Category Archives: Gliph iPhone App

The State of Bitcoin Mobile Applications in the App Store and Google Play

After seven months of availability, Apple has requested we remove the ability to send Bitcoin from the Gliph app. We have complied in our most recent release, Gliph for iOS 1.85. This blog entry focuses on the state of Bitcoin apps the Apple App Store and Google Play, and what happened to Bitcoin sending in the Gliph app.

What makes a Bitcoin Mobile app?
Most Bitcoin mobile apps include a mix of the following categories:

News and Information about Bitcoin ecosystem (e.g. ZeroBlock)
Market information (e.g. exchange price tickers, currency conversion, etc)
Mobile wallet access (wallet stored on device)
Native front-end controls to a cloud-based wallet (e.g. Gliph, Coinbase or Blockchain.info’s apps)

The most interesting mobile apps for Bitcoin are those that allow you to actually use the currency. Practical use of Bitcoin in mobile apps includes:

Ability to send and receive Bitcoin with QR codes, written wallet addresses or other means. (BTC transfer)
Ability to place buy and sell orders for Bitcoin (BTC trading)

Why is it important for there to be useful Bitcoin Apps
Bitcoin skeptics don’t see the proof-of-work from mining as a good reason for there to be significant value in the currency. Instead, the focus is on whether Bitcoin has value because it is a generally accepted form of payment for goods and services. Continue reading →

New Gliph for iOS 7 Changes Bitcoin Support, Overhauls Design and More

We’re launching a new version of Gliph for iOS 7 today with a raft of updates that make Gliph more useful and easier to use. But first, some important news about Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Updates

We were asked by Apple to remove the ability to send Bitcoin from the iOS app. We fought to keep it in but it was not possible. You can read more about what happened in a special blog entry we wrote about mobile apps in the App Store and Google Play.You can still create wallets, view balances and receive Bitcoin in the Gliph app for iOS send Bitcoin using Gliph on iPhone, using the same interface as before. Just visit https://gli.ph/m when you need to send Bitcoin, and continue using the app for normal push notifications and messaging.
We removed the option to create or attach a wallet from european wallet provider BIPS, which has decided to shutter its consumer-facing Bitcoin wallet service in the wake of a security breach.
Usually, there is cool news about Bitcoin and Gliph but not in this release. Hang with us, we are in it to win it with Bitcoin. This is just the pre-season. Gliph’s implementation of Bitcoin will come back harder, faster and stronger no matter the platform.

Miscellaneous Updates

We’ve made a raft of improvements across the Gliph iOS app:

You can now log into Gliph for iOS using your email address on your account. (Previously you were required to log in using your Gliph username)

You can now delete all messages in a conversation from the activity view. That’s right, just swipe a conversation to the right and choose Delete Messages. Learn more about permanent message deletion on Gliph.

You now tap the information button in the title bar to view connection settings and choose a tag for a connection.

Design Updates for iOS 7

Apple made bold choices with design themes in iOS 7. In the new Gliph app for iOS, we’ve sought to embrace them. Design geeks read on! Continue reading →

Simplifying the Gliph Experience with Easier Connections

Our team is pleased to release some important updates to Gliph! After a series of Bitcoin-focused releases this summer, we’ve returned to improving the ease of use of Gliph. In this release, we’ve tackled this in two ways: reducing the number of steps necessary to connect with people and by combining similar functionality in the app.

Most of these updates can be seen in the iPhone and the Web. However, we’ve made some minor updates to the Android app to make it compatible with these other changes. Here are the detailed changes, in the new Gliph app for iOS: Continue reading →

New Support for Blockchain.info, the Bitcoin Enthusiast’s Wallet

Blockchain.info does a few things very well. First, it offers some great charts, stats and other interesting information about Bitcoin transactions. But secondly Blockchain.info has begun to shine as a rapidly growing Bitcoin wallet provider.

Today, we’re pleased to announce initial Gliph support for Blockchain.info wallets. This means Blockchain.info wallet holders now get the same easy Bitcoin transfer as people who use Coinbase and BIPS.

