Plain words

Every new word in the guide, explained simply. Tap a dotted word in any step to see its meaning right there.

Account: your own sign-in at a service, tied to your email address. Your Claude account keeps your chats and your plan.
Account basics: what you may see about an account on your owner page: the email, the plan, the sign-up date and overall counts. Never what the person stored.
Account Holder: the one person who signed up for a developer account. Only they can accept Apple's agreements, request special permissions and change the account type.
Adapter: the one file in your project that talks to an outside service. Everything else asks the adapter, so changing services means changing one file.
Address bar: the long box at the top of the browser where you type a web address, like claude.ai.
Address search: a field that suggests full addresses as you type and fills in the street, city, postal code, country and map position when you pick one.
Age rating: the age shown on your store page (Apple: 4+, 9+, 13+, 16+ or 18+), worked out from a questionnaire about what the app contains. You can set it higher, and must if your terms set a higher minimum age.
AI: short for artificial intelligence. A computer program that learned from a huge amount of writing and can read what you type and answer in plain language. Claude is one.
AirDrop: Apple's way to send photos and files between an iPhone and a Mac that are near each other, with no cable.
Allow question: the question Claude asks before it changes a file or runs a command. You answer yes or no.
Android: Google's phone system, used by Samsung, Google Pixel, Motorola and many others. Your app can run on it as well as on iPhone.
Android vitals: Play Console's health page for your app: crash rates, frozen screens and battery use, with limits that lower your app in search if you cross them.
API: a service's counter for programs: the exact questions your app may ask it over the internet, and the exact form of each answer. Short for application programming interface; nobody says the long version.
APK: a file that installs an Android app directly, without the store. Used for your own phone and for links to testers.
App: a program you open and use, like a web browser, a notes app or Claude. The thing you are building is one.
App bundle: the file Google Play wants from you (it ends in .aab). The store turns it into the right download for each phone.
App intent: one action of your app, described so that Siri, the Shortcuts app and Apple Intelligence can run it by name.
App Privacy: Apple's questionnaire in App Store Connect about what data your app collects. The answers become the privacy labels on your store page, and they must be published before you can submit.
App Review: Apple's team and process that checks every submitted app against its rulebook before it reaches the App Store. Also the section in App Store Connect where you read their messages and reply.
App Review Guidelines: Apple's numbered rulebook for apps. A rejection quotes a number, like 2.1 or 5.1.1, and that number tells you exactly which rule to read.
App Store: Apple's shop for apps, on every iPhone and Mac. If your app is for iPhone, it will be listed there.
App Store Connect: Apple's website where you manage your app: its name, its builds, testers, the store page, and later prices and reviews.
Appeal: asking a store to look again at a rejection you believe is wrong. One per decision, with specific reasons; not a way to argue with a rule you simply broke.
Apple Account: your free sign-in with Apple, used for the App Store, iCloud and your iPhone. It was called an Apple ID until 2024.
Apple Developer Program: Apple's paid yearly membership that lets you put apps on other people's iPhones and on the App Store. Part 12 joins it.
Apple menu: the black apple shape at the top-left corner of a Mac screen. Click it for System Settings, About This Mac and Shut Down.
Apple silicon: Apple's name for Macs with an Apple chip inside (M1 or newer) instead of an Intel one. The newest tools need it.
Archive: Xcode's word for packing your app into the file Apple accepts. "Archive it" means "make the real build".
Attached: a picture or file added to a message, so Claude can see it when you send.
Attribution: a visible line that says where data or pictures came from, worded the way the licence asks. Some licences require it; some forbid using the source's name or logo.
Authenticator app: an app that shows a fresh six-digit sign-in code every 30 seconds for an account. Apple's Passwords app and Microsoft Authenticator can do this.
Backup: a saved copy of your whole project at one moment, kept on GitHub. You can go back to any backup later.
Barcode: the pattern of lines or squares printed on a product that a camera reads as a number or a short text. A QR code is one kind.
Beta App Review: Apple's quick check of a TestFlight build before external testers can install it. Often under a day, sometimes several.
Bounce: an email that came back undelivered, because the address doesn't exist or the receiving server refused it. Many bounces hurt your domain's reputation.
Browser: the app that shows web pages. Safari comes with a Mac, Microsoft Edge with a Windows PC; Chrome is another one.
Build number: a number that goes up by one with every build you make, so you and Claude can say exactly which copy is on a phone. The version number (like 1.0) changes less often.
Build service: a service that turns your app's files into a finished phone app on its own computers and sends the result back. Windows readers use the toolkit's build service for the iPhone version, because Apple's building tool does not run on Windows.
Bundle ID: your iPhone app's permanent ID, written like a web address backwards (com.yourdomain.yourapp). Apple uses it to tell apps apart. It can never change once a build is uploaded.
Buy percentage: the share of the market price a seller pays when buying a card, like 60% in cash or 70% in trade. Sellers set a default and change it per deal or per card.
Cache: a folder on the phone for files the app can fetch again. The phone may empty it when space runs low, so nothing the app needs lives there.
Card catalog: the list of every printing your app knows about, with names, sets, numbers and pictures. It comes from a card data source, not from typing.
Card ID: the one code your app gives each printing. Everything in your app points at the card ID, and the card ID points at each outside source's own code.
