Technology explained, in simple words

The tools we use to build and grow apps, each explained so anyone can follow: what it is, what it is good for, and when to pick something else.

Mobile

DartDart is a programming language made by Google. It is the language developers write Flutter apps in, so if your app is built with F FlutterFlutter is a free toolkit from Google for building apps. You write the app once, and the same code runs on Android phones, iPhones Jetpack ComposeJetpack Compose is Google's modern toolkit for building the screens of Android apps. Developers write the screens in Kotlin code, KotlinKotlin is a programming language made by JetBrains, and it is Google's recommended language for building Android apps. A 'native' React NativeReact Native is a free, open-source framework from Meta for building Android and iOS apps from one codebase, using JavaScript or T SwiftSwift is Apple's own programming language for building apps on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Vision Pro. When peopl SwiftUISwiftUI is Apple's toolkit for designing the screens of an app. Developers describe what a screen should look like, and SwiftUI ta

Backend & cloud

AWSAWS, or Amazon Web Services, is Amazon's cloud platform. It lets businesses rent computing power, storage, databases and hundreds FirebaseFirebase is a set of ready-made backend services from Google for mobile and web apps. It handles things like user logins, a databa Google CloudGoogle Cloud is Google's cloud platform. Businesses use it to rent servers, storage, databases, data tools and AI services over th GraphQLGraphQL is a way for an app to ask a server for data. Instead of the server deciding what to send back, the app asks for exactly t Node.jsNode.js is free software that lets JavaScript run on a server instead of only inside a web browser. Teams use it to build the back PostgreSQLPostgreSQL, often called Postgres, is a free and open-source database. It is where an app keeps its important information, such as PythonPython is a free programming language known for being easy to read. In app projects it is mostly used on the backend, for AI and d SupabaseSupabase is an open-source backend service for apps. It gives you a PostgreSQL database plus ready-made logins, file storage, real TypeScriptTypeScript is a programming language made by Microsoft. It is JavaScript with an extra layer of checks, so developers can catch ma

Growth

App Store Optimization (ASO)App Store Optimization (ASO) means improving your app's store page on the Apple App Store and Google Play so more people find it i Apple Search Ads (now Apple Ads)Apple Search Ads lets you pay to show your iPhone or iPad app inside the App Store, for example at the top of search results. In A Google AdsGoogle Ads is Google's paid advertising system. For apps, it runs App campaigns: you give Google your app, a budget and a goal, an Meta AdsMeta ads are paid ads on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and Meta's partner apps. For apps, you pick the App promotion objective, a TikTok AdsTikTok ads are short, full-screen videos shown between normal videos on TikTok. Using the App promotion objective, you can pay to

Measurement

AdAttributionKitAdAttributionKit is Apple's newer framework, launched with iOS 17.4 in 2024, that tells advertisers when an ad led someone to inst AdjustAdjust is a mobile measurement platform, owned by AppLovin, that tracks which ads and campaigns bring users to your app and what t AppsFlyerAppsFlyer is a mobile measurement partner (MMP). It sits inside your app and tells you which ad, channel or link brought each new BranchBranch is a deep linking and mobile attribution platform. It makes links that open the exact right screen in your app, even if the Firebase AnalyticsFirebase Analytics, officially Google Analytics for Firebase, is Google's free tool for counting what people do inside your app, s SKAdNetworkSKAdNetwork is Apple's privacy-safe system for telling advertisers that an ad led to an app install on iPhone or iPad, without rev

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