Whether you trade Bitcoin with Blockchain.info, BIPS or Coinbase you don’t have to bother with Bitcoin wallet addresses or their representative QR codes. You just send them a connection request, and then attach Bitcoin like you would a picture message.

How to Connect your Blockchain.info Bitcoin Wallet to your Gliph account
You must first create a wallet on the Blockchain.info website.

Bitcoin, BIPS Coinbase, Blockchain.info logos iphone app p2p Blockchain.info signin identifier password login page

Tap the Bitcoin option in the Menu, and choose Use a Different Wallet.
In the Choose Wallet Provider view, select the Blockchain.info logo.
Enter your Blockchain.info identifier and your password into the sign-in page.

Continue reading →

Stronger International Support for Bitcoin with BIPS

12/01/13 Update: We’re sorry to say that we are no longer supporting wallet creation or attachment from BIPS and will be phasing support for the wallet from Gliph. All Gliph users will still be able to attach wallets from Coinbase and Blockchain.info.

We want Gliph to be the best way to connect and transact no matter where you live. That’s why today we’re announcing support for the Copenhagen-based BIPS Bitcoin Wallet.

BIPS is well-known for its free Bitcoin merchant solutions, but it also offers a solid Bitcoin web-wallet for individuals.

BIPS’ Bitcoin wallet supports a variety of international options for funding your wallet including direct deposits from banks in Canada and Denmark. When you need to sell Bitcoin, BIPS lets you convert Bitcoin into an impressive 45 different fiat currencies:

Countries Supported for Withdrawal on BIPS Bitcoin Wallet

Supported Fiat Currencies on BIPS

If you’re checking out Bitcoin for the first time, you can now use Gliph’s Instant Wallet Creation to get started with a wallet on BIPS. If you already have a Bitcoin wallet on BIPS, you can attach it to your Gliph account with a simple sign-in process.

No matter what Bitcoin Wallet provider you use on Gliph, you get the convenience of easily sending Bitcoin with other people using Gliph’s unique chat-based Bitcoin transfer system on iOS, Android and the Mobile Web.

We’ve had our eye on stronger international support in Gliph for some time, and are pleased extend Gliph’s Bitcoin support to BIPS’ userbase and its popularity in Europe. In July, we added a server in Ireland, so everyone in Europe should have a faster experience with Gliph overall too.

Our team has been planning to add multi-wallet since we first released Gliph with Bitcoin at the Bitcoin 2013 conference. We have some exciting ideas for deeper integration of Bitcoin into Gliph’s platform in the future and hope you start enjoying easier transactions with people across the globe today!

In case you missed the links, you can learn about Bitcoin here, or try out Bitcoin via a BIPS wallet now on the Gliph for iPhone, Android or the Web.

Update: Our cooperative press release with BIPS is now available here.

Instant Bitcoin Wallet Creation in Gliph for iPhone

Create a Bitcoin Wallet Instantly with Gliph for iPhone Today we’re releasing version 1.5 of Gliph for iOS, which makes it easier than ever to get started and offers the world’s first instant Bitcoin wallet creation via Coinbase. Update: Gliph now also supports BIPS wallet.

In this new release we’ve made Gliph account creation and Bitcoin wallet creation an amazingly near-instantaneous experience.

Changes to Signup
We now streamline the Gliph signup process. The app automatically selects a gliph (username) for you, yet allows you to customize your gliph as an option if you want.

Previously, we forced every new person to immediately choose the Artifacts (symbols) for their gliph. While some folks picked up on the idea of building a gliph out of Artifacts, some found it confusing. Gliph has a lot of new ideas in it. This change represents a step toward streamlining the process of getting started using the Gliph identity platform.

Instant Bitcoin Wallet Creation
Another big change in 1.5 is the “instant” creation of Coinbase accounts. If you’ve never used Bitcoin before, you will be prepared to receive Bitcoin immediately after accepting Coinbase’s Terms of Service.