Card number: the number printed on a card, like "025/198" or "SVP 044". Treat it as text: promos and special subsets add letters, and zeros and slashes vary.
Card processor: a company that takes card payments on your website for a fee per payment, keeps the money safe, and pays it into your bank account.
Card show: an event where sellers rent tables and collectors come to buy, sell and trade. Busy, crowded and often with bad phone signal.
Certificate number: the number on a slab's label that identifies that exact graded card in the grading company's records. Also "cert number".
Changes pane: the view in the Code tab that shows exactly which lines Claude changed, in red for removed and green for added.
Channel: the label on a build that says which updates it listens to. Testers' builds listen to one channel, the store's builds to another, so a fix can reach testers first.
Chat: one conversation with Claude, from the first message to the last. Claude remembers everything inside one chat. A new chat starts fresh.
Checkout: the screens where a buyer enters shipping details, pays and gets an order number. A shop platform or a payment provider runs them; your app opens them.
Chip: the part inside a computer that does the thinking. Apple's own chips are called M1, M2, M3, M4 and so on.
Claude: the AI made by Anthropic that you talk to in plain words. It writes the code for your app and helps when things go wrong.
Claude Code: the part of Claude that builds apps. It works in the Code tab of the Claude app on your computer and can change files there. Paid plans only.
Clawback: taking a reward or a payout back when the payment it was based on is refunded or charged back.
Click: press the trackpad, touchpad or mouse once and let go. It selects things and presses buttons.
Clipboard: the invisible place that holds the last thing you copied. It holds one thing at a time.
Closed test: a trial on Google Play where only people you invite can install the app, before it goes public.
Cloud session: a session that runs on Anthropic's computers instead of yours. It keeps running when the app is closed, but reaches only websites on its allowed list and can't make iPhone builds.
Code: the text that tells a phone or computer exactly what an app should do. Claude writes it for you from Part 4 on.
Code tab: the part of the Claude app on your computer where Claude works on files there. It sits at the top of the sidebar, next to Chat.
Command: one line of text that tells the computer to do something, typed into the Terminal. Claude usually runs them for you.
Command Line Tools: a small Apple package of building helpers, including Git. Your Mac offers to install it the first time something needs it. On a Windows PC, Git for Windows plays this part.
Commercial use: using something in a business, including an app people pay for or that makes you money in any way. Many free plans allow personal use only.
Complication: a small piece of an app's information shown on an Apple Watch face, like a count or a value.
Condition: how worn a raw card is. The common scale runs Near Mint, Lightly Played, Moderately Played, Heavily Played, Damaged.
Content rating: Google Play's age rating, worked out from a questionnaire run by the rating bodies of each region, so the same answers show as different labels in different countries.
Context: how much of the conversation Claude is carrying along. It grows with every message and picture; when it gets full, Claude summarizes the older part and details can blur.
Control-click: Apple's name for a right-click: hold the Control key while clicking.
Copy: make an invisible copy of what is selected, ready to paste somewhere else. Command + C on a Mac, Ctrl + C on a Windows PC.
Cost: what you paid for a card, or the value you gave in trade. Private to you; it never shows to a customer.
Crash report: an automatic note sent when your app crashes on someone's phone, with the screen, the phone model and the lines that failed, so you can fix what nobody reported.
Creator code: a code or link that belongs to one person who promotes your app, so you can see which customers came from them and pay them a share.
Credit line: a short line naming where data or pictures came from, placed where a source's licence says it must be. Also called attribution.
Ctrl: the Control key at the bottom-left corner of a PC keyboard. Hold it and press a letter for a shortcut: Ctrl + C copies, Ctrl + V pastes.
Customer portal: a page hosted by your card processor where a customer changes their card, switches plans, cancels, and downloads receipts, so your app only needs a link to it.
Customer screen: the full-screen view you turn toward a customer during a deal. It shows the cards, market prices, your offer and the total, and never your costs or profit.
D-U-N-S Number: a free nine-digit business ID given out by a company called Dun & Bradstreet. Apple and Google use it to check that a business is real.
Data safety form: Google's questionnaire in Play Console about what data your app collects and shares and why. Its answers become the Data safety section on your Play listing.
Database: a store of information in tables, like a spreadsheet with many sheets, that your server reads and writes. Accounts and everyone's saved entries live in it.
Deal: one transaction with one customer: cards bought, sold or traded, with an offer, a total and a receipt.
Deploy: to send a new version of your server or website live, so the internet gets it. Also called "go live" or "publish".
Desktop: the main screen of a computer, behind all windows. Files put there show as small pictures. Also a folder with the same contents, in Finder on a Mac or File Explorer on a Windows PC.
Developer folder: a folder named Developer inside your home folder on a Mac. The Mac shows it with a hammer icon. It is the usual home for building projects. Windows readers use a Projects folder instead.
Developer Mode: a switch on an iPhone that lets it install apps that didn't come from the App Store or TestFlight. Needed for a development build; the phone restarts when you turn it on.
Development build: your own private copy of the app, with its real name, icon and phone features, made with your developer account. It replaces Expo Go once you have one.
Development server: the program on your computer that sends your app to your phone while you build. When it stops, the app on the phone stops updating.
Device ID: a long code that identifies one specific phone. Apple needs it to let a build install on that phone outside TestFlight.
DKIM: a signature your email service adds to every email, checked against a key in your domain's DNS. It proves the email came from your domain and wasn't changed on the way.
