yes and no.
it all depends on what apps you are after.
Programs, or software, like Office, anti-virus, Photoshop, that sort of thing, you'll still only get from retail, or their equivalent online, website (or store if you like).
Google Play Store, Apple App Store and those sort of locations are typically for little, fun, 'utilities' (or apps) type of things, lightweight games is a good example.
if you are chasing for example, something to "how do I convert my AVI movies into MP4 files?" then these app stores are not what you should be looking at.
the whole 'app' term is loosely thrown around these days when referring to programs or software.