iPhone app · built on your KC Card Finder

KC Cards, the iPhone app

A native iPhone app that wraps the KC Card Finder you already have, and adds three things a web page cannot do well: it works offline, it pings you when a watched card comes back in stock, and it puts your watchlist on your home screen.

This page is about turning the Kansas City card website into a real iPhone app. The app works even with no internet, it can buzz your phone when a card you want comes back in a store, and it can show your favorite cards right on your home screen. Grown-ups build the last step on a Mac with a program called Xcode.

Straight talk: the whole project is scaffolded and ready, but an iPhone app can only be built, run on your phone, and signed on your Mac with Xcode and your Apple ID. That final step cannot happen on a server. Everything up to it is done for you, and the build is two commands.

The three features you picked

Offline shell

The full app screen is bundled inside the app, so it opens instantly with no signal. works

Live stock and prices still need a connection, they come from the store API.

Restock notifications

iOS wakes the app in the background, it checks your watchlist against the live stores, and buzzes you when a card is back in stock or drops in price. wired

iOS sets the timing, so alerts land on the next wake (often a few hours), not the instant a store restocks. An optional server path makes it instant.

Home-screen widget

A small widget shows up to three watched cards and their lowest local price, without opening the app. wired

Refreshes when your watchlist changes and about hourly.

What is built vs what you finish on your Mac

Piece	Status	Where
Capacitor project + offline-bundled web UI	built + verified	www/, capacitor.config.ts
App icon set (1024 / 180 / 167 / 152 / 120)	generated	resources/AppIcon.appiconset/
Watchlist to native bridge (web hook + plugin)	written + verified	www/index.html, WatchlistBridge.swift/.m
Background restock checker + local notifications	written	native-ios-sources/App/RestockChecker.swift
Home-screen widget (SwiftUI)	written	native-ios-sources/KCWidget/KCWidget.swift
Generate ios/ project, build, run on iPhone, sign	on your Mac	Xcode + your Apple ID

Build it (on your Mac)

Install Xcode from the App Store first, then run it once to accept the license.

cd ~/Projects/kc-card-finder-ios
npm install
npx cap add ios      # generates the Xcode project
npx cap sync ios     # copies the app + native plugins
npx cap open ios     # opens Xcode

On a Mac you type a few lines, then a program called Xcode opens. You press the Play button and the app jumps onto the iPhone that is plugged in.

In Xcode, pick your Team and a Bundle ID under Signing & Capabilities.
Add the three capabilities: Background Modes (fetch + processing), App Groups (group.app.drwu.kccardfinder).
Drop in the native Swift files and add a Widget Extension target (full steps in the README).
Plug in your iPhone, press Run. A free Apple ID installs it for 7 days, a paid account keeps it forever.

Why native at all

A home-screen web app is the free version and it already works. The one thing it cannot do is buzz your phone when a card restocks while the app is closed. That single feature, restock alerts, is the real reason to go native, and it is the most useful thing a card hunter wants. The offline shell and the widget come along for the ride.

Project scaffold: ~/Projects/kc-card-finder-ios · wraps drwu-htmls.vercel.app/kc-card-finder · live stock from kc-card-api.vercel.app
An iPhone app is built and signed on a Mac with Xcode. This page documents the app and its build.