‘Decentralized’ Bitcoin Wallet is available in iOS

[H.W.Z]

iOS Users Get First ‘Decentralized’ Bitcoin Wallet with Breadwallet
Apple's iPhone is so popular and have massive shares in smart phone market. Once its new products are launched, they will always grab a lot of attentions. The iPhone users will be happy to welcome this bitcoin wallet. The apps will increase the usability and convenience for bitcoin users, facilitate bitcoin adopted by masses quickly. Does it impact the use of apple pay? What do you think about this?   
http://www.coindesk.com/ios-users-get-first-decentralized-bitcoin-wallet-breadwallet/

[1715197937]

1715197937

[p2pbucks]

lol .. ‘hierarchical deterministic ' wallet is surely decentralized  
 

[bg002h]

lol .. ‘hierarchical deterministic ' wallet is surely decentralized  
 

It's the SPV implementation that is being referred to as decentralized.

[lightningmccoin]

Who are using this breadwallet thing? Is it ok? Any experience or what?

[Bunk]

I use it and it's my favorite so far for ios.  Great, simple interface.  Connects directly to the blockchain.  It even gives warnings for screenshots taken.  
It's also now listed as a wallet choice on bitcoin.org

[john641]

Will other units be supported in the app in the future besides just bits? Not that bits are all that confusing but most are now used to the standard 'bitcoins" unit.

[wallpaperwallet]

I have all the iOS wallets installed and have gravitated towards bread wallet. It's my favorite for many reasons and it's the one I recommend to new users. I hadn't heard anything about bread wallet until this article so it was nice to see someone else condone it.

[kingcoin111]

So anyone here used the breadwallet app already?

[voisine]

I'm the author of breadwallet, and also co-author of BIP39 and I took over maintenance of BIP38.

The word I've been using to describe it is 'standalone', but the coin desk writer went with the way that bitcoin.org describes such wallets, 'decentralized'.

I believe it's the only wallet out there now that is both BIP32 HD, and BIP37 SPV... someone correct me if I missed another. All the other mobile SPV wallets are based on bitcoinj which I don't think has BIP32 quite implemented yet, though it's getting close.

I designed breadwallet to be the most secure wallet out there. The iOS security model provides good protection against malware (you would need a remote jailbreak exploit for malware to steal your keys), and also all devices are hardware AES encrypted by default, so it's reasonably secure even in the event of physical theft. Web and desktop wallets are of course wide open to malware, and although android is better, it still has a serious malware problem, most devices don't receive timely security updates, and almost no one has android filesystem encryption turned on to protect from physical theft. Of those that do, many devices don't have hardware backed encryption, so the encryption is only as strong as the typically weak passwords people choose for unlocking their phones.

breadwallet also supports bip38 key import, bip70 payment protocol, and is open source. I'm pleased to say it's now listed on bitcoin.org "choose your wallet"

[voisine]

Will other units be supported in the app in the future besides just bits? Not that bits are all that confusing but most are now used to the standard 'bitcoins" unit.

I really feel it's important for the community to move together to the new standard. It's only old time bitcoiners who are attached to the bitcoin denomination, but eight decimal places will horribly confuse new comers who expect to see two like nearly every other currency on the planet uses.

[juju]

I'm the author of breadwallet, and also co-author of BIP39 and I took over maintenance of BIP38.

The word I've been using to describe it is 'standalone', but the coin desk writer went with the way that bitcoin.org describes such wallets, 'decentralized'.

I believe it's the only wallet out there now that is both BIP32 HD, and BIP37 SPV... someone correct me if I missed another. All the other mobile SPV wallets are based on bitcoinj which I don't think has BIP32 quite implemented yet, though it's getting close.

I designed breadwallet to be the most secure wallet out there. The iOS security model provides good protection against malware (you would need a remote jailbreak exploit for malware to steal your keys), and also all devices are hardware AES encrypted by default, so it's reasonably secure even in the event of physical theft. Web and desktop wallets are of course wide open to malware, and although android is better, it still has a serious malware problem, most devices don't receive timely security updates, and almost no one has android filesystem encryption turned on to protect from physical theft. Of those that do, many devices don't have hardware backed encryption, so the encryption is only as strong as the typically weak passwords people choose for unlocking their phones.

breadwallet also supports bip38 key import, bip70 payment protocol, and is open source. I'm pleased to say it's now listed on bitcoin.org "choose your wallet"

Thank's for all the hardwork! I downloaded the wallet and have been messing around with it on one of my iPhones.

While I have your ear, you ever consider implementing a name service for the wallet to map the addresses to friendly words? https://rushwallet.com/ currently uses:
 http://opennamesystem.org/
https://github.com/opennamesystem/openspecs
https://onename.io/

In essence you register the usernames u/ on the namecoin blockchain and associate some type of JSON data with the username containing information about the user, payment address etc. I see correlations with this type of service and DNS we use to map ip's to names.

I gave it a 5 Star rating

[voisine]

Thank's for all the hardwork! I downloaded the wallet and have been messing around with it on one of my iPhones.

While I have your ear, you ever consider implementing a name service for the wallet to map the addresses to friendly words? https://rushwallet.com/ currently uses:
 http://opennamesystem.org/
https://github.com/opennamesystem/openspecs
https://onename.io/

In essence you register the usernames u/ on the namecoin blockchain and associate some type of JSON data with the username containing information about the user, payment address etc. I see correlations with this type of service and DNS we use to map ip's to names.

I gave it a 5 Star rating

I'm glad you like it.

