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I’ve never really used the .app files for my projects. I understand those are required for loading an application through the application module.
Is there another use of such files?
The *.app along with the *.rel file is used to generate boot scripts. A boot script is used to automatically launch my application when erlang is started up. An application resource file describes what applications need to be running before my application can be launched. For instance, if I use mnesia and indicate that in the .app file for my application, when I generate a boot script and use it to start my application it will start mnesia for me when starting my own application.
While you may get automatic dependency installation/handling with other package managers the boot script is useful for managing dependencies in the startup of your application which is important in an OTP application setup.
note: applications in otp refers to a bundle of running processes and/or code. applications can depend on other applications in a number of ways. Either they require the code to be installed or they require the application to be running.