DMARC: a DNS record that tells receiving mail servers what to do with email that fails the SPF and DKIM checks (nothing, quarantine or reject) and where to send reports about it.
DNS record: a line in your domain's settings that says where something lives, or who may send email in its name. Your server, your website and your email service each need one or more.
Dock: the row of app icons along the bottom of a Mac screen. Click one to open that app. On a Windows PC the taskbar does the same job.
Domain name: a web address you can own, like yournameapp.com. You buy one in Part 8.
Double-click: two fast clicks without moving the pointer. It opens files, folders and apps.
Download: copy a file from the internet onto your computer. Downloads land in the Downloads folder.
Downloads folder: the folder where the browser puts everything you download. On a Mac it is in the Dock next to the Trash and in the Finder sidebar; on a Windows PC it is in the File Explorer sidebar.
Drag: press and hold on something, move the pointer, then let go. It moves files, windows and selected words.
Edition: a marker on older or special printings, like 1st Edition, Shadowless or Unlimited. Same art, different printing, often a very different price.
Email: electronic mail. Your email address, like name@example.com, is where sign-in codes and receipts arrive.
Email-sending service: a company whose servers send your app's emails for you, in your domain's name, so they arrive instead of landing in spam.
Entitlement: a special permission Apple grants to an app for one ability, such as taking card payments or sharing data between apps. Some are automatic; some need an application and a wait.
Entitlement check: the server's answer to "is this account allowed to use this paid feature right now?", made on every request, so the app can never grant itself a plan.
Error log: a file the app writes a line to whenever something goes wrong, with the time, the screen and the message, so you can read it later.
Estimate: a price your app worked out rather than one it was given, for example for a played card with too few sales. Shown as "~$12" with a small "estimate" tag.
Expedited review: a faster review Apple grants for a critical bug fix or an event your app is part of. Asking too often gets future requests refused.
Expo: the free building toolkit this guide uses. One set of files becomes both an iPhone app and an Android app.
Expo account: a free account at expo.dev. An iPhone needs it to open your app in Expo Go.
Expo Go: a free app for your phone that shows your app while you build it, without installing anything on the phone itself.
Export compliance: Apple's question about encryption in your app, asked before a build can be tested. Claude can set the answer in the project so it is asked once.
External testers: everyone else you invite to TestFlight, by email or a public link. The first build of each version waits for Apple's beta review.
Face ID: the iPhone's face unlock. Apps can use it as a lock too, with the phone's passcode as the fallback.
Fast Refresh: the feature that updates the app on your phone a second or two after Claude saves a change. No rebuild needed.
Feature: one thing your app can do, like adding an entry or sending a reminder. You build and check them one at a time.
Feature graphic: the wide banner picture Google Play requires for every listing, shown at the top of the page and in some promotions.
File: one saved thing: a photo, a note, a document, a picture of a screen. Files have names and live in folders.
File Explorer: the Windows app that shows your files and folders. Its icon is a yellow folder on the taskbar; Windows + E opens it.
Finder: the Mac app that shows your files and folders. Its icon is the blue and white smiling face at the left end of the Dock. On a Windows PC, File Explorer does the same job.
Finish: how the card's surface is printed: plain (non-holo), holo, reverse holo, foil or a special pattern. Each finish is its own printing with its own price.
Firewall: the part of Windows that decides which programs may talk to other devices on your network. The first time your app's development server starts, it asks whether to allow it.
First version: the smallest app that is useful to your person on day one. It has 3 to 5 must-haves and nothing else.
Folder: a container for files and other folders. Blue on a Mac, yellow on a Windows PC.
Founders price: a lower price offered to early customers and kept for them for as long as they stay subscribed. Always a real plan in the stores at that price, never a code.
Free tier: the amount of a service you may use each day or month at no cost. When it runs out, the service either stops until it resets or starts billing a card on file; the pricing page says which.
Free trial: a period at the start of a subscription with no charge, after which the normal price begins unless the person cancels. Each store has its own way to set one up.
Freshness: how old a price is. Your app should say it ("price from today", "price from 3 days ago") and refresh by one rule everywhere.
GB: short for gigabyte, a unit of storage space. A photo is a few thousandths of one; the app-building tools take tens of them.
Git: the tool on your computer that makes backups and sends them to GitHub. Claude runs it for you.
Git Credential Manager: a small helper that comes with Git for Windows. The first time your PC talks to GitHub, it opens a browser window for you to sign in, then remembers the sign-in in Windows.
Git for Windows: the Windows version of Git, the tool that makes backups and sends them to GitHub. It also gives Claude the command tools it prefers on a PC, and it brings Git Credential Manager along.
GitHub: a website that keeps copies of building projects. Your app's backups live there, in a private space only you can see.
Going in circles: when a chat keeps repeating the same fix or the same mistake. The cure is a new chat with a short summary.
Google account: the free sign-in from Google, usually a Gmail address, that an Android phone uses for Google Play. Also the account for a Google Play developer account.
Google Play: Google's app store, on every Android phone. Your finished app will be listed there if you build for Android.
Grade: the score a grading company gave a card, usually 1 to 10, sometimes with half points or a special top label. The value of a slab depends on the company and the grade.
Graded slab: a card sealed in a hard plastic case by a grading company, with a label showing the grade and a certificate number. Often just "slab".