I definitely would like to make it easier to pay people in an address book, or some more user friendly identifier than a bitcoin address. Users shouldn't have to see or care about bitcoin addresses anymore than they see or care about IP addresses, however it can't be implemented in a way that encourages address re-use. There is a strong use case for fixed addresses, but it needs to be done using something like stealth addresses to protect financial privacy and not have funds kept on addresses who's pubkey is exposed.

[Fidel Crypto]

Thank's for all the hardwork! I downloaded the wallet and have been messing around with it on one of my iPhones.

While I have your ear, you ever consider implementing a name service for the wallet to map the addresses to friendly words? https://rushwallet.com/ currently uses:
 http://opennamesystem.org/
https://github.com/opennamesystem/openspecs
https://onename.io/

In essence you register the usernames u/ on the namecoin blockchain and associate some type of JSON data with the username containing information about the user, payment address etc. I see correlations with this type of service and DNS we use to map ip's to names.

I gave it a 5 Star rating

I'm glad you like it.

I definitely would like to make it easier to pay people in an address book, or some more user friendly identifier than a bitcoin address. Users shouldn't have to see or care about bitcoin addresses anymore than they see or care about IP addresses, however it can't be implemented in a way that encourages address re-use. There is a strong use case for fixed addresses, but it needs to be done using something like stealth addresses to protect financial privacy and not have funds kept on addresses who's pubkey is exposed.

just curious, how long did the request take to get added on the app store?

[voisine]

App review typically takes about a week

[fryarminer]

Is there a way to back up the wallet, in case the phone falls in a lake or something?

[e4xit]

Is there a way to back up the wallet, in case the phone falls in a lake or something?

Yes, backup is via BIP39, which I believe was co-authored by the creator of this app and the creator(s) of Trezor (mainly), Adam and Slush/Stick.

[voisine]

Is there a way to back up the wallet, in case the phone falls in a lake or something?

Yes, backup is via BIP39, which I believe was co-authored by the creator of this app and the creator(s) of Trezor (mainly), Adam and Slush/Stick.

Yep, my contribution to BIP39 was the wordlist and the checksum scheme.

[ArticMine]

I would not let a single satoshi, belonging to me, anywhere near an operating system released by Apple. Please see my following post as to why. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=796585.msg8971859#msg8971859

[voisine]

I would not let a single satoshi, belonging to me, anywhere near an operating system released by Apple. Please see my following post as to why. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=796585.msg8971859#msg8971859

That's a very short sighted position to take. When it comes to mobile devices, the two popular options are Android and iOS. iOS devices are all hardware AES encrypted by default, and have a much stronger security model than Android with regard to malware. Avoiding apple based on a single criteria like non-use of GPLv3 code doesn't take the entire security picture into account.

If you're interested in learning about the actual details of security measures employed by iOS, I recommend reading the white paper: https://www.apple.com/privacy/docs/iOS_Security_Guide_Sept_2014.pdf

Here's an article that offers some opinions of security researchers with regard to iOS security measures if you're not in a position to evaluate them yourself:
http://www.networkworld.com/article/2174973/smartphones/apple-reveals-unprecedented-details-in-ios-security.html

[ArticMine]

I would not let a single satoshi, belonging to me, anywhere near an operating system released by Apple. Please see my following post as to why. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=796585.msg8971859#msg8971859

That's a very short sighted position to take. When it comes to mobile devices, the two popular options are Android and iOS. iOS devices are all hardware AES encrypted by default, and have a much stronger security model than Android with regard to malware. Avoiding apple based on a single criteria like non-use of GPLv3 code doesn't take the entire security picture into account.

If you're interested in learning about the actual details of security measures employed by iOS, I recommend reading the white paper: https://www.apple.com/privacy/docs/iOS_Security_Guide_Sept_2014.pdf

Here's an article that offers some opinions of security researchers with regard to iOS security measures if you're not in a position to evaluate them yourself:
http://www.networkworld.com/article/2174973/smartphones/apple-reveals-unprecedented-details-in-ios-security.html

Yes, I have read the paper. There is really nothing new here. The entire security model is designed to lock out the end owner from their own device (the DRM / telescreen in 1984 application) rather than protect the end owner's data. However unlike Windows 8.x RT where no permanent jailbreak has been released every version of IOS up to IOS 7 has been jailbroken, It is also only a matter of time until IOS 8 gets jailbroken.  The fact that IOS can be jailbroken negates the entire security model in the white paper. Microsoft with Windows 8.x RT beats Apple hands down when it comes to implementing the telescreens in 1984. We must keep in mind that any security then owner of the device may enjoy is dependent on: 1) The broken DRM / telescreen in 1984 application. 2) The insecure Apple iCloud (This was aptly demonstrated in the "nude selfie" exploit). 3) A fair amount of security theatre. A good example of the latter is the use of fingerprint security on a mobile device. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/23/iphone_6_still_vulnerable_to_touchid_fingerprint_hack/. I mean really: How many iPhone users leave their fingerprints on their Apple's iPhones?

The latest case regarding the use of 7  year old GNU software is classic Apple. Both my Ubuntu and CentOS GNU/Linux systems are now fully patched against the vulnerability, while Apple has yet to issue a patch! What Apple has released instead is classic corporate spin of the worst kind claiming that IOS users are not vulnerable because they do not have access to the shell. As if root access was a requirement for the exploit. Ever wonder why the US Secret Service does not allow President Obama to have an iPhone? He got a Blackberry instead. Or why Edward Snowden stated that IOS devices were the easiest for the NSA to break into? Android can be hardened, by a user with root. GNU/linux is really easy to secure by the end user. For those wishing a propriety solution Blackberry and yes even Microsoft does a far better job.

I still stand by my statement that I would not let a single satoshi, belonging to me, anywhere near an operating system released by Apple.

Edit: Corrected their to Apple, since many peoples implicit definition of ownership also involves control.