Booking app glossary: the words, in plain English.
A branded or white-label booking app is published under your business's name on a vendor's platform. This page defines 28 terms you meet when choosing one, from D-U-N-S numbers to spot maps, each with a link to the page that goes deeper. We make MeetScarlet, which sets up a branded app under your own name, and say where each term applies to it.
App Review Guideline 4.2.6
Apple's rule that apps made from a template or app-generation service are rejected unless the provider of the app's content submits them directly. Apple also allows a single aggregated “picker” app that hosts many businesses. It is why a branded booking app is normally submitted from the business's own Apple developer account.
Bed level (tanning)
A tier tanning salons give their beds, usually by lamp strength, so a cheaper plan covers lower-level beds and a premium plan covers the stronger ones.
In MeetScarlet, each membership says which bed levels it covers, and clients see that before they pick a bed; see MeetScarlet for tanning salons and tanning salon software compared.
Booking link
A web address that opens your booking page, so people can book from your website, an Instagram bio or a message without installing anything.
MeetScarlet gives every studio a booking page link to share or embed on its site; see booking link.
Branded app (white-label app)
A booking app built on a vendor's platform but published under your business's name, logo and colors, so clients download your app rather than the vendor's. White label means the vendor's brand is left off.
MeetScarlet includes one in every plan, published under your own Apple and Google developer accounts and set up by our team. See white-label booking apps and what you can change in MeetScarlet's.
Check-in pass
A code in the client's app that front-desk staff use to check them in, usually tied to a booking or membership.
See member check-in.
Class pack
A prepaid bundle of visits, such as 10 classes, that clients use up as they book. Packs often expire after a set time.
Client import (CSV)
Moving your client list into a new booking system from a spreadsheet file, usually exported from the old one.
MeetScarlet imports clients from a CSV and checks the file before anything is saved; see switching to MeetScarlet.
Court (resource) booking
Booking a court, room or bed by the time slot, rather than booking time with a person.
See court booking.
D-U-N-S number
A free nine-digit business identifier from Dun & Bradstreet. Apple asks for one when a business enrolls as an organization (a registered legal entity) in its developer program; individuals don't need one.
See the steps.
Day pass
A single-day entry to a gym or studio, sold to visitors who don't hold a membership.
MeetScarlet comes with a day pass as a starting plan that visitors buy in the app; see MeetScarlet for gyms.
Deposit
Part of the price paid when a client books, to hold the time. The rest is paid at the visit.
In MeetScarlet you can ask for a deposit or the full price when someone books an appointment.
Developer account (Apple and Google)
The account a business uses to publish apps: the Apple Developer Program costs $99 a year and Google Play Console $25 once. The app's store listing shows the account holder as the seller.
Fitzpatrick skin type
A scale of six skin types, from skin that always burns and never tans to skin that rarely burns, used by tanning salons to judge how much UV exposure suits a client.
MeetScarlet has no skin-type field; salons show their own notice, such as skin-type guidance, before each bed booking. See which tanning software records skin types.
Late cancel
A cancellation made after the studio's cutoff, such as inside 12 hours of a class. Many studios count it like a no-show.
In MeetScarlet, late cancels and no-shows can use up a class credit; see class booking.
License plate recognition (LPR)
Cameras that read a car's license plate so a car wash can match it to a member and let them through without a tag or card.
MeetScarlet doesn't connect to plate cameras: an attendant types the plate or scans the member's pass. See car wash membership apps compared.
Marketplace app
One app that lists many businesses, where clients search and book across all of them, such as Fresha or Booksy's client app. The vendor owns the app and the listing, not the business.
Membership
A recurring plan, often monthly, that gives a client unlimited or a set number of visits while it runs. It renews on its own until cancelled or until its term ends.
Minute pack
A prepaid bundle of tanning minutes that runs down as the client uses beds, an alternative to an unlimited plan.
MeetScarlet has minute packs and unlimited tanning plans built in; see memberships and packs.
No-show fee
A charge for missing a booking without cancelling, usually taken from a card saved at booking.
In MeetScarlet it is off until you switch it on, and applies when staff mark someone as a no-show.
Open match
In padel and tennis, a game that players at a similar level can join until it is full.
In MeetScarlet, open matches are for padel clubs; see padel clubs.
Progressive web app (PWA, home-screen web app)
A website that can be added to a phone's home screen and opened like an app. It usually isn't listed in the App Store or Google Play.
See home-screen web app vs App Store app; for examples, SimplyBook.me's client app and Setmore's branded mobile app.
Rain check (car wash)
A free re-wash a car wash gives when it rains soon after a customer's wash.
In MeetScarlet, staff turn rain on for a site and each member who washed there in the last day gets one re-wash credit for their next visit; see MeetScarlet for car washes.
RFID tag (car wash)
A small sticker on a member's windshield that a reader at the car wash entrance scans to recognize the car and open the gate.
MeetScarlet doesn't use tags; see which car wash systems do.
Spot map
A layout of a class room, such as reformers or bikes, where clients pick the exact spot they want when they book.
See class booking.
Text reminder
A text message sent before a booking to remind the client, which cuts no-shows.
In MeetScarlet, text reminders are coming soon on MeetScarlet Pro, for clients who opt in; see text reminders.
Unlimited wash plan
A monthly car wash membership that lets a member wash as often as the wash allows, usually one car per plan with a minimum time between washes.
Waitlist
A queue for a full class or slot. When someone cancels, the next person either gets the spot automatically or is offered it.
MeetScarlet's class waitlist moves clients up when a spot opens. For appointments, a waitlist per service tells everyone waiting when a time opens, and the first to book gets it. See class booking.
Walk-in line
A queue for people who come in without a booking, common in barbershops. Clients join from their phone or at the desk and see their place in line.
See walk-in line.
Questions
Straight answers. Anything else, ask us on a demo.
What is a white-label booking app? #
A booking app built on a vendor's platform and published under your business's own name, logo and colors, so clients download your app, not the vendor's.
Why do I need a D-U-N-S number for my app? #
Apple asks for one when you enroll as an organization (a registered legal entity) in its developer program, which is how a business publishes its own app. Individuals don't need one. The number is free from Dun & Bradstreet.
What is the difference between a branded app and a marketplace app? #
A branded app carries only your business and is listed under your name, so regulars see only you when they book; MeetScarlet sets one up. A marketplace app lists many businesses in one app that the vendor owns.
Is this glossary independent? #
No. We make MeetScarlet, a branded booking app, and say where each term applies to it. The definitions themselves are general and not specific to any vendor.
Keep reading
- White-label booking appA white-label booking app puts your own name on the App Store and Google Play. MeetScarlet builds and brands yours, with booking and memberships, from $349 a month.
- Publish under your own Apple accountWhy Apple asks businesses to publish template-built apps themselves, and the steps: a free D-U-N-S number, Apple ($99 a year) and Google Play ($25 once).
- Best branded booking apps (2026)Seven booking platforms that give clients an app with your name, compared on price, plan and store account, with MeetScarlet as our pick at a published price.