Preview & feedback: Electrum Android (Kivy)

[csschmitt]

Hello everyone,

I am part of the team working on Electrum Android (Kivy). We would really appreciate if you could give us some feedback on the new design. The link bellow brings you to a static version of the prototype which can even be installed on your Android device if you open it on your phone (works best on a Nexus 4).

Prototype: https://www.flinto.com/p/2a99c7d8

Thanks !

[btcven]

Bumping this thread! It looks really cool. I was greatly surprised by the plugin Store thing

[Pontius]

Wow, just tested on my Nexus 5 and this looks very promising!
Any ETA for the "real" software?

[atweiden]

The  Kivy GUI tries to keep pace with the spesmilo/electrum master branch at all times, which has implications on design and code. Charles' design is quite a departure from the one existing, and this is an ambitious project. Development has been mostly a one-person taskforce so far (akshay @http://kivy.org/#aboutus).

We have a tablet design as well. I wouldn't expect the APK to be production ready for several months, but it will be buildable and testable well before then. We still need to test it extensively on real-world devices and iterate on the code and design.

[dabura667]

The  Kivy GUI tries to keep pace with the spesmilo/electrum master branch at all times, which has implications on design and code. Charles' design is quite a departure from the one existing, and this is an ambitious project. Development has been mostly a one-person taskforce so far (akshay @http://kivy.org/#aboutus).

We have a tablet design as well. I wouldn't expect the APK to be production ready for several months, but it will be buildable and testable well before then. We still need to test it extensively on real-world devices and iterate on the code and design.

I am completely in for any beta testing.

I assume once it's presentable you will have the source be open, correct?

Also, I noticed that when clicking on a received transaction on the history screen, it said "From: <txid>" whereas the sent transaction when clicked says "To: <btc address>"

Two things I liked a LOT:

1. NFC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!

2. The create wallet UI. (I like the color blue, so maybe that's why)

Things I wished for / wondered about:

1. Multi-sig? I wonder how that would look UI wise... (that's probably a whole can of worms... maybe later?)
2. Encrypt a short message and embed it into a URI with the public key used to encrypt. When sent to the holder of the pubkey via mail app or something, they click the URI, and if they have the privkey, input their pin and the message comes up, etc... (again, not a core functionality for a wallet... but I'd find it awesome. Another fantasy of mine.)


But aside from my wishful thinking, this looks amazing. Good job! Let us know if you need any testers. I have a few old Androids to test older versions of Android.

[atweiden]

Everything is open source, nothing non-free is to be included anywhere. quanon's buildozer script will automatically build the APK from scratch.

Code:

# install electrum deps
git clone https://github.com/spesmilo/electrum
cd electrum
pip install buildozer
make theming -C gui/kivy
make apk -C gui/kivy

At least, that's if we hit a planned merge upstream before the end of April. We've been trying to get it on GitHub since October

The only intention of a 'plugin shop' is to make plugins highly visible to users, since I think most users have no clue Electrum plugins exist. Ideally I'd like Electrum plugins to take after Vim plugins or some other proven distribution model.

Things I wished for / wondered about:

1. Multi-sig? I wonder how that would look UI wise... (that's probably a whole can of worms... maybe later?)
2. Encrypt a short message and embed it into a URI with the public key used to encrypt. When sent to the holder of the pubkey via mail app or something, they click the URI, and if they have the privkey, input their pin and the message comes up, etc... (again, not a core functionality for a wallet... but I'd find it awesome. Another fantasy of mine.)

I think Thomas is exploring both of these areas. Charles has so far come up with innovative solutions to the most important UI challenges in Bitcoin, and I think if Thomas can code it, Charles can design it.

[btcven]

The  Kivy GUI tries to keep pace with the spesmilo/electrum master branch at all times, which has implications on design and code. Charles' design is quite a departure from the one existing, and this is an ambitious project. Development has been mostly a one-person taskforce so far (akshay @http://kivy.org/#aboutus).

We have a tablet design as well. I wouldn't expect the APK to be production ready for several months, but it will be buildable and testable well before then. We still need to test it extensively on real-world devices and iterate on the code and design.

I am completely in for any beta testing.

I assume once it's presentable you will have the source be open, correct?

Also, I noticed that when clicking on a received transaction on the history screen, it said "From: <txid>" whereas the sent transaction when clicked says "To: <btc address>"

Two things I liked a LOT:

1. NFC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!

2. The create wallet UI. (I like the color blue, so maybe that's why)

Things I wished for / wondered about:

1. Multi-sig? I wonder how that would look UI wise... (that's probably a whole can of worms... maybe later?)
2. Encrypt a short message and embed it into a URI with the public key used to encrypt. When sent to the holder of the pubkey via mail app or something, they click the URI, and if they have the privkey, input their pin and the message comes up, etc... (again, not a core functionality for a wallet... but I'd find it awesome. Another fantasy of mine.)


But aside from my wishful thinking, this looks amazing. Good job! Let us know if you need any testers. I have a few old Androids to test older versions of Android.

Great! The encrypt/decrypt functions seems to be really useful for services like https://www.b1txr.com or to be able to share Labels for recipients ala "public notes" of Blockchain.info but with more privacy.

RELEASE NOTES

# Release 1.9.8

edit: encrypt/decrypt methods were removed due to a bug

[btcven]

The only intention of a 'plugin shop' is to make plugins highly visible to users, since I think most users have no clue Electrum plugins exist. Ideally I'd like Electrum plugins to take after Vim plugins or some other proven distribution model.

Coinbase created their own 'App Store' page for Apps that uses their API, having the same for Electrum, both in the website and the client, would make them shine.

[dabura667]

Sorry to be a giddy school-girl about this, but are there any updates into when this might be available for testing?

Looking forward to its release!

[Abdussamad]

This looks good. Since you've asked for feedback here it is:

- What does validated mean when we look at a transaction's details? We are used to the idea of a confirmed transaction. Never heard of validated one.

- On the send tab the "Go to the next step" button appears greyed out. It is overshadowed by the two blue buttons above it (enter contact and select wallet).  I think it should be more prominent.

- The restore wallet option in the add wallet window talks about a seedphrase. Will this also accept extended public keys/master public key for a watch only wallet?

[raindex]

Amazing! Can't wait.

At least, that's if we hit a planned merge upstream before the end of April. We've been trying to get it on GitHub since October

What kind of problem are you facing trying to get it on GitHub? I feel like you were trying to say something other than what I read. (Although, I understand, it could be just because I can't wait). 

[RustyNomad]

See there has been no new posts since April.

Is this project still active or in development?

Looked very promising and would like to test it out should there be any beta and or test version available.

[dabura667]

See there has been no new posts since April.

Is this project still active or in development?

Looked very promising and would like to test it out should there be any beta and or test version available.

Yes. Just recently the lead dev was on IRC and mentioned he was almost done with other engagements, and since Electrum 2.0 is, for the most part, ready. He would continue work on it soon.

Just be patient. He also mentioned that if Kivy's iOS porting was good, it could lead to a soon-to-follow iOS version... but that's a big if.

[RustyNomad]

That is great news. Loved what I saw on that website and how it looks on my phone.