How it works (plain English)
You don’t need to read this to use Catalyst apps, but it can help you feel confident.
The three things you’ll see
1) A wallet
A wallet is an app that:
- creates your account
- lets you send/receive money
- keeps your “keys” (the secret needed to approve actions)
Important: if you lose your wallet backup, you can lose access.
2) Apps
Apps are what you actually use:
- games
- social apps
- marketplaces
- tools
Good apps will make Catalyst “disappear” and just feel like normal software.
3) An explorer
An explorer is like a public receipt viewer. You can use it to:
- verify a payment happened
- verify an app action was recorded
- troubleshoot when an app UI is slow to update
What a “transaction” is
A transaction is just a signed request from your wallet, like:
- “send 5 tokens to Alex”
- “deploy this app feature”
- “call this contract”
Your wallet signs it so the network can verify it’s really you approving it.
Testnet vs mainnet
Testnet is for testing:
- funds are free (via a faucet)
- things can reset or change
Mainnet is real:
- funds are not free
- you should be more careful with backups and security