Grant: a plan given to an account by the owner for free, with an end date or forever, recorded as a gift, not as a purchase.
Handoff note: a short note Claude writes before you start a fresh session: what's done, what's half-done, what's waiting on you, the decisions made, and the first message for the new session.
Health check: a plain address on your server that answers "OK" when the server is running. The first thing to test after every deploy.
Help center: the part of your website with one page per feature, saying what it does and how to use it in plain words. The app's help sheets and the help center say the same things.
Helper: a side worker Claude starts for part of a big job, in its own conversation, reporting back when done. Each one uses your computer's memory and your usage allowance.
Hidden prompt: a question in the Terminal pane that waits for you to paste a secret and shows nothing, or only stars, while you do. Claude never sees what you paste there.
Hide My Email: an option Apple offers at sign-in. Your app gets a made-up address that forwards to the person's real one, and the real one stays private.
Home folder: your own folder on a Mac, named after your user name. Desktop, Documents and Downloads live inside it. A Windows PC calls the same thing your user folder.
Home Screen: the pages of app icons on a phone. Swipe up from the bottom edge of the screen to get back to it.
Homebrew: a free tool for the Mac that installs other tools with one command. Claude may use it to install what it needs. Windows has winget for the same job.
iCloud Drive: Apple's online storage. A Mac can be set to keep the Desktop and Documents folders in it, which is why your project folder goes somewhere else. OneDrive is the Windows PC version.
In-app purchase: buying a digital thing inside an app (a plan, a feature, extra storage) through the app store's own payment screen. Apple and Google run the payment, keep a share, and tell your server what was bought.
Instant update: a change to your app's screens and logic that reaches phones without a new build, usually on the next open. Also called an over-the-air update.
Internal testers: people with a seat in your App Store Connect account. They get every build the moment Apple finishes processing it, with no review.
Internal testing: Google Play's first testing track. A small list of people install the app from the Play Store through a private link, within minutes of an upload.
iPhone: Apple's phone. If you build for iPhone, the guide needs one for testing.
Keyboard shortcut: holding one key, Command on a Mac or Ctrl on a Windows PC, while pressing another, to do something fast. Command + C on a Mac, or Ctrl + C on a Windows PC, copies.
Keywords: the hidden list of search words you give the App Store, up to a fixed length, separated by commas. Customers never see it; search uses it.
Last sold: the price of one real, completed sale. Only use these words beside a real sale; a price that was updated on a date is not a sale.
Launch screen: the still picture the phone shows for the first moment after you tap an app's icon, before the app's own first screen appears.
Legal entity: a business that is registered with the government as its own thing, like an LLC or a limited company. It can sign contracts in its own name.
Licence: the rules that come with data, pictures or code, saying what you may do with them: use, copy, change, sell, and what you must do in return, like showing a credit line.
Link: text or a picture on a web page that opens another page when you click it. Often blue or underlined.
Live: reaching people other than you: testers through the test apps, customers through the stores or your website. Anything live needs extra care.
Live Activity: Apple's name for a card on the iPhone Lock Screen that shows something ongoing and updates by itself, like a delivery or a timer, and ends when the thing ends.
Live mode: the real setting of a payment service, with real keys, real cards and real money. The opposite of a sandbox. Every key and web address has a live version and a test version.
Live switch: a feature switch that lives on your server. Flipping it changes the app for everyone within a minute, with no update. The setting in the code is only what a brand-new server would start with.
Local account: a sign-in that exists only on one PC: a name and a password, with no email address behind it. Older PCs often use one.
Lock: an automatic check saved in your project that fails if a feature you approved stops working. Claude runs the locks before every backup and release.
Lock Screen: the first screen on a phone, showing the time. Unlock it with your face, your finger, a passcode or a PIN. A Windows PC shows one too, before you sign in.
Login screen: the first screen after a computer starts, showing your name and asking for your password or PIN.
Mac: an Apple computer: MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini or Mac Studio. Apple's app-building tools only run on one. The guide's other computer is a Windows PC.
Mail app: the Mac's built-in email app, a white envelope on a blue background. On a Windows PC the Outlook app does the same job. Websites like gmail.com or icloud.com do it too.
Main line: the one newest version of your project that everything goes live from. Work from other sessions is brought into it first.
Managed publishing: a Play Console setting that holds approved changes until you click Publish, so you choose the day your app goes live.
Market price: the going price for one exact printing in one condition, worked out by a price service from recent sales and listings. The plain label to use on screen.
Menu bar: the thin strip across the very top of a Mac screen, with the Apple menu at the left and the clock at the right. On a Windows PC, each window has its own menus instead.
Merchant of record: a service that sells your product to the customer in its own name, so it collects and files the sales tax and handles refunds, for a higher fee per sale.
Metadata: the stores' word for everything about your app that isn't the app itself: name, subtitle, description, keywords, screenshots, the age rating and the links. Apple can reject metadata on its own, without rejecting the app.
Microsoft account: the free sign-in from Microsoft, an email address and a password, that most Windows PCs use. It also unlocks OneDrive and syncs your saved passwords in Edge.
Microsoft Authenticator: Microsoft's free phone app that approves sign-ins to your Microsoft account with a tap, or shows a six-digit code.
Microsoft Edge: the web browser that comes with Windows. Its icon is a blue and green swirl. It can also make and remember strong passwords.
