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Build it with me: Bitcoin wallet for Mac

50 points by niico 13y ago

deleted 13y ago
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deleted 13y ago
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nwh 13y ago
I'm struggling to feel enthusiastic about this one, it seems to be designed more to just do something with Bitcoin, rather than provide any actual innovation.
- pazimzadeh 13y ago
  Really? I don't know of any bitcoin wallets that are really great to use. I hope that this app or another one can do to Bitcoin what Transmit did to FTP (http://panic.com/transmit/ http://panic.com/transmit/) or the Github native app did to Git (http://mac.github.com/ http://mac.github.com/).
  - ianlevesque 13y ago
    Yeah I'm not a big fan of this particular design, but putting together a polished and featureful alternative that uses the real bitcoind behind the scenes is definitely an opportunity.
  - garretruh 13y ago
    Do people really prefer graphical git over the command line? I'm honestly curious. FTP with a GUI I get, but it doesn't seem like git lends itself as well to such a UI.
    - ianlevesque 13y ago
      Yeah Transmit is awesome (as is Cyberduck), but for git all you need is to enable color on the CLI.
    - immy 13y ago
      yup, sure do - for one use case. reviewing diffs and choosing what files/lines to commit. GitX.
    - pazimzadeh 13y ago
      I'm not that technical, so the GUI really helped me get started. Having one Sync button is useful because you don't have to remember to pull before you push. The Github app is actually not my favorite Git GUI, Gitbox is (http://gitboxapp.com/ http://gitboxapp.com/).
    - ChrisClark 13y ago
      I found a gut GUI was good for me as a beginner, it was a stepping stone to using it on the command line. I was so stuck in a Subversion mindset that I needed something visual to work with first. But now I use it on the command line all the time.
    - quantumpotato_ 13y ago
      I love gitx for Mac [0]. Shows list of all files changed. Click the file and each consecutive line of change is shown above. You can stage individual blocks. Plus it's much easier (for me) to shift-click a few files than git add path_to/file_changed N times. [0]http://gitx.frim.nl/ http://gitx.frim.nl/
jbaudanza 13y ago
Maybe throw the code up on github?
jethroalias97 13y ago
I expect people would be reluctant to use a client not sanctioned by bitcoin.org officially, although I'm not sure how difficult that is. It may be as simple as sending an email to get them to add it to the list. I would think that any new bitcoin wallet could be introducing a substantial security risk before it has been extensively field tested. If someone where to sneak some code in, or even just screw up a security protocol, all the stored bitcoins would be at risk. 1) http://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet http://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet 2) https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Wallet https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Wallet
- nwh 13y ago
  If this were a real client, it would be an interface to bitcoind rather than a replacement.
  - achalkley 13y ago
    Right. I've been working on an RPC client for iPhone.
    - ianlevesque 13y ago
      That's awesome, I've been working on a native Cocoa one for OS X.
      - deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
gesman 13y ago
I agree with you that most bitcoin wallets are either look ugly or are hackable online wallets maintained by third party. Among all I tried I like Electrum the most for it's speed and it's deterministic nature, i.e. the whole wallet can be fully recovered from passphrase, instead of regular backups.
- niico 13y ago
  Im glad we are on the same page. Ideally I would love to build a full suite where you can see and control everything from one app. Iterations from the basic wallet are pretty much unlimited.
msarnoff 13y ago
If you do decide to build this app, I would highly recommend making it open-source. Properly building a custom-skinned OS X app is not easy. Compared to UIKit on iOS, which was built from the ground up to support animation and appearance customization, AppKit is a dinosaur. When subclassing controls, you'll encounter AppKit bugs, things that can't be skinned without overriding private methods, and inconsistencies between OS versions. The animation APIs are woefully inadequate, especially if you need to support 10.7 or 10.6. (over two-thirds of the install base as of January, according to [1]) If done well, the source code would be a valuable resource to the Mac developer community. Custom-styled desktop experiences are becoming the new norm, yet building them remains somewhat of a black art. [1] http://www.cultofmac.com/208455/os-x-mountain-lion-now-accounts-for-32-of-mac-web-traffic/ http://www.cultofmac.com/208455/os-x-mountain-lion-now-accou...
- nwh 13y ago
  There's also no way that anyone from the Bitcoin community would want to use a closed-source wallet.
  - ianlevesque 13y ago
    Yeah it has to be open source. Accept donations in bitcoins.
    - rhoua 13y ago
      Or sell it. People COULD just compile it themselves, but they won't. Free software != $0 price tag :)
- niico 13y ago
  Yeah, that's why Im looking for someone to build it with me ;)
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
question-all 13y ago
Are there no existing mac bitcoin wallets?
- ianlevesque 13y ago
  Most of the major ones work just fine on OS X: bitcoin-qt, armory, electrum, multibit. They just don't provide a great user experience.
  - samweinberg 13y ago
    I wouldn't say Armory works fine on OS X. In fact, it's a bit of a hassle to set up. From their website: >WARNING: This does not work on all OSX systems. We are working hard to expand the compatibility set. If it does not work for you, most users have success from the directions on the Building Armory from Source page. It takes a little bit of effort, but it works!
    - nwh 13y ago
      I didn't have any issue with it. Unpacked the DMG, copied it to the applications folder, started bitcoind and off I went. Hated the program of course, but that's a different kettle of fish,
brvs 13y ago
This will be useful to all the people who buy useful items and do practical things with bitcoins. Thank you!
kmasters 13y ago
There are a lot of issues around bitcoin and seeking to build a pretty interface to it addresses none of them. One of my objections to bitcoin is the suggestion that I use Tor to mask my IP to keep my actual IP from occurring in the blockchain. I think if you are telling users to use Tor to "stay safe" thats a problem already. Second, "balance" information from your wallet is also stored in the blockchain. Thats comforting, an IP address combined with how much bitcoin I possess. We have seen where that ended up more than once. Why not just paint a target on my forehead? Cold storage is one solution to backing up your bitcoin and keeping it offline until needed. Needing to "create a new bitcoin address" for every transaction, also fishy. I would rather someone build a solution to bitcoins defiencies than see a pretty screen.
- vhf 13y ago
  > mask my IP to keep my actual IP from occurring in the blockchain. The blockchain does not store any IP address. > Needing to "create a new bitcoin address" for every transaction, also fishy. Creating a new bitcoin address for every transaction is not recommended and not needed. So no, it's not fishy. On the contrary, having the possibility to generate different address and using one address for one addressee is quite smart and useful.
  - kmasters 13y ago
    From bitcoin.org Bitcoin is not anonymous Some effort is required in order to protect your privacy with Bitcoin. All Bitcoin transactions are stored publicly and permanently on the network, which means anyone can see the balance and transactions of any Bitcoin address. However, the identity of the owner cannot be associated with their Bitcoin address until personal information is revealed by the owner during an exchange. This is why it is recommended for Bitcoin owners to use many different Bitcoin addresses; in fact, you should create a new one each time you receive money. This is especially important for public uses such as websites. You might also want to consider hiding your computer's IP address with a tool like Tor so that it cannot be logged.
    - vhf 13y ago
ianpurton 13y ago
Hi niico, This looks a lot like https://www.strongcoin.com https://www.strongcoin.com but with a dashboard. I will probably add this kind of functionality too. (I own strongcoin) But to build your app, I recommend you take the code for http://carbonwallet.com http://carbonwallet.com which is already available on github and submit a pull request for a dashboard like you have in your post. CarbonWallet is already available as a chrome application, and the logic is tried and tested.
- niico 13y ago
  Thanks, I will definitely take a look at both. Great job btw with Strongcoin

