Smartphones & Bitcoin

[foggyb]

+1 on the Samsung Galaxy SII:

1. Awesome screen. (size is perfect for me, bigger than iphone)
2. Great battery life. I use it hard (high-res gaming, video) and it lasts nearly all day.
3. Tough beast. Dropped mine on gravel while riding my bike. Not a mark on it with just a silicon skin + screen protector.
4. Very popular, there will be are tons of accessories for it.
5. Great camera.
6. Fast.
7. Super thin and not heavy.
8. Android rules.

[PinkBatman]

I love my Galaxy Nexus. Took me about 2 months to decide on the phone and couldn't be happier. To me the GSII is a slightly better phone, but I am a fan of the GNex design. I have compared it to my friends iphones (cdma) and what stands out most is the iphones small dull display (even with the retina display) and large weight.

[DeathAndTaxes]

Your Walmart Tracphone is likely piggybacking off Sprint's CDMA network, so you might want to consider Sprint also.

This.  Now data might be a little different than voice but since you report good signal quality on the Walmart special Sprint is likely your best bet.

[cbeast]

Please specify "android devices"

Since you are speaking about iphone, i expect that the android device is the Galaxy S2 or an equivalent. And sorry but the GS2 is better than the iphone

Sure, there are some 200$ android devices that sucks, it's true, but ehi they are cheap. You can't compare a 600$ iphone with a 200$ android.

What does 20 megapixel multiple cameras, high resolution display, and a mr fancy pants logo got to do with running a ledger app? Apples are over-priced electronics for fashion-conscious hipsters.

[kjlimo]

I'm cheap and never got a smart phone until last December.  When I did, I found the most cost effective option for me was to get a Virgin Mobile phone & plan.

They have a 1,200 minute plan with unlimited (now I think it's limited to 2GB) data & text for $45 per month.   And there's no contract.

The phone cost me $100 on Black Friday.  I bought an LG Optimus Slider because I wasn't ready to give up a keyboard for the typing on screen 100%.  I like my keyboard.  The phone is definitely an older model (like 1 year old) and only has a 3.2 inch screen.

Hope this is helpful if you're looking for a bargain...

If you want flashy new phone, I think that'll cost you on average around $600 over two years for a Verizon latest & greatest phone plus the extra higher monthly bill.

[vampire]

Apples are over-priced electronics for fashion-conscious hipsters.

Not really. My iphone 4 was $200 a year ago with 2 year plan. My galaxy tab was 600, which is worth what 50 now?

Yea, I can still sell my iphone 1 for over 50.

[Gabi]

Please specify "android devices"

Since you are speaking about iphone, i expect that the android device is the Galaxy S2 or an equivalent. And sorry but the GS2 is better than the iphone

Sure, there are some 200$ android devices that sucks, it's true, but ehi they are cheap. You can't compare a 600$ iphone with a 200$ android.

What does 20 megapixel multiple cameras, high resolution display, and a mr fancy pants logo got to do with running a ledger app? Apples are over-priced electronics for fashion-conscious hipsters.

Couldn't say that better. At the very least get android over the iphone. Still though. My preference is WebOS-->Android-->Wp7-->Apple

I was suggesting the GS2 in my post 
iFail is crap, "blablabla retina display"->a normal lcd display wich disappear when compared to an AMOLED display

[kangasbros]

Couldn't say that better. At the very least get android over the iphone. Still though. My preference is WebOS-->Android-->Wp7-->Apple

I don't really get why the hate. In my experience, Apple devices have always had superior usage time compared to other mobiles. Of course the software is locked etc.

But really, windows phone? You really recommend that over Apple? OK, I think you have something personal against apple devices...

[ThomasV]

Of course the software is locked etc.

with locked software you will never be able to use a real wallet on your phone.
you will need to trust a web-based wallet service.

[davout]

with locked software you will never be able to use a real wallet on your phone.
you will need to trust a web-based wallet service.

Well, there is FriendlyPay and BitPak that are available for the iPhone

[ThomasV]

with locked software you will never be able to use a real wallet on your phone.
you will need to trust a web-based wallet service.

Well, there is FriendlyPay and BitPak that are available for the iPhone

ok, I did not know about Bitpak.

FriendlyPay uses Instawallet, according to their website.
does that mean it runs javascript from the web, or does it have its own crypto module?

[davout]

ok, I did not know about Bitpak.

FriendlyPay uses Instawallet, according to their website.
does that mean it runs javascript from the web, or does it have its own crypto module?

I wouldn't recommend BitPak, it downloads the full blockchain, therefore it requires lots of time to initialize and storage to store the chain.
FriendlyPay sits on Instawallet, it uses the documented API, so it doesn't need to do any crypto.