Microsoft Store: the app store built into Windows, a shopping-bag icon. Some apps in this guide are installed from it.
Migration: a small numbered file that describes one change to your database's layout, like adding a column. Claude writes one for every change, so the test copy and the live database can be brought up to date in the same order.
Minimum version: the oldest version of iOS or Android your app installs on. You choose it; phones below it can't install the app.
Mouse: a hand-sized device you slide across the desk to move the pointer. Press it to click.
Must-have: something the first version cannot do without. If the app would still be useful without it, it isn't one.
Nameservers: the servers that hold a domain's DNS records. Changing a domain's nameservers moves every record at once, which can break email or a shop that already uses that domain.
Native code: the parts of your app that are built into the copy on the phone: the icon, the name, permissions, phone abilities and the toolkit's own pieces. Changing any of them needs a new build.
Navigation: moving between screens: tapping a row to open it, a back arrow, a tab bar along the bottom.
Near Mint: the top everyday condition for a raw card: looks new, maybe a tiny flaw. Often written NM. Most market prices are for Near Mint.
Node.js: the engine that runs the building tools on your computer. Claude installs it; you never open it.
Notepad: the plain text app that comes with Windows. Good for notes and for your plan file, because it saves only words, no formatting.
Notification: a short message that pops up on the phone's screen from an app, like a reminder.
Offer code: a code from the App Store that gives a subscription free or at a discount for a while. Apple runs it and keeps the money rules; your app only shows where to redeem it.
Offline: when the phone has no usable internet: no signal, airplane mode, or a hall so busy that nothing gets through.
OneDrive: Microsoft's online storage. Many PCs keep the Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders in it, so a copy of each file is also online. Files show a small cloud or a green tick.
Open data: data published for anyone to use, usually under a licence that asks for a credit line or for changed copies to be shared the same way, and sometimes with no conditions at all.
Opt out: a person's choice to stop getting emails or messages from you, made with one tap. The law requires you to offer it in every marketing email and to honour it at once.
Opt-in link: the link that lets a Google Play tester join a test. They open it, tap Become a tester, then install the app from the Play Store like any other.
Organizer: the Xcode window that lists your archives and crash reports. The Distribute App button lives there.
Outlook app: Microsoft's email app on Windows, a blue envelope with an O. The website outlook.com does the same job.
Outside service: a company's computers that do one job for your app over the internet, like sending an email, storing a picture or looking up an address. Your app asks; the service answers.
Owner page: a private page inside your web app that only your own account can open, where you run the app as a business: customers, plans, revenue, bug reports, switches and health.
Package name: the Android version of the bundle ID. Same shape, same rule: permanent once your app exists in Play Console.
Pane: one panel inside the Code tab window: the chat, the Terminal, the Changes view, the Browser or a file. You can drag them around.
Passcode: the number code that unlocks your iPhone. Different from your Apple Account password.
Passkey: a sign-in stored on your phone or computer that you approve with Face ID, Touch ID, a fingerprint or your device code. Nothing to remember, and nothing a scam website can steal.
Password: the secret word or phrase that proves an account is yours. Long, different for every account, and never typed into a chat.
Passwords app: Apple's app that stores every password Safari saved, plus two-step codes. On older Macs the same list is under System Settings > Passwords. On a Windows PC, your browser keeps the saved passwords instead.
Paste: put the last thing you copied where the blinking line is. Command + V on a Mac, Ctrl + V on a Windows PC.
Pay per use: pricing with no monthly fee: a price per request, per email, per picture or per token. Cheap when your app is small, and it grows with every user.
Payout: money a service sends out to a bank account: your processor paying you, or you paying a creator their share.
Pending Developer Release: Apple's status after your app is approved when you chose to release it yourself. Nothing is live until you click the button.
Permission mode: the setting in the Code tab that decides how often Claude asks before changing a file or running a command. Manual asks every time.
Personal Team: Xcode's name for a free Apple Account used to put apps on your own iPhone. No fee, but each copy stops opening after a week, a phone holds three of them at most, and some phone abilities stay off.
Phased release: Apple's option that sends an update to a growing share of people over seven days, so a bad update reaches few people before you pause it.
Phone permission: the phone's own question, like "Allow this app to send notifications?". The person answers once, and the answer can be changed in the phone's Settings.
Photo test set: a folder of real phone photos of cards, each with the right answer written down, used to measure a scanner after every change.
PIN: a short number code that unlocks a device, like your PC or an Android phone. Different from your account password.
Placeholder: a plain stand-in shown where a real picture is missing: the set symbol, a box icon, or the name alone. Never another card's picture.
Plain text: a file with only letters and numbers in it, no fonts, colors or pictures. It ends in .txt and Claude reads it best.
Plan: the level of Claude you pay for (or don't). The free plan has less use; paid plans have more and include Claude Code.
Plan file: the one-page document that describes your app: what it is, who it's for, what it must do, and its screens. You give it to Claude in Part 4.
Play Console: the website where you manage your Google Play developer account and your Android app.
Pointer: the small arrow on the screen that moves when you move your finger on the trackpad or touchpad, or move the mouse.
Policy status: the page in Play Console that shows any action Google has taken against your app, and the Appeal button if there is one.
Population report: a grading company's count of how many copies of a card it has graded at each grade. Collectors use it to judge how rare a high grade is.
