Subject area
Mobile Apps
The words you meet when you build an app for a phone and put it in a store.
28 concepts in this area
Mobile Apps
A
App Download Size The number of megabytes someone spends to install your app, and one of the quiet reasons people give up before it ever opens. App Localization Making an app feel as if it was built in the country that uses it, from the language and the screen direction down to dates, numbers and prices. App Maintenance Cost The money an app needs every year after launch, for store accounts, system updates, servers and the person who fixes what breaks. App Permissions The yes-or-no questions a phone asks before an app may use the camera, the location, your contacts or send you notifications. App Ratings and Reviews The stars and written comments on your app listing, and what really decides the number people see first. App Store Optimization ASO The work that makes an app easy to find inside the App Store and Google Play, and easy to choose once it is found. App Store Review The check Apple and Google run on every app and every update before it is allowed into their store.B
Biometric Login Opening an app with your fingerprint or your face instead of typing a code, with the phone doing the checking and the app hearing only a yes or a no.D
Deep Link A link that opens one exact screen inside an app, such as a single invoice or ticket, instead of dropping the person on the home screen.E
Enterprise App Distribution How a company puts its own app on staff phones without listing it in the public store.F
Forced Update The screen that blocks an app until the person installs the newest version, used when an old version can no longer work with your system.G
GPS Tracking GPS Following a vehicle or a member of staff on a map, using the position their phone or tracker reports over the mobile network.H
Hybrid App A phone app whose screens are mostly web pages, wrapped so it installs from the app store like any other app.I
In-App Purchase IAP A payment made inside a phone app through the store's own billing, where Apple or Google keep 15 to 30 percent of what the customer pays.J
Jailbreak and Root Detection A check an app runs as it opens, to see whether the phone has had the maker's limits taken off and can no longer keep apps apart.K
Kiosk Mode A setting that locks a phone or tablet to one app, so the person using it can do the job and nothing else.M
Minimum Viable Product MVP The first real version of an app, built to do the one job that matters and to leave everything else for later. Mobile Device Management MDM The software that lets a company set the rules on the phones and tablets its staff use, and erase a lost one from the office. Mobile Website Your ordinary website built to work properly on a phone, plus the honest test for when a business really needs an app instead.N
Native App An app built in the phone's own language, fast and close to the camera and the map, but paid for twice because iPhone and Android are separate builds.O
Offline Sync The way an app keeps working with no signal by saving the work on the phone and sending it up once the network comes back. Over-the-Air Update OTA A change that reaches every phone straight from your server, so people see the new prices or text without downloading a new version from the store.P
Push Notification A short message your system sends to a phone that is locked and not using your app, and which the owner of the phone has to allow first.Q
QR Code Scanning QR Reading a QR code or barcode with a phone camera, so a price, a ticket or a stock item is found without anyone typing a number.U
Uninstall Rate The share of people who delete your app after installing it, and the fastest honest signal that something on the first screen is wrong.V
Virtual Private Network VPN A private tunnel through a public connection, so what your staff send on café or hotel wifi cannot be read by the people around them.W
WebView App A phone app whose screens are your live website shown inside a window, with the browser address bar taken away.Z
Zero-Day Vulnerability A hole in software that has just been found and has no fix yet, so everyone using that part is exposed until one arrives.Other subject areas
Web Development The terms that come up when we build or rebuild a website or a web application. 4 Cybersecurity How systems are attacked, and the words we use for defending them. 31 Hosting & Infrastructure Where software actually runs, and what the numbers in a hosting contract mean. 2 SEO & Marketing The vocabulary of being found — search, content and measurement. 30 Programming Languages The languages software is written in, and what each one is genuinely good at. 8 Frameworks & Platforms The toolkits built on top of a language so teams do not rewrite the same foundations every time. 0 Databases & Data Where your records actually live, and why the choice changes what the system can do. 0 Cloud & Operations How software gets shipped, run and kept alive after it is written. 0 AI & Automation What the machines are actually doing when a product says it uses AI. 0 Design & User Experience How a screen is laid out, and why some sites feel easy while others feel confusing. 0 Digital Marketing Paid ads, email, offers and the numbers that tell you whether any of it worked. 0 Social Media Posts, followers, reach and the everyday words of running an account well. 0 E-commerce Systems Selling online: the cart, the checkout, the stock and everything after the order. 0 Shops & Point of Sale The counter, the barcode, the till and the stock room of a real shop. 1 Maintenance Centres Repair jobs, spare parts, warranty and getting a device back to its owner. 0 School & University Systems Students, classes, attendance, marks and fees — the software a school runs on. 0 Hospital Management Beds, admissions, departments and the file that follows a patient through a hospital. 0 Clinic Management Appointments, visits, prescriptions and payments in a small medical practice. 0 Medical Laboratories Samples, tests, reference ranges and how a result reaches the person who ordered it. 0 Radiology Centres Scans, images, reports and the systems that store and share them safely. 0 Property & Rentals Units, tenants, contracts and rent — the paperwork of property, done in software. 0 Property Developers Projects, phases, instalment plans and selling a unit that is not built yet. 0 Salons & Spas Bookings, chairs, staff commission and keeping regulars coming back. 0 Gyms & Fitness Memberships, check-ins, classes and trainers — how a gym keeps track of everyone. 0 Web Applications Software that runs in a browser and does real work — dashboards, portals and systems staff use all day. 23 Custom Software Building a system around how a business actually works, instead of changing the business to fit a product. 0 Integrations & APIs Making two systems talk to each other, so the same number does not get typed twice. 0 Payments & Billing Taking money online, sending invoices and knowing exactly who has paid and who has not. 0 ERP & Accounting One set of books behind every department, so the numbers agree at the end of the month. 0 Software Projects How a software project is scoped, priced, built and handed over — and where they usually go wrong. 0 CRM & Customer Support Keeping track of who your customers are, what they asked for, and what you promised them. 0