Bitcoin Forum

Hey folks,

I'm sure I'm not the first to propose this but hows about a dedicated android phone to store your bitcoins in cold? I dont like coins on my computer, as I use it every day and it's always on the internet.

An android phone would make it easy to access my coins when I wanted to, it would be portable, easy to back up onto a USB etc... and the camera option is really neat!

but I have one concern........ android software and google apps! or am I paranoid?!

these phones usually come with default software, that demand access to all sorts of information. Is the software that one would download from the app store safe to use alongside google apps (only!)

I would keep it turned off, probably without a sim card, install the programme on the SD card, and back up the wallet to a USB stick. I would keep the phone pin locked and under my bed.

what do you think?

Cheers.

It will work as long as your phone and its memory will :)


regards!

Why does it have to be a phone?

And if it's on a device that can be connected to other devices (WiFi, cellular, BT, whatever) then it is less secure than a piece of paper. Thus, on a phone, it's no longer "cold storage".

Sure it is not.

And we can say that it is less safe than a sheet of paper...

So I fail to see how this qualifies as "cold storage".

its cold storage because it will be disconnected to the internet when not in use.... thats the plan. initially, I would have to down load the wallet, back up the wallet, and then transfer the coins, and then disconnect it from the internet until absolutely necessary.

If you expose the private key to the World Wide Web in any way, shape, or form, it is no longer cold storage!! There is the Mycelium app for android that allows you to do partial spends of paper wallets, but you would have to trust that your private key is indeed completely wiped from your device!

so.... how do you do that?

are you saying that the Bitcoin wallet app from the app store shares the private key with the internet (somehow) as you download it? or that the private key is generated on the internet?

Can I generate a wallet on my phone offline? that would be cold storage?

Buying a cheap netbook and installing linux on it would be magnitudes easier than attempting to get past google's spyware and avoid connecting to the internet.

its all possible:  http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1xc5lw/mycelium_bitcoin_wallet_feature_of_the_week_news/

You can just buy a Pi-Wallet - cost around 120$

And you have pro cold storage with linux and armory inside.

This is a price of an android device or a laptop - and it should be easier to manage :)
and smaller than a laptop too :P

The only TRUE cold storage is a paper, or digital media wallet that has never ever been exposed to the internet! Even if you use the Mycelium app feature (which I use ALL the time BTW!) you are still taking a risk that your private key is now out there. If you want to be completely safe, when you spend some coins from cold storage, send the remainder of that cold wallet to a new cold wallet that the private key has not been exposed to the net in any way! This IS the safest way IMHO to be certain that your coins are in total cold storage!

+1 exactly what I was going to tell you

some might say that PiWallet is not worth it's price,
because it seems just a Rasp + linux + armory + sd cards + box

But when you think about electronic device that work well you can say this is a good price,
and I think it is :)

And as I know users of Pi Wallet are happy because they did bought Pi.

does anybody know for the android phone wallet app, if the key is generated on the internet, or is it generated in the phone?

It seems like I have no option of generating another private key on the phone I have now.... I dont think I could import one either.

currently, we are working hard on it,  :)

the hackers and nerds that are working hard to develop bitcoin are absolute legends....

who are 'we' may I ask?

This is referring to a feature that allows you to spend bitcoin securely from existing cold storage, mycelium cannot create cold storage.

Technically, you could buy a new android device, put an apk of mycelium on the phone and install the app to generate keys but I don't know how well the app works without internet connection. It should work though. Still airgapped.