Does anyone use OBWallet (OBAndroid)?

[internetional]

There is a wallet which allows running a public LN node on an Android smartphone. The wallet is called OBWallet (OBAndroid), and here is a guide of how to use it: https://medium.com/@h823654649/how-to-use-obwallet-a-step-by-step-guide-54f1c204ecd6

The APK file is in their Github: https://github.com/omnilaboratory/OBAndroid/releases
I downloaded it and tried to open some channels. But when I press “Create” (to create a channel), I always get an error: “Sorry, the program encountered an exception and is about to exit”.

I tried two versions: 0.1.5 and 0.1.3.
I used them on two smartphones: Pixel 5a and Honor 9.
I tested both mainnet and testnet.
There is the same issue in all the cases.

But I don’t see any report on this issue in their Github. Maybe, the wallet works well, and I do something wrong?

Has anyone a successful experience of using this wallet?

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[BitMaxz]

I never heard of this wallet before this is the first time that I heard of this wallet except for Omnibolts it seems they already have many users.

What I think is your two devices are not supported yet which is why you get that error.

Have you tried to report the issue on their repo or discord channel?

[internetional]

I’ve tried yet another device. Same error.

I’ve reported this in their repo. But it’s so strange that nobody did it before! The wallet looks very attractive. It even supports USDT transfers via lightning channels. This is probably the unique wallet which can do this. Why don’t people use it?

[joniboini]

As far as I can tell, the app is still in developer beta, so I guess they don't really test it on other devices. They stated that the app should support Android 8+ 64 bits but I wouldn't be surprised if there are other limitations. It's really hard to tell why either since the error doesn't mention any reasons. Maybe you can try to log the error manually and see why it crashes?

There is no publicity either so it's not surprising that nobody knows or uses it. I'd rather wait until they release it publicly before trying to use them.

[Findingnemo]

I installed their v0.1.5 APK and was surprised that they are asking for permissions to Manage your calls and access to all the media which doesn't seems right. Has anyone had the same experience?

So obviously I stopped at that point and uninstalled it so OP make sure that you are not doing anything wrong by installing their app.

       

[internetional]

Yes, the app uses a lot of storage space (almost 1 GB). Actually, I don’t know why it need this space.

Now I tried to revoke the permission to manage phone calls. The app still runs as usual, the error is still present.

[logfiles]

The app is still very buggy

I downloaded it and I got exactly this issue - https://github.com/omnilaboratory/OBAndroid/issues/68, Actually it's similar to yours mine would crash right after trying to enter the BTC amount but yet they claim they resolved it.

[dkbit98]

I never heard about ONWallet and after checking out their github page I wouldn't use it for anything more than for testing.
It's interesting they are working on DEX inside wallet, and they support other assets, but they don't have their own website and only three contributors are working on this project.
btw I think this is all based in China...

[joniboini]

I installed their v0.1.5 APK and was surprised that they are asking for permissions to Manage your calls and access to all the media which doesn't seems right. Has anyone had the same experience?

I can see why they request media permission if they need to create or access some hidden folders or something similar, but phone call permission is suspicious as heck. If this is still present on their final build, I'd suggest not using them at all. I don't recall other apps requesting similar permissions just to create and open a wallet.

[Findingnemo]

I installed their v0.1.5 APK and was surprised that they are asking for permissions to Manage your calls and access to all the media which doesn't seems right. Has anyone had the same experience?

I can see why they request media permission if they need to create or access some hidden folders or something similar, but phone call permission is suspicious as heck. If this is still present on their final build, I'd suggest not using them at all. I don't recall other apps requesting similar permissions just to create and open a wallet.

Let's compare it with the electrum android wallet which only seeks camera access to scam the QR code while sending BTC to an address apart from that there is no permissions will be asked and we all know how reputable the electrum wallet service so this difference itself can differentiate which one should be used.

[internetional]

Now I tried to revoke the permission to manage phone calls. The app still runs as usual, the error is still present.

No, probably, I err. Today I restarted the app, and it crashed without this permission.

Yes, it’s really weird idea for a wallet to manage phone calls.

[yudi09]

-snip-

But I don’t see any report on this issue in their Github. Maybe, the wallet works well, and I do something wrong?

Has anyone a successful experience of using this wallet?

How about leaving the OBAndroid wallet alone as there is something different from most other wallets including their own website.
I've searched the play store but the application called the wallet doesn't come out. In Google search, there are also no results when I enter the keyword name of the wallet you mean.

I don't dare to test on android with apk files like this because some kind of walware can happen.

[joniboini]

I've searched the play store but the application called the wallet doesn't come out. In Google search, there are also no results when I enter the keyword name of the wallet you mean.

That is not surprising since the app is still in development. They'll probably list it after doing some beta tests if that ever comes. If you want to check them out see the link shared by OP and build the app yourself.

Yes, it’s really weird idea for a wallet to manage phone calls.

Maybe you can report it on their GitHub too. Who knows, maybe the app only meed the file access permission but it got mixed with phone calls management permission on the code. If they don't respond though, I believe it is better to leave it and use other apps.

[logfiles]

No, probably, I err. Today I restarted the app, and it crashed without this permission.

Yes, it’s really weird idea for a wallet to manage phone calls.

The same thing happened when I refused to grant the app permissions to manage phone calls. It would crash upon starting it up. And then they have some weird Chinese prompt that would come up, and I didn't even understand it.

The reason for the huge space it occupies is there is some data it downloads into the device. I uninstalled the app shortly after. It's now worth the risk at the moment.

I've searched the play store but the application called the wallet doesn't come out. In Google search, there are also no results when I enter the keyword name of the wallet you mean.

Because they probably haven't listed it in playstore yet.

[yudi09]

I've searched the play store but the application called the wallet doesn't come out. In Google search, there are also no results when I enter the keyword name of the wallet you mean.

That is not surprising since the app is still in development. They'll probably list it after doing some beta tests if that ever comes. If you want to check them out see the link shared by OP and build the app yourself.

You are right joniboini.
For those of us who have often found applications under development it is not surprising, but for those who are still not used to it it will be surprising when doing a search in the Play Store.

I've searched the play store but the application called the wallet doesn't come out. In Google search, there are also no results when I enter the keyword name of the wallet you mean.

Because they probably haven't listed it in playstore yet.

Correct logfiles. As it is still in development stage so they haven't listed it in play store yet.
If it's a new wallet and requires a large amount of storage space, I won't necessarily try to use it because there are still many wallet choices that have proven good ratings.

[internetional]

It’s not so easy to find a good wallet.

My first LN wallet was Muun. But many services do not pay its invoices because of very high routing fees.
Then I tried to use Blixt. Initially, it was awesome. But for the last months, it cannot found a route for any transfer of more than 10K sats. I don’t know why. Previously, I sent even 10M sats from it, and everything ran smoothly.
The same case with Phoenix.

So I am looking for a wallet where I could with one or two clicks have two channels opened to two different nodes, for better routing. All other wallets require quite complicated actions for such a configuration. OBWallet looks most promising. But it does not work as planned, yet.

[joniboini]

So I am looking for a wallet where I could with one or two clicks have two channels opened to two different nodes, for better routing. All other wallets require quite complicated actions for such a configuration. OBWallet looks most promising. But it does not work as planned, yet.

I guess you can make a new thread asking for suggestions if you still don't find them in the near future. I'd suggest you avoid experimental wallets even if offers features that you need since it is very risky to use them. But I guess that's not a problem if you know what you're doing.

Btw, if two wallets or more have some trouble with rerouting nodes, maybe it was caused by the network condition and not the wallet itself? Unless both of them use the same source code with little to no changes.