPads gain wider use and iPods become ubiquitous, experts warn that Apple’s applications — able to be downloaded directly to a user’s phone or Internet-connected iPod — are coming loaded with their own dangers.

“Mobile apps are one of the most popular ways to access all kinds of content, including useful services, games, and even books. But as soon as the novelty wears off, the concern creeps in,” says CommonSenseMedia on its website, which features technology reviews, ratings, and media advice for parents.

Applications are digital programs for a phone that are designed to be user-friendly and help solve a problem or keep the user entertained. An application appears on the phone or device as a separate icon next to the user’s built-in applications like the browser, contacts, music or calendar that come with the phone. Some apps are free, while others require a one-time payment of up to about $10.

With about 200,000 apps available in Apple’s online iTunes store, and with more approved all the time, sifting through them is a daunting task.

There are two ways to download apps: through the iTunes store on a computer and then synced to the device, or directly from the user’s phone or iPod. Apps for the iPhone, iPod, and iPad in Apple’s digital App store — part of the iTunes store — offer a wide range in content, from where to find the closest restaurant, to chess games, to an entire searchable dictionary.

Some are appropriate for preschoolers while others have adult content or reveal a user’s exact GPS-based location.

Many apps are perfect for kids, like the “Martha Speaks” app, in which a talking dog helps kids with vocabulary. A study by PBS Kids showed that children ages 3-7 who played with the app improved their vocabulary by as much as 31 percent over children who didn’t.

But some apps are aimed at adults, such as TextsFromLastNight or TFLN, which features user-submitted texts. Most involve drinking, sex, and debauchery.

Apps can include in-game purchases or video-chatting with strangers. Some, like Loopt, Gowalla and Foursquare, are based on the user’s GPS location, which can be shared with strangers and so compromise the child’s privacy and security.

Websites like CommonSenseMedia.com, MomsWithApps.com and 148apps.com have media experts as well as users rate apps for appropriate age groups, and then advise parents along the way. CommonSenseMedia even has its own app filled with app ratings and reviews.

Apple also helps you navigate the company’s technology. As Sonny Fazio, app developer and salesman at Cape Mac in Hyannis, says, “Apple wants to please (the customer) more than they want to please their developers.”

Most important, iTunes users must be over 13 years old and have access to a credit card to download anything in the online store, including music, TV shows, movies, apps, and podcasts. There are a few exceptions to that rule, including “allowances” and the use of iTunes gift cards, which can be redeemed without credit card information.

In iTunes, parents can give kids an “allowance” of a minimum of $10 per month to spend. This way, children younger than 13 can use the store and they don’t need a credit card to pay for music. Also, users can create an account without a credit card only to download free apps.

Apple also includes an age rating on all of its apps: 4+, 9+, 12+ or 17+. Although developers pick the age-appropriate rating, Apple sifts through every app before it is released in its store, a process that can take up to a week, says Fazio.

But sometimes apps can get past the radar screen. For example, Apple had an application called “Baby Shaker” in the App Store until the media — and outraged parents — found out about it in April 2009. Users shook the image of a baby on their phone until the baby’s eyes had Xs. Apple quickly removed the app after the media backlash.

The age ratings can be hit-or-miss, too, even after the editing process. A five-minute browse through the App Store revealed some labels that parents might question. The app “Pair It!” features suggestions on pairing wine with food and has a 12+ rating for “Infrequent/Mild Alcohol References.”

An app about creating and firing a gun has a 9+ rating for “Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence”. But Apple officials say the company always assigns the 17+ rating to apps with adult material, like TFLN, Cosmopolitan’s games or Playboy’s apps.

Apple also has jumped in with restrictions on its devices and on iTunes to try to ease parents’ minds. This includes the ability to restrict location-based applications like Loopt; in-app purchases; the iTunes store; cameras; and Web browsing.

Some parents might want to leave GPS-based tracking enabled, just in case they need to locate their child or the phone for security reasons, suggests Karol Maybury, social psychologist and mother of three.

She thinks communication is key for a healthy relationship among parents, kids, and technology. If parents decide to restrict purchases or content on their children’s iPhones or the iTunes store, they need to explain to their children what they are doing. Also, the restrictions vary from child to child; some need stricter rules than others, she says.

Maybury — whose children are 8, 10 and 13 — thinks restrictions are necessary for every teen. Being able to buy any app, even inappropriate ones, “is way too much temptation, even for the most honest, mature, solid kid. Teens want and need boundaries,” she says.

But she’s aware that not every parent would agree, and some aren’t comfortable with any restrictions.

If you choose to restrict content, Bob Hannigan, Apple certified technical coordinator at the Mac Express in Wareham, suggests making a list before clicking through the phone or computer.

One example might be R-rated movies, explicit songs and YouTube. He estimates the process of actually going through the motions to place restrictions on the phone or the iTunes store to take 10 minutes. Maybury, who runs a website called “Raising Daughters” (raisinggirls.org) and organizes programs for teenagers and their parents in New England, suggests having a central location where phones and Internet devices are kept at night. That way, kids can’t use their phones or computers without parents around to monitor them.

But most important, parents need to understand the technology and talk to their kids about staying safe, says Maybury.

“Apple does definitely give a whole bunch of tools to the parents,” says Fazio. “It’s up to (parents) to be up to date on new restrictions.”

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