PowerShell: the terminal program built into Windows: a plain window where you type a command and press Enter. Its prompt line starts with PS. The Code tab's Terminal pane opens one for you.
Pre-launch report: Google's automatic test of each build you upload: it runs the app on real phones in a lab, taps around, and reports crashes and problems with screenshots.
Preview address: a temporary web address for a draft of your website, made for each change so you can look before it goes live. It looks like the live site but isn't it.
Price floor: the lowest price a team member may sell something for without the owner's approval.
Price point: one of the fixed prices Apple lets you choose from for an app or a purchase. You pick the nearest one; you can't type an exact amount.
Printing: one exact version of a card: its game, set, card number, language, finish and edition together. The same card name can have dozens of printings with very different prices.
Privacy policy: the page that says what information your app collects, why, and who it goes to. The app stores require one, and it must be true.
Private network: Windows' setting for a network you trust, like your home Wi-Fi. On a Private network other devices, like your phone, can find your PC; on a Public one they can't.
Production: the store track real customers get. On Google Play a new personal account must earn the right to use it with a closed test.
Production track: the Google Play track that real customers install from, as opposed to the internal, closed and open testing tracks.
Project folder: the one folder on your computer that holds everything about your app. Claude only works inside it.
Projects folder: a folder named Projects directly inside your user folder. This guide uses it as the home for your app's project folder, because it is outside OneDrive and its path stays short.
Promo: a card given out at events, in boxes or in magazines rather than in booster packs. Promos have their own numbering and are often missing from catalogs.
Promotion code: a customer-facing code at a card processor, like WELCOME20, that applies a discount at checkout. It can be limited to first-time buyers, a date and a number of uses.
Promotional text: a short line Apple shows above your description that you can change at any time without a new submission.
Push notification: a notification sent from your server to the phone's screen, through Apple's or Google's delivery service. Different from a reminder the app schedules on the phone itself.
QR code: a square pattern of black and white dots that a phone camera can read. It stands in for a web address you would otherwise type.
Quick Share: Google's app for moving files between an Android phone and a Windows PC without a cable, over the home Wi-Fi.
Quiet hours: a window, usually at night in the person's own time zone, when your server holds notifications and sends them in the morning instead.
Rate limit: a cap on how often something may happen in a window of time, like five code emails an hour for one address. It stops people and robots from flooding your app.
Raw card: a card that isn't sealed in a grading company's case. Its value depends on its printing and condition.
Recovery codes: a short list of one-time codes a website gives you when you turn on two-step sign-in. They get you in if you lose your phone.
Recycle Bin: the bin on the Windows Desktop. Deleted files wait there until you empty it, so mistakes can be undone.
Refund: giving a customer their money back for a payment. The payment stops counting as revenue, and the plan it bought ends.
Registrar: a company that sells domain names and renews them each year. Cloudflare, Namecheap and Porkbun are registrars.
Rejection: a store saying no to a submission, with the rule it broke. Normal, fixable, and part of almost every first launch.
Release build: a copy of your app that carries everything it needs inside it, so it works on its own with the computer off. A development build needs your computer running beside it.
Release notes: Google Play's name for the What's new note on a release. Apple calls it What's New in This Version.
Remote desktop: using another computer through a window on your own, over the internet. Its screen appears in the window; your mouse and keyboard act on it. How a rented Mac is used from a PC.
Repository: GitHub's word for one project's space, holding every backup ever made of it. Often shortened to "repo".
Restore point: a moment in time your database can be put back to, like Undo for the whole database. Cloudflare keeps one for every minute of the last week on the free plan.
Restore purchases: a button the stores require, which asks the store what this person already bought and turns it back on, for a new phone or a reinstall.
Return-Path: the hidden address that undelivered emails bounce back to. Your email service puts it on a subdomain of yours, which needs its own records and its own registration with Apple.
Reverse holo: a finish where the card's frame shines and the picture doesn't. Same name and number as the plain card, different printing and price.
Review notes: the private notes you write for the reviewers in App Store Connect or Play Console: how to sign in, where to find things, what's switched off and why. Customers never see them.
Reviewer: the person at Apple or Google who installs your app, signs in with the test account you gave them, and tries it against the rules.
Right-click: a click that opens a small menu of extra choices. On a Mac: hold Control and click, or click with two fingers on the trackpad. On a Windows PC: press the right mouse button, or the bottom-right corner of the touchpad.
Role: what a team member is allowed to see and do in your app, chosen by the owner when they are invited and checked by the server on every request.
Rules file: the file in your project folder that holds your rules for Claude. Claude reads it at the start of every session.
Safari: Apple's browser. Its icon is a blue compass. It can also make and remember strong passwords.
Sales tax: the tax added to a sale (VAT or GST in many countries). Who must collect it depends on where the buyer is and who the seller is; the app stores act as the seller in many countries, your website usually makes you the seller.
Sandbox: a pretend copy of a payment system where purchases look real but no money moves. Apple, Google and card processors each have one, and each refuses real cards.
Saved copy: a copy of an answer your server keeps for a while, shared by everyone, so the next person asking the same thing costs you no new request. One rule says when a copy is too old to use.
Scam: a trick to get your money, your passwords or your accounts, usually by pretending to be a company you trust.
Scheduled job: a task your server runs by itself at set times, like every night at three. Also called a cron job.
