Glossary
The words you meet when you make an iPhone app, in plain language: what each one means, and what it means when you build with Borel.
iPhone apps, Swift and the App Store
- Swift
- Swift is the programming language Apple made for its own platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV.
- SwiftUI
- SwiftUI is Apple's framework for building the screens of an app in Swift.
- Xcode
- Xcode is Apple's integrated development environment (IDE): the app developers use to write, build, test and ship software for Apple's platforms.
- iOS Simulator
- The iOS Simulator is part of Xcode.
- TestFlight
- TestFlight is Apple's service for testing an app before it goes on the App Store.
- App Store Connect
- App Store Connect is Apple's web portal for managing apps on the App Store.
- App Review
- App Review is the step where Apple checks an app before it can appear on the App Store.
- Apple Developer Program
- The Apple Developer Program is Apple's paid membership for publishing apps.
- Provisioning profile
- A provisioning profile is a small file, issued by Apple, that ties together an app's bundle ID, the certificate that signed it and what the app is allowed to do.
- Code signing
- Code signing is how Apple makes sure an app comes from a known developer and hasn't been changed since it was built.
- Bundle ID
- A bundle ID, or bundle identifier, is the unique name an app carries inside Apple's systems, written in reverse-domain style such as com.example.recipes.
- IPA file
- An IPA (iOS App Store Package) file is the archive an iPhone or iPad app is distributed in.
- Sideloading
- Sideloading means installing an app on an iPhone from somewhere other than the App Store.
- Free provisioning
- Free provisioning lets anyone with an ordinary Apple ID sign an app for their own iPhone, without paying for the Apple Developer Program.
- App Privacy details
- App Privacy details, often called privacy nutrition labels, are the part of an App Store listing that says what data an app collects, whether that data is linked to the person and whether it is used to track them.
- In-app purchase
- An in-app purchase (IAP) is a payment made inside an iPhone app through Apple's own system.
- StoreKit
- StoreKit is Apple's framework for selling inside an app.
- Face ID
- Face ID is Apple's face recognition for iPhone and iPad.
- MapKit
- MapKit is Apple's framework for putting Apple Maps inside an app.
- Push notifications
- A push notification is a message sent from a server to an app on someone's device through the Apple Push Notification service (APNs).
- Local notifications
- A local notification is an alert an app schedules on the device itself: at a time, on a repeating schedule or, with permission, at a place. iOS delivers it even when the app is closed.
- Liquid Glass
- Liquid Glass is the design language Apple introduced in 2025 with iOS 26 and its other new releases.
- Universal app
- A universal app is a single app that runs natively on both iPhone and iPad, with one App Store listing and one purchase.
Building apps with AI
- Vibe coding
- Vibe coding is building software by describing what you want to an AI in plain language, trying what it makes and asking for changes, rather than writing the code yourself.
- AI app builder
- An AI app builder is a tool that turns a description in plain language into a working app.
- No-code
- No-code means building software without writing code, through visual editors, templates and settings.
- Low-code
- Low-code is a way of building software where most of the app is assembled visually or generated, and developers write code only for the parts that need it.
- Native app
- A native app is built for one platform with that platform's own language and tools: on iPhone, that means Swift or Objective-C with Apple's frameworks, compiled by Xcode.
- Cross-platform app
- A cross-platform app is built once and runs on more than one platform, usually iPhone and Android.
- React Native
- React Native is an open-source framework from Meta for building mobile apps with JavaScript and React.
- Expo
- Expo is an open-source platform built on React Native that makes mobile apps easier to start, run and ship.
- Flutter
- Flutter is Google's open-source framework for building apps for iPhone, Android, the web and desktop from one codebase, written in the Dart language.
- Web view app
- A web view app, also called a wrapper app, is an iPhone app whose screens are a website shown inside a built-in browser view.
- PWA
- A progressive web app (PWA) is a website built to behave like an app: it can be added to the home screen, open full screen and keep working offline.
- Backend
- A backend is the part of an app that runs on servers rather than on the phone.
- Backend as a service (BaaS)
- Backend as a service (BaaS) is a hosted backend an app plugs into instead of running its own servers.
- Database
- A database is where an app keeps its data in an organised form, so it can save, find and change it quickly.
- API key
- An API key is a secret string that identifies an app to an outside service, such as an AI model, a payment provider or a music service, so the service knows who is calling and whom to bill.
- Credits
- Credits are the unit many AI app builders charge in for the AI work behind each request.
- Large language model (LLM)
- A large language model (LLM) is an AI model trained on huge amounts of text to understand and generate language.
Make your iPhone app in Borel
Describe it in your own words. Borel writes it in Swift, builds it on its own Mac and puts it on your iPhone.