Glossary - Understanding some common terms

Here's some commonly used terms that might confuse you

Build File

• A fully built up compiled file of your app that a user can install on their device via App Store or Play Store.
• Also known as ipa for app store and apk for play store

Build

• The process of generating the build file of your app for the first time.
• When you purchase the BDK Native Service, you are basically purchasing the build.
• The build file for iOS apps is directly uploaded by us to your App listing
• The build file for Android apps is provided by us to you for uploading to your App listing

Rebuild

• The process of regenerating the build
• Typically required if you want to change some details submitted on project page e.g. app icon
• Required if you want to upgrade you BDK Native Engine to a newer version

App Listing

• The details about an app that you see on searching for an app on appstore
• Implies details such as app description, screenshots, update notes, privacy policy link etc.
• You create your app's listing on Apple's Appstore Connect for iOS & Google's Play Store Console for Android
• In an app listing there is a place to uploaded the build file described above

App Metadata

• Another term for the content on app listing i.e. app description, screenshots, update notes, privacy policy link etc.

Bundle Name

• A unique id for an app listing. Needs to specified when the app listing is created
• Typically written as something like com.facebook.app resembling the reverse of a domain just as a convention

BDK Native Engine

• Our core product, which allows your Native Apps (bdk) bubble plugin to communicate back and forth with the native device

BDK Native Release

• We keep adding new features & enhancements to the native engine.
• When a collection of these is tested and made available to you, we call it a 'engine release'
• Check out this list of engine releases till date
• Every time you order a rebuild, you app is updated to the latest engine version

Appstore Connect

• Apple's portal where you can create app listings for iOS apps
• We upload build file inside an app listing
• Previously known as iTunes Connect

Playstore Console

• Google's portal where you can create app listings for Android apps
• We provide you the build file to upload inside the app listing

Apple Developer Account (Organization Enrollment)

• Apple's annual membership which allows you to publish apps to app store
• There is Individual, Organization and Enterprise developer account types
• Individual and Organization accounts cost the same $99.
• We support either types of accounts.

Onesignal Player ID

• Just like bubble generates a unique ID for everything (such as user's unique id), onesignal also generates a unique ID for each device for a specific app
• This unique ID generated by onesignal is called 'Player ID'. Together with your onesignal app ID and api key, it can be used to send notification to a specific device
• A typical approach is to save the player ID to a field in your bubble user object, so that you can send notifications to that user

Updated on: 02/19/2022