apps

You say /æps/ with the short, lax A as in cat, followed by a voiceless bilabial stop /p/ and final /s/. The tongue is relaxed, the lips neutral to lightly rounded, and the jaw opens slightly at the vowel. In fast speech you may hear a quick, almost unreleased /p/ before the /s/. Audio reference: listen to native pronunciations in dictionaries like Cambridge or Oxford.

Common errors include pronouncing it as /æp/ without the final /s/, giving an aspirated /p/ such as /æphs/, or adding a vowel after the /p/ like /æɡps/. To correct, ensure a crisp /p/ immediately followed by /s/ with no extra vowel sound between consonants, and keep the /æ/ short and lax. Practice saying the cluster in tighter air flow and end with a clean /s/ friction.

In US and UK, /æps/ is common, with rhotic influence minimal, but in some UK dialects you may hear a slightly longer vowel or tighter final s. Australian English tends to be similar to American but with subtle vowel height differences; you may notice a marginally higher tongue position for /æ/ and crisp /s/. Overall, the core is /æ/ + /p/ + /s/ across accents.

The challenge lies in the tight consonant cluster /ps/ at the end, which can sound like a single blob to non-native speakers. The /p/ must be unreleased before the /s/ and not turn into /pɪs/ or /ps/. The short /æ/ also requires a quick, relaxed jaw to avoid a tense, prolonged vowel that alters the perceived meaning.

Apps is a one-syllable word with no stress shift, but it’s common in fast speech to clip vowels and link to following words. Maintain the pure /æ/ vowel, and avoid tensing the jaw. In phrases like 'apps store' the rhythm matters: pace the /æ/ slightly longer than in isolation but keep the /s/ crisp to avoid trailing into the next word.