50 points by niico 13y ago

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

nwh 13y ago

I'm struggling to feel enthusiastic about this one, it seems to be designed more to just do something with Bitcoin, rather than provide any actual innovation.

pazimzadeh 13y ago
Really? I don't know of any bitcoin wallets that are really great to use. I hope that this app or another one can do to Bitcoin what Transmit did to FTP (http://panic.com/transmit/ http://panic.com/transmit/) or the Github native app did to Git (http://mac.github.com/ http://mac.github.com/).
- ianlevesque 13y ago
  Yeah I'm not a big fan of this particular design, but putting together a polished and featureful alternative that uses the real bitcoind behind the scenes is definitely an opportunity.
- garretruh 13y ago
  Do people really prefer graphical git over the command line? I'm honestly curious. FTP with a GUI I get, but it doesn't seem like git lends itself as well to such a UI.
  - ianlevesque 13y ago
    Yeah Transmit is awesome (as is Cyberduck), but for git all you need is to enable color on the CLI.
  - immy 13y ago
    yup, sure do - for one use case. reviewing diffs and choosing what files/lines to commit. GitX.
  - pazimzadeh 13y ago
    I'm not that technical, so the GUI really helped me get started. Having one Sync button is useful because you don't have to remember to pull before you push. The Github app is actually not my favorite Git GUI, Gitbox is (http://gitboxapp.com/ http://gitboxapp.com/).
  - ChrisClark 13y ago
    I found a gut GUI was good for me as a beginner, it was a stepping stone to using it on the command line. I was so stuck in a Subversion mindset that I needed something visual to work with first. But now I use it on the command line all the time.
  - quantumpotato_ 13y ago
    I love gitx for Mac [0]. Shows list of all files changed. Click the file and each consecutive line of change is shown above. You can stage individual blocks. Plus it's much easier (for me) to shift-click a few files than git add path_to/file_changed N times. [0]http://gitx.frim.nl/ http://gitx.frim.nl/

jbaudanza 13y ago

Maybe throw the code up on github?