Instawallet is being rewritten from scratch, currently it can be very slow (it relies too much on the bitcoin client which isn't able to handle multiple requests concurrently).

In a few days, when the new Instawallet is live FriendlyPay will probably be the best option for anyone looking for a simple wallet for a non-jailbroken iPhone.

Disclaimer : I'm now the lead developer for Instawallet, and I know the person who wrote FriendlyPay

[kangasbros]

ok, I did not know about Bitpak.

FriendlyPay uses Instawallet, according to their website.
does that mean it runs javascript from the web, or does it have its own crypto module?

I do not recommend BitPak to anyone - while I appreciate that people are developing these clients, people are reporting block chain download times like 2 weeks with BitPak. Recommending it is a surefire way to get people to hate bitcoin.

If FriendlyPay uses instawallet, it probably doesn't have its own crypto module. It is just a front-end to instawallet. And it doesn't allow sending.

Have to advertise my own service easywallet.org here - if you add it as a bookmark to your iPhone & install the QR Code scanner app (http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/barcodes-scanner/id417257150?mt=8), you can send bitcoins back and forth using QR codes. Almost like a native app.

And then there is blockchain.info app, which I haven't tested extensively yet.

[davout]

If FriendlyPay uses instawallet, it probably doesn't have its own crypto module. It is just a front-end to instawallet. And it doesn't allow sending.

It does allow sending coins, without the need of an external QR code reader

[kangasbros]

If FriendlyPay uses instawallet, it probably doesn't have its own crypto module. It is just a front-end to instawallet. And it doesn't allow sending.

It does allow sending coins, without the need of an external QR code reader

Well, I misunderstood the app description (http://itunes.apple.com/de/app/friendlypay/id473941791?mt=8)

Perhaps they should advertise the sending functionality a little better, because if you read the test you understand from it that the app is only for receiving...

[davout]

Perhaps they should advertise the sending functionality a little better, because if you read the test you understand from it that the app is only for receiving...

That is correct

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I appreciate the mentions on the various Bitcoin apps as well.

I wouldn't recommend BitPak, it downloads the full blockchain, therefore it requires lots of time to initialize and storage to store the chain.

Are you saying that the whole blockchain is then stored on the phone as an app?

in re. phone choices:

I have nothing against Apple, but will probably lean towards a Windows based OS.

I'm currently leaning toward the Samsung Galaxy S2.

That said, which carrier options should I consider and which ones should I stay away from?

Please continue the discussion on the various Bitcoin apps as well.

Thank you, all, who've contributed to this thread, to date.

~Bruno~

[blueadept]

I have a Nexus S 4G on Sprint and love it. It has NFC and as of last week, Ice Cream Sandwich. My only complaint is the lack of physical keyboard (soft is OK for some things but SSH works best with a physical keyboard). It also has no SD card slot but that's not a huge deal to me because I don't store lots of media so the 16G internal USB storage is fine for me.

[davout]

Are you saying that the whole blockchain is then stored on the phone as an app?

The blockchain gets recorded in a per-app storage space which is IMO sub-optimal.

This leaves three types of possible wallets :
 - full bitcoin node like BitPak (requires lots of storage, lots of connectivity, IMO a bad option)
 - key-storage on the device like blockchain.info (good option if you're serious about backups and know what you're doing)
 - hosted wallet like Paytunia (in beta), FriendlyPay (good option if you want to take advantage of automatic backups and cold-storage, spend limits, push notifications, automatic green address sends, much better integration into exchanges etc.)

I don't think that any of the two last approaches is inherently better than the other, they just address different use-cases and targets. I think blockchain.info is preferable for advanced or technically literate users who don't mind taking care of their own security, while the hosted wallet approach better addresses everyday payments use cases and regular users. Both approaches are best suited for moderate amounts IMO.

[ThomasV]

This leaves three types of possible wallets :
 - full bitcoin node like BitPak (requires lots of storage, lots of connectivity, IMO a bad option)
 - key-storage on the device like blockchain.info (good option if you're serious about backups and know what you're doing)
 - hosted wallet like Paytunia (in beta), FriendlyPay (good option if you want to take advantage of automatic backups and cold-storage, spend limits, push notifications, automatic green address sends, much better integration into exchanges etc.)

you forgot to mention Electrum: http://ecdsa.org/electrum/android.html
transactions are signed on the device, but you do not need to do any backups, because it is a deterministic wallet.
in addition, if they use the same seed, the wallet on your android phone is automatically synchronized with your desktop wallet.

more info here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=75617.0;topicseen