Android Bitcoin Client Bounty (1740 BTC pledged)

[kiba]

I am pledging 20 BTC for the development of a viable bitcoin client for android for the purpose of facilitating local transactions.

Added condition: I want it to be open source. GPL or BSD like licenses.

Pledges:

Kiba: 20 BTC.
brocktrice: 800 BTC.
creighto: 50 BTC.
brucewagner: 800 BTC.
slush: 50 BTC.
Vandroiy: 20 BTC

Pledges outside the forum:

akivasilver@d00m.com - 20 BTC

Total: 1760 BTC so far.

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[brocktice]

I'll pledge 400 make that 800, and would even pay if it's just a nice Android/iPhone web app BUT it must be runnable on one's own server, not linked to its own service.

I.e. I run bitcoin + this service on my own server, it runs a secure web app that lets me view my balance, get new addresses, and send to addresses, per Kiba's local transaction specifications. Bonus of another 200 if it'll show/scan QR codes for exchanging addresses.

[kiba]

I'll pledge 400.

Added.

[MoonShadow]

I am pledging 20 BTC for the development of a viable bitcoin client for android for the purpose of facilitating local transactions.

By local transactions, I assume a minimum capability of a local wallet.dat, the ability to use bu.mp (or similar) to transfer addresses, and the ability to create transactions in the absence of working Internet access.

I pledge 50 under these conditions.

[kiba]

By local transactions, I assume a minimum capability of a local wallet.dat, the ability to use bu.mp (or similar) to transfer addresses, and the ability to create transactions in the absence of working Internet access.

I pledge 50 under these conditions.

Added.

[kiba]

Brocktice upped the ante to 800 BTC, plus a 200 btc potential bonus.

[Cdecker]

I was thinking on working on an Android client (not just an interface to the desktop client, but a standalone client), so I'm intrigued by the Bounty.

Sadly I'll only have time after christmas, so I'll contribute if someone's faster than me.

One more thing: conditions have to be a bit better specified. I'd go for standalone app (no desktop client needed), manages it's own wallet, barcode scanner that recognizes the URI format, anything else?

[matsh]

I am very tempted. I am a very experienced Java developer (12 years) and have been doing professional programming for 22+ years (C, C++, Java). Unfortunately no Android experience, and my hash/crypto/p2p knowledge is limited.

My current assignment probably ends by Christmas, and after that I could possibly do this for two months straight. It would, of course, be open source, and I always do TDD programming (high-quality code), and I might have colleagues willing to pitch-in, but they may be squeamish about a project like this. Haven't asked yet.

I will think about this for a few days and get back with my decision.

[MoonShadow]

I was thinking on working on an Android client (not just an interface to the desktop client, but a standalone client), so I'm intrigued by the Bounty.

Sadly I'll only have time after christmas, so I'll contribute if someone's faster than me.

One more thing: conditions have to be a bit better specified. I'd go for standalone app (no desktop client needed), manages it's own wallet, barcode scanner that recognizes the URI format, anything else?

Near-Field and/or bu.mp intergration.  Option to limit client to one (trusted) connection, in order to limit bandwidth consumption over cell account, or ability to limit client to only download blocks with wifi.  Ability to use Dash7 for transactions, so that transactions can be distrubuted to nearby Dash7 capable devices without the need for a continuous Internet connection would be a plus, but not critical.

[da2ce7]

I recommend, instead of the GPL licence, maybe consider using the Apache License, Version 2.0.

[Bruce Wagner]

I'll pledge 800 BTC too.

( I think we need to advertise this bounty in some Android app development forums.....   Who wants to post news of our bounty in a bunch of Android app development forums, with a link back to this thread....? )

[sandos]

I would totally have a go at this if I wasn't currently in a coding frenzy with other stuff, partly android-related, and I know that if I stop now my interest in this will dwindle away

[kiba]

I'll pledge 800 BTC too.

Done.

[Cdecker]

Any chance of pooling resources in a joint effort? 1 really good app >> 5 average apps :-)

[nanotube]

I recommend, instead of the GPL licence, maybe consider using the Apache License, Version 2.0.

and fwiw, i recommend gplv3

[sandos]

Posted the link in a swedish android-forum with a very short (and incomplete) swedish explanation.

[slush]

Offer 50BTC for standalone client (no central service) with opensource code.

[kiba]

Offer 50BTC for standalone client (no central service) with opensource code.

Done.

[farmer_boy]

If you want people to develop something, come up with detailed specifications. I read the thread, but I cannot write a program deciding whether or not a given candidate program fullfills the specifications currently.

Write down things like how the UI should look like, exactly in which ways you want to interact with the device, etc. If you don't care about a specific UI, it means that an addressbook with contacts with bitcoin addresses is not included for example and that it could look butt ugly. We generally want happy clients, but we also cannot guess exactly what you are willing to pay for (which is often different from what can be made).

There is a reason people developed UML. It is because one can point at a document saying "this is how we want you to document the requirements". Now, I don't need a full UML spec and I don't expect you to be able to write one, but you should be able to write a coherent story explaining all the features such that for everyone contributing to this thread it is clear what is going to be developed.

I also recommend you to define the abbreviations that you use to make it a self-contained description. I have used bitcoin, but for example I was not aware of bu.mp (it does look fairly interesting, but also a bad idea as there is a central server). The bu.mp requirement and a gplv3 license already seem to be incompatible (read the bu.mp license agreement). I think technically you can distribute something as gplv3 and calling a proprietary API, but it's rather messy, legally speaking.

What does 'creating a transaction mean without internet access'? The way I read it is that you just want to store a transaction like 'MOVIE TICKET - 5BTC - <address of receiver> <source address>', which you can later retrieve again by listing all such transactions. That's the level of detail one needs before one starts development as an example.

That way you can say before a single line of code is written what a sane way is to present the UI for example, whether it is even possible to make it run on a specific version of Android (another thing which was not specified), whether the (unspecified) performance characteristics are even possible on device X (what is the reference device).

In short, as in most software projects, the client is not clear about what he wants and in this case there are multiple stakeholders, which requires you to get to a consensus of what you want. First figure out what you want, then ask again.

[MoonShadow]

The first thing we need is a working interface with Mybitcoin.com that can use as many of it's functions as possible, such as it's addressbook.  It would be nice if the interface can play nice with bu.mp in order to use it to trade addresses with the rest of your contact info.  The standalone client is after that.

What I mean by "in the absence of Internet" is that the client is a true 'lightweight' client, with a pruned blockchain (which requires that merkle tree pruning be implimented in the main client first) so that the user doesn't have to be connected to the Internet at all times in order to send money, as a website interface would.  This allows a client to create a transaction with or without the Internet and send it whenever the Internet becomes available or by another future means such as Dash7 mesh networking if such a thing becomes available.