When is an iOS app not considered "code"

I work at a company that has a production change process.  If you want to make a change to production code, then you must go through that process.  That process includes getting approvals from the IT and the business side.  It involves some level of verification that you tested your code.  It requires you to submit your change a certain number of days out.  If you submit your change with less lead time, then you have to undergo even more scrutiny.

If you are changing "content", the story is completely different.  There is a much shorter service level for content changes.  There are minimal approvals and since it is content, not code, there is no requirement to prove it was tested...since how do you "test" content.

Enter my current scenario.  A team recently got busted using the "content" system to deploy "code".  They barely got a slap on the wrist.  Now they have a new project.  They wrote an iPad app and want to put it into production.  This is where things get interesting.  They are claiming that their iPad app shouldn't be considered "code".  They are seriously arguing that an iPad app is not "code".  I keep wondering to myself: where do these people get the gall to call themselves software engineers?