Gliph magically creates a Coinbase account using a free Gliph Cloaked Email address, offering you a strong level of privacy in your Bitcoin transactions.

We believe signing up for Gliph on iOS is now the fastest and easiest way to get started with a Bitcoin wallet on the planet earth.

We continue to believe that Bitcoin is a very important part of Gliph’s future and are making changes to pave the way for this now. The team is excited about the further integration of Bitcoin into Gliph’s core experience. Continue reading →

Bitcoin Enhancements in Gliph for iPhone v1.48

Today, we’ve released a new version of Gliph for iOS that includes a variety of enhancements related to Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is still fairly new, if you aren’t familiar with it at all, you may want to watch this. If you haven’t heard about Gliph’s recent addition of Bitcoin, you can read about it here, and watch a video of the iPhone app here.

Here are the new Bitcoin-related updates in v1.48:

The Bitcoin option in the menu now shows to all new users. We had a bug that was causing this to not be displayed without restarting the app.
You can now view the current exchange rate in the Send Bitcoin popover. It is based on the 24-hour MtGox weighted average.
Bitcoin payments now have a small Bitcoin symbol next to them. You can also tap on a Bitcoin payment in a conversation view and see it listed in the wallet view.
You can now detach a Coinbase wallet from Gliph. If you want to remove your Coinbase Bitcoin wallet from Gliph, use the trash can button in title bar of wallet view. Please note: if you intend to completely remove the connection we recommend you also visit Coinbase and remove Gliph’s access to the Wallet.
Wallet view now shows Gliphs of users from prior transactions. Previously Gliph showed Bitcoin transaction IDs.

We made a few other non-Bitcoin enhancements as well: Continue reading →

Announcing Simple Bitcoin Payments with Gliph

We are proud to announce that Gliph now supports simple peer-to-peer (P2P) mobile payments using Bitcoin digital currency. You can now send Bitcoin with other Gliph users using updated versions of our iPhone, Android and web applications.

We have an iOS demo video up if you’re hungry to see how it works. Also a step-by-step guide to setting it up for Android and for iOS. But this is more than just a new feature for us and we wanted to go into detail as to why we’re adding Bitcoin to the Gliph platform.

Over the past several months the Gliph team has been fascinated by Bitcoin. Bitcoin brings privacy to payments that is unavailable with traditional banking. The software behind Bitcoin is open source and has sustained great scrutiny. The currency itself is distributed, and transfers can take place with little or no fees at all. We love that no one company or government controls Bitcoin, and that even its creator(s) are shrouded in anonymity.

We believe Bitcoin and the ideas behind it have the power to change the world.

But when our team began using Bitcoin every day, we noticed some rough patches. Getting started can be confusing. If you were able to get a wallet set up, it was easy to get stuck asking “what next?” If you wanted to send Bitcoin to a friend, you had to awkwardly copy and paste long wallet addresses into tiny form fields. Existing solutions, even from biggest players, felt too technical and took the fun out of using this amazing new currency. Continue reading →

Using Bitcoin on Gliph’s Updated iOS App

Today, we’re turning some surprise Bitcoin functionality on for all Gliph iPhone users. The most recent version in the App Store, version 1.47 now allows you to send Bitcoin. This entry goes over how to use Bitcoin functionality in the app.

If you haven’t, you may also want to read about why we added Bitcoin or how to use Bitcoin with the updated Gliph Android app.

Continue reading →

New Gliph Facet: Bitcoin Wallet Address

Bitcoin Wallet Address Facet Gliph We’ve added a new Facet to Gliph accounts that lets you save and share a Bitcoin wallet address.

This means you can connect with another Gliph to discuss at transaction. If you decide to go through with it, you can use Gliph to securely share the wallet address.

New users signing up for Gliph will see “Bitcoin Address” in the list of Facets that may be bound. For existing users, you can now add a bitcoin address using the following steps:

On iPhone:

In the Menu, choose Settings
Tap the Edit button
Scroll down to “Bind additional facets”
Find “Bitcoin Address”

On the Web: Continue reading →

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