jethroalias97 13y ago

I expect people would be reluctant to use a client not sanctioned by bitcoin.org officially, although I'm not sure how difficult that is. It may be as simple as sending an email to get them to add it to the list. I would think that any new bitcoin wallet could be introducing a substantial security risk before it has been extensively field tested. If someone where to sneak some code in, or even just screw up a security protocol, all the stored bitcoins would be at risk. 1) http://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet http://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet 2) https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Wallet https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Wallet

nwh 13y ago
If this were a real client, it would be an interface to bitcoind rather than a replacement.
- achalkley 13y ago
  Right. I've been working on an RPC client for iPhone.
  - ianlevesque 13y ago
    That's awesome, I've been working on a native Cocoa one for OS X.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]

gesman 13y ago

I agree with you that most bitcoin wallets are either look ugly or are hackable online wallets maintained by third party. Among all I tried I like Electrum the most for it's speed and it's deterministic nature, i.e. the whole wallet can be fully recovered from passphrase, instead of regular backups.

niico 13y ago
Im glad we are on the same page. Ideally I would love to build a full suite where you can see and control everything from one app. Iterations from the basic wallet are pretty much unlimited.

msarnoff 13y ago

If you do decide to build this app, I would highly recommend making it open-source. Properly building a custom-skinned OS X app is not easy. Compared to UIKit on iOS, which was built from the ground up to support animation and appearance customization, AppKit is a dinosaur. When subclassing controls, you'll encounter AppKit bugs, things that can't be skinned without overriding private methods, and inconsistencies between OS versions. The animation APIs are woefully inadequate, especially if you need to support 10.7 or 10.6. (over two-thirds of the install base as of January, according to [1]) If done well, the source code would be a valuable resource to the Mac developer community. Custom-styled desktop experiences are becoming the new norm, yet building them remains somewhat of a black art. [1] http://www.cultofmac.com/208455/os-x-mountain-lion-now-accounts-for-32-of-mac-web-traffic/ http://www.cultofmac.com/208455/os-x-mountain-lion-now-accou...

nwh 13y ago
There's also no way that anyone from the Bitcoin community would want to use a closed-source wallet.
- ianlevesque 13y ago
  Yeah it has to be open source. Accept donations in bitcoins.
  - rhoua 13y ago
    Or sell it. People COULD just compile it themselves, but they won't. Free software != $0 price tag :)
niico 13y ago
Yeah, that's why Im looking for someone to build it with me ;)
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

question-all 13y ago

Are there no existing mac bitcoin wallets?

ianlevesque 13y ago
Most of the major ones work just fine on OS X: bitcoin-qt, armory, electrum, multibit. They just don't provide a great user experience.
- samweinberg 13y ago
  I wouldn't say Armory works fine on OS X. In fact, it's a bit of a hassle to set up. From their website: >WARNING: This does not work on all OSX systems. We are working hard to expand the compatibility set. If it does not work for you, most users have success from the directions on the Building Armory from Source page. It takes a little bit of effort, but it works!
  - nwh 13y ago
    I didn't have any issue with it. Unpacked the DMG, copied it to the applications folder, started bitcoind and off I went. Hated the program of course, but that's a different kettle of fish,

brvs 13y ago

This will be useful to all the people who buy useful items and do practical things with bitcoins. Thank you!

kmasters 13y ago

There are a lot of issues around bitcoin and seeking to build a pretty interface to it addresses none of them. One of my objections to bitcoin is the suggestion that I use Tor to mask my IP to keep my actual IP from occurring in the blockchain. I think if you are telling users to use Tor to "stay safe" thats a problem already. Second, "balance" information from your wallet is also stored in the blockchain. Thats comforting, an IP address combined with how much bitcoin I possess. We have seen where that ended up more than once. Why not just paint a target on my forehead? Cold storage is one solution to backing up your bitcoin and keeping it offline until needed. Needing to "create a new bitcoin address" for every transaction, also fishy. I would rather someone build a solution to bitcoins defiencies than see a pretty screen.

vhf 13y ago
> mask my IP to keep my actual IP from occurring in the blockchain. The blockchain does not store any IP address. > Needing to "create a new bitcoin address" for every transaction, also fishy. Creating a new bitcoin address for every transaction is not recommended and not needed. So no, it's not fishy. On the contrary, having the possibility to generate different address and using one address for one addressee is quite smart and useful.
- kmasters 13y ago
  From bitcoin.org Bitcoin is not anonymous Some effort is required in order to protect your privacy with Bitcoin. All Bitcoin transactions are stored publicly and permanently on the network, which means anyone can see the balance and transactions of any Bitcoin address. However, the identity of the owner cannot be associated with their Bitcoin address until personal information is revealed by the owner during an exchange. This is why it is recommended for Bitcoin owners to use many different Bitcoin addresses; in fact, you should create a new one each time you receive money. This is especially important for public uses such as websites. You might also want to consider hiding your computer's IP address with a tool like Tor so that it cannot be logged.
  - vhf 13y ago

ianpurton 13y ago

Hi niico, This looks a lot like https://www.strongcoin.com https://www.strongcoin.com but with a dashboard. I will probably add this kind of functionality too. (I own strongcoin) But to build your app, I recommend you take the code for http://carbonwallet.com http://carbonwallet.com which is already available on github and submit a pull request for a dashboard like you have in your post. CarbonWallet is already available as a chrome application, and the logic is tried and tested.

niico 13y ago
Thanks, I will definitely take a look at both. Great job btw with Strongcoin