A computer system is used to create and distribute applications. An audience qualifier and a set of categories corresponding to the audience qualifier are selected. A master application template is selected. The master application template may be pre-certified. For each of the selected categories, an application instance is created from the master application template, where the modifications to the master application template for each category are determined at least in part by the characteristics of the category. Metadata describing the audience qualifier and category are associated with each application instance. The application instances and associated metadata are stored. The application instances may be certified. A request for an application is received specifying an audience qualifier and a category. An application instance matching the specified audience qualifier and category is selected from the stored application instances. The selected application instance is supplied in response to the request.