[ANN] BitcoinSpinner

[phatsphere]

This is really bad if I for some reason choose to discontinue the BCCAPI server…

Maybe a dumb question, but will it be possible to switch servers from within the bitcoin spinner app? Or even better, specify a set of independent servers, which all are just a synced copy of the same data, and it doesn't matter if one goes down? I don't know all the details, maybe that's not possible.

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[cypherdoc]

i use Spinner on an Android.  can i be confident you will push updates to me as they come out?

[Jan]

This is really bad if I for some reason choose to discontinue the BCCAPI server…

Maybe a dumb question, but will it be possible to switch servers from within the bitcoin spinner app? Or even better, specify a set of independent servers, which all are just a synced copy of the same data, and it doesn't matter if one goes down? I don't know all the details, maybe that's not possible.

Right now there are two servers running at Rackspace, one for the Bitcoin production network and one for the test network. Servers cost money, but if BitcoinSpinner catches on big time I will put up loadbalanced/redundant servers. Right now there are about 250 clients installed out there, and rarely more than a handful running. At the current usage the servers have absolutely no problem keeping up.

[Jan]

i use Spinner on an Android.  can i be confident you will push updates to me as they come out?

Yes. Whenever there is an update it will be available on the Android Market, so you just have to update the app on your device. I'll also post on this topic: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=53353.0

[BitPay Business Solutions]

Jan, it would be awesome to have the BitcoinSpinner as a native iPhone app.  Apple has now opened the door to bitcoin wallets with Bitpak, but that app sucks.  I can tell you that from what I see here in the US, everyone (and i mean everyone) has an iPhone.  Androids are rare amongst the non-hacker crowd.

[Jan]

Jan, it would be awesome to have the BitcoinSpinner as a native iPhone app.  Apple has now opened the door to bitcoin wallets with Bitpak, but that app sucks.  I can tell you that from what I see here in the US, everyone (and i mean everyone) has an iPhone.  Androids are rare amongst the non-hacker crowd.

You are right and I totally agree.
Apple accepting Bitcoin clients apps is really big news. However, I have no experience with iPhone apps. My domain is more Java'ish and crypto stuff. My hope is that someone in our community with iPhone dev experience takes up the challenge of porting BitcoinSpinner to iPhone. I am willing to help in any way I can.

[fornit]

Jan, it would be awesome to have the BitcoinSpinner as a native iPhone app.  Apple has now opened the door to bitcoin wallets with Bitpak, but that app sucks.  I can tell you that from what I see here in the US, everyone (and i mean everyone) has an iPhone.  Androids are rare amongst the non-hacker crowd.

dont let your personal experience fool you.
market share by OS q2 2011:



doesnt mean iphones are not important, but the priority should clearly be android. since in general android phones are cheaper they will continue to spread faster.

[BitPay Business Solutions]

fornit I've seen the charts but I honestly don't believe it.  I see Apple everywhere when I walk around.  When I look at the site statistics of people visiting my website from their mobile phone, here's exactly the stats we see:

[fornit]

the statistic i posted was sales, not phones in existence.
even if iphones are still much more common in the usa, i am pretty sure this will change over the next few years. anyway, i agree that it would be good to have an iphone version of bitcoinspinner. its clearly the best application for mobile devices right now. bitpak is absolutely no alternative.
 

[cypherdoc]

fornit I've seen the charts but I honestly don't believe it.  I see Apple everywhere when I walk around.  When I look at the site statistics of people visiting my website from their mobile phone, here's exactly the stats we see:

yeah, but the types of ppl you walk around and visiting your website are all Hotties    they all use iPhones.

[dunand]

I imagine Apple users are desperately looking for an alternative way to pay to avoid exorbitant fees.

[BitPay Business Solutions]

yeah, but the types of ppl you walk around and visiting your website are all Hotties    they all use iPhones.

ah, yeah you got a point there...

[gnar1ta$]

Jan, it would be awesome to have the BitcoinSpinner as a native iPhone app.  Apple has now opened the door to bitcoin wallets with Bitpak, but that app sucks.  I can tell you that from what I see here in the US, everyone (and i mean everyone) has an iPhone.  Androids are rare amongst the non-hacker crowd.

