Z Wallet iOS Effort Discontinued

Ecosystem Updates Zcash Foundation
1

Yep, this is a bummer. I copy-pasted the text of the blog post below.

In November, 2018, the Zcash Foundation announced that XMR Systems, known for its iOS app X Wallet, would be developing an iOS reference wallet for Zcash (tentatively titled Z Wallet). Our priorities for the new app: Shielded-first, open-source, and user-friendly.

We’re ready to share the results of that partnership.

XMR Systems has designed a simple, intuitive, and beautiful user interface. It was implemented using Apple’s native Swift programming language, to ensure a fantastic user experience.

Unfortunately, one key piece of this wallet is missing: A specialized library for constructing shielded transactions directly on your iOS device. That library isn’t ready for production yet.

We could have compromised the quality of the wallet, but that would have meant sacrificing the accessibility and privacy properties that made the project so exciting and special.

Instead, the Zcash Foundation and XMR Systems have jointly decided to close the project. Since the release of Sapling, Zcash has made tremendous efficiency improvements, but mobile wallets remain a unique challenge.

The Zcash Foundation and XMR Systems are publicly releasing the Swift code for Z Wallet, as well as the user interface assets. The code is available in the GitHub repo under the MIT license. We hope that it will help future Zcash wallet developers.

Zwallet Screenshot 1
Zwallet Screenshot 11125×2436 384 KB

The Zcash Foundation recognizes the importance of first-class mobile options for Zcash users, and intends to undertake or fund iOS wallet development again in the future.

2 Likes
2

Sad to hear this … :frowning:
But why not on hold instead of discontinued/abandoned until that library is out?
It sounds like that library is very far away from being developed. Is it so?

3

ZCF put the code publicly hoping someone would volunteer and create it , then release it, and it cost them no more than what they put into it. It called unpaid crowdsourcing.

1 Like
4

I don’t think so … that’s not what the end of the post says. I think this iOS library is something like the ECC can develop, but not ready yet …

5

It states that it is available in GitHub under the MIT license Click here to read what that is. = unpaid crowdsourcing.

6

@den
XMR Systems has other obligations, so the firm couldn’t focus on a lagging project indefinitely. The contract had already extended beyond its original timeline.

@CitricAcid
On principle, the Foundation open-sources all of its code, in adherence to our mission and values. We’re not expecting anyone to pick up this project and finish it without getting paid (because that would be a highly unrealistic expectation). However, if someone wants to pick up the project, or if someone is interested in XMR Systems’ approach, now the codebase is available for them to use or explore. There’s no downside, from our perspective.

As we said at the end, we still want a Zcash iOS wallet. I can attest that @acityinohio is willing to dedicate significant funds to the project. We’re working out next steps for proceeding, although we don’t have a public plan or timeline yet.

4 Likes
7

The only way anyone would ever get paid if they picked it up would be to submit a grant proposal and it was accepted.
I was here when someone who was maintaining the ONLY windows wallet needed funds and how that turned out. then again its for IOS, and 80% of the world uses android… Wait not the blackpill thread,…

1 Like
8

To be clear, I think your skepticism is fair. Institutions need to be held accountable (and the Zcash Foundation is an institution, albeit still a fairly new one). Hence why I like having you, @boxalex, and other critics in this community.

I don’t always agree with you — although sometimes I do! — but it’s good for ZF to listen to people who don’t necessarily trust us. After all, trust is earned; it’s our job to demonstrate that we can effectively advocate for Zcash users’ interests. Maybe we’ll never convince you, but the effort is worthwhile.

Sometimes I can’t fully address your concerns due to confidentiality obligations (usually with respect to third parties’ privacy). But even then, knowing what your concerns are is useful, so I appreciate that you share them here.

6 Likes
9

I’m very interested in an iOS wallet w/ support for shielded transactions. This announcement makes it sound like someone (ECC?) is actively working on this library - is this correct?

Is there more to this than porting the existing code which works on macOS to iOS?

1 Like
10

Welcome for the forums @quid

Where is this in the GitHub? I mean, I have taken a brief look over it and all I can really see is UI stuff.

Is the not production ready library there and I am just missing it? Is there a document that explains what is missing?

Is getting it working on a jailbroken device enough? The time and resources to get it through the app store is not something an individual cant realistically undertake when you want to add crypto functionality.

Lowering the bar and putting a minimum bounty on it would hopefully get more interest. I think I understand what the issue(s) are, and to be fair they are non trivial to get working on a jailbroken device. - But I am just guessing until I can find the library with the problems and start to see why there are issues.

I don’t thinkso. it is more a statement of intent. That they will put out a zaddr wallet and they are currently offering funding for the work. If this doesn’t work, when the limitations have been overcome, they will make one themselves. It all really depends on what the problem is. I think its is likely to be getting crypto apple cant control onto the device and some hardware limitations of the way the iPhone handles internal data structures. (but I could be way off base here)

11

IIRC it was lightwalletd: GitHub - zcash/lightwalletd: Lightwalletd is a backend service that provides a bandwidth-efficient interface to the Zcash blockchain cc @quid

@daira @str4d can you fill in more details here?

1 Like
12

lightwalletd is the server that an iOS light client would connect to, same as with Android. It doesn’t require any iOS-specific modifications (assuming that gRPC works on iOS; otherwise lightwalletd will require an alternate frontend API for iOS clients).

The piece that is incomplete is the iOS light client Framework/Kit which wraps the common Rust internals in an iOS-friendly API, handles iOS-specific networking and runtime management, etc (the iOS equivalent of the Android SDK). I’m currently doing low-level work on this (focusing on the Rust-iOS wrapping and integration), and ECC is hiring an iOS engineer to develop the overall library.

5 Likes
13

Thanks for the clarity @str4d. Is the iOS light client Framework/kit something I can follow along with / contribute to on GH?

1 Like