The difference between an adaptive and a responsive app

Adaptive and responsive can be viewed as separate
dimensions of an app: you can have an adaptive app
that is not responsive, or vice versa. And, of course,
an app can be both, or neither.

Typically, a responsive app has had its layout
tuned for the available screen size. Often this
means (for example), re-laying out the UI if the
user resizes the window, or changes the device’s
orientation. This is especially necessary when
the same app can run on a variety of devices,
from a watch, phone, tablet, to a laptop or
desktop computer.