Bitcoin Forum

Bitcoiners:

This is a straightforward survey of the community's smartphone use. Feel free to answer if you'd like and if there are any questions, ask. I'll do my best to respond to everyone. Thanks for taking a look at the poll.

Coinvestor (Ryan)

I'd wager most are using Android because of the open-source nature of Bitcoin.

I'd agree with you. I still feel this is a helpful poll for developers :)

Coinvestor (Ryan)

Of the few bitcoin apps out there right now which one would you guys say is the best?

For general concept I've got to give it to BitPay. It's new and rough around the edges but it works. I'm also not one of those purists who demands that the wallet/blockchain MUST be on the phone itself. I've got no problems trusting a third party (BitPay is just a front-end for instawallet) but I do have a problem forcing average users to run bitcoind on a computer somewhere, forward ports to it and set up API access via their phones - that's the kind of thing that keeps bitcoin solidly in the realm of us geeks and out of the hands of normal folks.

Still, I'd like a better feature set and perhaps a choice to use MyBitcoin or some other service than instawallet.

I like BitPay a lot. They've managed to market how bitcoin works and develop a product to make it easy for users and businesses to play the game. I'd be interested in seeing where their success goes. I'd also like to see how they make their money :P

Coinvestor (Ryan)

Agreed. I think the only viable option would be a light client that doesn't store the blockchain but only receives it from the network (maybe a trusted node) and check it against wallet transactions. So you only have the wallet stored on your phone but don't need to trust a third party with your private keys.
I'm betting there are several of those clients in the works.

Answered your poll.

Just my two cents concerning smartphone apps: Both Bitcoin for Android (https://github.com/barmstrong/bitcoin-android) and BitPay (https://github.com/warpi/BitPay) miss one crucial function. You can't copy the god-damn address.

Edit #1: I haven't tried any other apps.
Edit #2: Bitcoin for Android actually does have the a Copy Address function. I am apparently going blind.

Waiting hopefully for a good solution for iOS, with a QR reader built in.

Or, waiting for the right time to get a Nokia N9.  Think there will ever be a good bitcoin app for that?

@samr7
There's definitely a market for Nokia being the largest platform worldwide. Whether or not the geographical market is there is the question. If the bitcoin user and Nokia user overlap then yeah, someone needs to hit that market hard with an app that can do what BitPay does.

Why does it have to be limited to smartphones?  What prevents a system similar to M-Pesa built around a cell service provider offering a BitPay like service?  Does anyone here have direct experience with M-Pesa?

My only issue is that the application platform is so widely adopted that this may take more time than is efficient to establish. It would of course open the market to everyone with a phone, but everyone wants a smartphone.

Coinvestor (Ryan)

I'm not sure if mine can be called a smartphone, the N900 is more like a Linux based netbook with a builtin GSM modem...

Well, many more non-smart cellphones exist, and I had a $9 phone that worked quite well before buying an Android.  I got the smartphone for the other apps, not for the possibility of using it to spend bitcoins.  Not everyone is going to switch for many years, most people just need a phone and maybe SMS texting.  Even my $9 phone could securely connect and use my account balance with the service provider.

I think Bitcoin-android sounds like it has all the features to make a perfect bitcoin payment companion for while your out.

I would prefer to scan a QR code, confirm details and click send than using NFC technology where you dont get to confirm payment details.

Now when is the iOS port coming out?  :)

And all that it requires to be implimented securely is an open wifi hotspot at each vendor's establishment.  Rather than NFC tech in each customer's phone and supporting infrastructure at each point-of-sale.  We don't yet have a standardized method of sending the POS data to the phone in order to have your smartphone display the total for confirmation, but I'm confident that it's coming.

OMG Bitcoin for Android https://github.com/barmstrong/bitcoin-android  works fucking flawlessly for me.  I'm in hog heaven!

I don't even use an app. I just open my browser and make use of Instawallet. Works great so far!

I've downloaded and looked at BitPay, which seems to have potential, but seriously? You can't copy the account's address to the clipboard, or apparently even type/paste an address to send to without first finding a barcode to scan? That oversight is just ridiculous... 90+% of my transactions (for now) are going to be through websites or to other people who aren't generating QR codes. Text addresses, please.

Haven't tried Bitcoin for Android yet. (Haven't needed to trust it, or spend time on the download, since my current method is still working fine.) I'll give it a shot eventually.

Did everyone see the guy that had minted versions of bitcoins? They hold no value but a QR code could fit on them. Could that become the thing everyone carries around and merchants scan?

Coinvestor (Ryan)

I guess it was obvious that our community uses more Android devices. I mean I use it  ;D

Yeah definitely. I didn't expect much different. Thanks everyone for responding! Keep up the votes. So far bit-pay.com offers a good service, however most users prefer just using computers. Instawallet programs are gaining heavy traffic amidst all this.

Coinvestor (Ryan)

Are wallets accessible on mobile versions of websites yet?

Don't forget about Webcoin / BitcoinJS
 - http://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/BitcoinJS
 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yoduTFjZW4#t=940s