+1

dont let your personal experience fool you.
market share by OS q2 2011:



doesnt mean iphones are not important, but the priority should clearly be android. since in general android phones are cheaper they will continue to spread faster.

Agree mostly. Sales stats are misleading. I've sold/repaired phones for 7 years. Free and cheap (price wise) phones like many Android models are damaged and lost more often, and replaced, adding to sales numbers.  More expensive (not necessarily better) models like iPhones are usually better kept and repaired vs replaced.  Usage data like Bit-pays are generally more accurate.  Either way iOS needs an app and Bitpak is not it.  And don't forget Apple users tend to spend more per device on phones/apps/rate plans - though Apple does take a nice cut of that.  It would be great to have the same app on both OS's and see sales/use data.

[Vandroiy]

BitcoinSpinner (BCCAPI) works for me, so I have the ancient 20 BTC Android bounty to pay. The client program crashes frequently, and takes long to initialize at times, but it serves its purpose and I've not had any serious issues.

That said, 15 BTC are going to BCCAPI. It's funny the donation address is not shown as QR code on the page, I had to mail it to myself and paste it into BitcoinSpinner.

That means I should send at least 5 BTC to the BitcoinSpinner developers, but I didn't find a donation address. Do they have one?

[BTCurious]

The client program crashes frequently, and takes long to initialize at times, but it serves its purpose and I've not had any serious issues.

This is my experience too.

[Jan]

BitcoinSpinner (BCCAPI) works for me, so I have the ancient 20 BTC Android bounty to pay. The client program crashes frequently, and takes long to initialize at times, but it serves its purpose and I've not had any serious issues.

That said, 15 BTC are going to BCCAPI. It's funny the donation address is not shown as QR code on the page, I had to mail it to myself and paste it into BitcoinSpinner.

That means I should send at least 5 BTC to the BitcoinSpinner developers, but I didn't find a donation address. Do they have one?

Thank you for the 15 BTC!

Not having the donation address as a QR-code is a blunder on my behalf. The BCCAPI page has been updated with one.

The BitcoinSpinner developer is not very active on this forum, but he has included a donation in his signature. Here is a sample: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=52674.msg644862#msg644862

An update (v0.4) is in the pipe, which changes BitcoinSpinner's backend communication to the server. This should remove crash issues. I expect the update to go out tomorrow. I also experience that it takes long time to initialize at times, especially when my device has been idle for some time. I think the reason is that the device has to fire up its wi-fi, and this takes time. The good news is that the next version allows you to start up without a network connection, and see your "old" balance. This also means that you can backup/restore/export your private key when in off-line mode.


The reason why it sometimes takes long time to initialize something I also experience if

[Mushroomized]

This is awesome, I got it to work on my android modded HP touchpad, unfortunately the camera doesn't work with android installed, so I can't scan qr codes

But on the plus side I can make HUGE qr codes, heres a photo with a floppy disk for comparison

[Vandroiy]

The BitcoinSpinner developer is not very active on this forum, but he has included a donation in his signature. Here is a sample: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=52674.msg644862#msg644862

Ah, okay. Sending 6 BTC. The app crashed on first start attempt when I tried to send the coins, so I only tipped 1 BTC on top. Expensive crash.

[Jan]

The BitcoinSpinner developer is not very active on this forum, but he has included a donation in his signature. Here is a sample: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=52674.msg644862#msg644862

Ah, okay. Sending 6 BTC. The app crashed on first start attempt when I tried to send the coins, so I only tipped 1 BTC on top. Expensive crash.

Fortunately I have good news. Just before Christmas I joined the BitcoinSpinner dev team. Previously I was (just) making the BCCAPI, and during the holidays I gave BitcoinSpinner a major swing. This should greatly improve user experience with no or poor network connectivity.
Please upgrade to the latest version (0.4b) on the Android Market place.
More details on new features here: BitcoinSpinner in the Alternative Clients section

[suntsu]

Great job. Very well done. +1 for an iPhone client.