Scheduled task: a job Claude runs on its own at a set time, without you asking. Useful for checks and reports; never for publishing.
Screen: one full page of your app, like the list or the add form. An app is a set of screens and the moves between them.
Screenshot: a picture of what is on your screen, taken by the computer or phone itself.
Scroll: move a page up or down to see more. Slide two fingers on the trackpad or touchpad, or roll the mouse wheel.
SDK: a ready-made package of code a service publishes so apps can talk to its API without writing the raw requests. Claude usually uses one when it exists.
Sealed product: an unopened pack, box, tin, bundle or case. Sealed products are their own items with their own prices, separate from the cards inside.
Secret key: a long string of random letters and numbers that a service gives you. It acts as a password for programs, so it never goes into a chat.
Select: highlight words or files so the next action applies to them. Drag across words, or double-click one.
Self-referral: using your own invite or creator code on your own account to collect a reward. A block for it is a standard part of any reward feature.
Seller name: the name shown in the store under your app as the company or person who publishes it. On the App Store it is your legal name or your business's legal name.
Server: a computer on the internet that stores your app's accounts and saved data and answers when the app asks for them. Part 8 sets one up.
Service account: a sign-in made for a program instead of a person, so the build service can send builds to Google Play for you. Its key file is a secret.
Session: one conversation in the Code tab, tied to one project folder. Like a chat, but Claude can change files and run commands in it.
Set code: the short code a game uses for one set, printed on the card or in the catalog (for example "SV1" or "OP-05"). Two sets can share a name across languages; the code tells them apart.
Share sheet: the phone's own list of apps and people that appears when you tap Share on a picture, a link or a file.
Show helper: a team member who can make deals for one show only, on that show's dates, with your costs and profit hidden. Their access ends when the show ends.
Sideloading: installing an app on a phone from a file or a link instead of from the store. Normal on Android for your own app; on an iPhone it takes Xcode and a cable.
Sign-in code: a short number sent to your phone or email while you sign in. You type it into the sign-in screen you opened. Nobody else ever needs it.
Signing: the stamp that proves a build came from your developer account. Xcode or the build service does it; a build with the wrong stamp won't install.
Simulator: a pretend iPhone that runs in a window on a Mac, part of Xcode. Useful when a real phone can't connect. There is none on a Windows PC, so your real phone is the test screen there.
Sketch: a rough drawing of a screen on paper: boxes for buttons, lines for text, arrows for taps.
SmartScreen: the Windows and Edge safety check that warns before you open a file it does not know. For an official download, More info, then Run anyway, gets past it; for anything else, stop.
Snap: putting a window neatly on one half of the screen by dragging it to the edge or pressing the Windows key with an arrow key. Handy for this guide on one side and Claude on the other.
Snipping Tool: the Windows app that takes screenshots. Windows + Shift + S opens it from anywhere; snips go to the clipboard and, on Windows 11, into Pictures > Screenshots.
Sole proprietor: one person running a business under their own name, with no company registered. In the app stores, that counts as an individual.
Spending limit: a monthly amount you set at a service; when your use reaches it, the service stops or warns you. A limit that stops beats an alert that only emails.
SPF: a DNS record that lists which servers may send email in your domain's name. Receiving mail servers check it before trusting an email.
Spotlight: the Mac's search box. Hold Command and press Space, type a few letters, press Return. The fastest way to open an app. On a Windows PC, press the Windows key and type instead.
Staged rollout: Google Play's version of the same idea: you pick the share of people who get an update and raise it yourself.
Start button: the Windows logo (four small squares) on the taskbar. Click it, or press the Windows key, to open the Start menu.
Start menu: the panel that opens from the Start button, with a search box at the top and your apps below. Type an app's name to find it.
Static website: a website made of plain files (pages, pictures, styles) that are sent to the browser as they are, with no server code running for each visitor. Cheap, fast and hard to break.
Status line: one line per outside service on your owner page saying whether it answered your last check, how fast, and when.
Status page: a web page where a service reports whether it is working right now and lists past outages. A service without one is harder to trust.
Store listing: your app's page in the App Store or Google Play: its name, pictures, description, rating, and the links to your privacy policy and support. People read it before they decide to install.
Storefront: a public web page showing what a seller has for sale and is buying, opened from a QR code at the table. Shows only what the seller chose to share.
Subdomain: a name in front of your domain, like app.yourdomain.com or api.yourdomain.com. Each one can point somewhere different, and they cost nothing extra.
Subscription: a plan that charges again by itself every month or year until the person cancels. The stores and card processors handle the repeat charges; your server only needs to know whether the plan is active today.
Subscription group: Apple's name for a set of subscriptions a person can only hold one of at a time, ranked so the store knows what counts as an upgrade or a downgrade.
Support page: the page on your website that says how to reach you: an email address at least, and whatever else the law where you live requires. The app stores link to it.
Switch: one line in your project that turns a feature on or off without rebuilding anything. Later, switches live on your server and you flip them from your owner page.
Sync: keeping the same information up to date on every device a person uses, through the server.
Tab: one web page inside the browser window. Tabs sit in a row across the top so you can keep several pages open.
Tab bar: the row of icons along the bottom of an app. Each icon is a main screen, and you can switch between them any time.
Tag: a named marker on one backup, like "known-good-first-version", so you can find and go back to that exact version later.
Tap to Pay: taking a card payment by holding the customer's card or phone against the back of the seller's own phone, with no extra reader.
Target audience: the age groups you tell Google your app is made for. Including children under 13 brings extra rules.
Taskbar: the bar along the bottom of a Windows screen, with the Start button, pinned app icons, and the clock at the right end. Click an icon to open that app.
Temporary folder: a folder the computer cleans out on its own, often at restart. Nothing you want to keep belongs there.
Terminal: a plain text window where you type a command and press Return (Enter on a Windows PC) to run it. The Code tab has one built in.
Terms of service: the contract you accept by signing up for a service. It says what you may do with what the service gives you, and what the service may change.
Test: a small piece of code that tries one part of your app and reports pass or fail. It runs on your computer in seconds, without a phone.
Test account: a plain account made for reviewers and testers, with made-up data and no special powers. Never your own account, and never one that can see other people's data.
TestFlight: Apple's free app for trying apps before they reach the App Store. You upload a build; testers install it from TestFlight instead of the store.
Title bar: the strip along the top of a window. Drag it to move the window.
Token: the small pieces of text AI services count and charge by, roughly three-quarters of a word each in English. You pay for tokens sent in and tokens sent back.
Touch ID: the fingerprint reader on many Macs and some iPhones. It can unlock the Mac and fill in passwords. Windows Hello is the Windows PC version.
Touchpad: the smooth rectangle below a laptop keyboard. Slide a finger to move the pointer; tap to click. Apple calls its version a trackpad.
Trackpad: the smooth glass rectangle below a Mac laptop's keyboard. Slide a finger to move the pointer; press to click. Windows laptops call theirs a touchpad.
Trade: a deal where cards go both ways. The cost of a card you traded for is the value you gave for it.
Trademark: a name a company has registered so nobody else can use it for the same kind of product.
Transactional email: an email the person expects because of something they did: a sign-in code, a receipt, a reminder about their own plan. Different rules from marketing email, which advertises.
Trash: the bin at the right end of the Mac's Dock. Deleted files wait there until you empty it, so mistakes can be undone. Windows calls its bin the Recycle Bin.
Tray: the group of small icons at the right end of the taskbar, near the clock, for programs running in the background. Click the ^ arrow to see the hidden ones. Windows also calls it the notification area.
Trial: a period during which a person uses a paid plan without paying. When it ends they pay, or the account drops to the free plan.
Tunnel: a way for your phone to reach your computer over the internet instead of the home Wi-Fi. Slower, but it works almost anywhere.
Two-factor authentication: signing in with two things: your password and a short code sent to your phone or email at that moment. Also called two-step verification.
Undo: take back the last thing you did. Command + Z on a Mac, Ctrl + Z on a Windows PC. Press it again to go back further.
Upload key: the stamp the build service puts on your Android builds so Google knows they are yours. The service keeps it; you never handle the file.
Usage limit: how much you can use Claude in a stretch of time. When you reach it, Claude pauses and tells you when it refills. That's normal, not an error.
Usage meter: a line on your owner page showing how much of an outside service's monthly allowance your app has used, next to the allowance itself.
User folder: your own folder on a Windows PC, at C:\Users\ followed by your name. Desktop, Documents, Downloads and OneDrive all live inside it. Windows also calls it your profile folder.
Version number: the number people see in the store, like 1.0 or 1.2. A new version number sends the first build through Apple's beta review again.
Warm-up: sending a small number of emails a day at first and more each week, so mailbox providers learn that your domain sends wanted mail.
Web address: the name of a page on the internet, with dots and no spaces, like developer.apple.com. Type it exactly.
Web app: your app running in a web browser on a computer, built from the same code as the phone app. People open it at a web address, with nothing to install.
Webhook: a message a service sends to a web address on your server the moment something happens, like "this subscription renewed" or "this payment was refunded". Your server checks the message is genuine, then updates the account.
Wi-Fi: wireless internet in your home. Your computer and your phone connect to it by name.
Widget: a small box on the Home Screen or Lock Screen that shows a little of an app's information without opening the app.
Window: the rectangle on screen in which an app shows its work. On a Mac it has three small circles at the top-left: close, hide, full screen. On a Windows PC it has three buttons at the top-right: minimize, maximize, close.
Windows Hello: Microsoft's name for signing into a PC with a PIN, your fingerprint or your face instead of a long password. It also guards your saved passwords.
Windows key: the key with the Windows logo, next to Ctrl at the bottom-left of the keyboard. One press opens the Start menu; held down, it runs shortcuts like Windows + E.
Windows PC: a computer that runs Microsoft Windows: a laptop, a desktop tower or an all-in-one from makers like Dell, HP, Lenovo, Asus or Microsoft. The guide's other computer, beside the Mac.
winget: Windows' built-in way to install programs with one command instead of a downloaded installer. Claude may use it; each install still shows the "allow this app to make changes" box.
Wishlist: the cards you want but don't own, saved as exact printings so the app can price them and spot them later. Also "want list".
Word of mouth: people telling other people about your app because it helped them. The cheapest and most honest way an app grows, and the one every other way feeds.
Working name: the name you use for your app while building it, in chats and folder names. The public name can be different.
Xcode: Apple's free app-building tool for the Mac. Claude uses it behind the scenes to turn your app into something an iPhone can run. On a Windows PC, an online build service does that job instead.