Reinstating Smartphone Access with Lisk Mobile v2.0.0
On the 21st of August 2021, we migrated the Lisk Mainnet to v3 which introduced numerous improvements to Lisk, such as multisignature accounts, a new address system, a new DPoS consensus algorithm, and a dynamic fee system. In order to meet internal deadlines, we had to focus our development resources on delivering these new improvements. This resulted in moving all frontend development resources to Lisk Desktop, hence compromising the availability of Lisk Mobile on launch day.
Today, we are proud to announce the release of Lisk Mobile v2.0.0 which reintroduces the core feature of Lisk on smartphones. Namely, the convenient sending and receiving of transactions. More advanced features like voting or multisignature accounts are solely available on Lisk Desktop to give our community the easiest and most user friendly experience on their mobile devices.
The next release will be Lisk Mobile v3.0.0, and will provide access to the Lisk interoperability solution which marks the launch of the Lisk blockchain application platform later this year.
New Features in Detail
Lisk Mobile v2.0.0 focuses on four topics, the access to Lisk v3 and its various new features, user experience and design improvements, Bitcoin support removal, and finally the overall security enhancements.
Access to Lisk v3
The recent major update of our Mainnet to Lisk v3 brought a wide range of new features and improvements to Lisk. From improved scalability to much lower fees, including a more decentralized DPoS blockchain and network, to a completely secure address system. In fact, as these are such major improvements it is highly recommended to view our announcement blog post of the Lisk Mainnet v3 migration, also please make sure to read the linked articles.
Internally, Lisk Mobile has a special focus. To be the most accessible wallet for the Lisk ecosystem. Taking that into consideration we have purposely limited the available feature-set solely for the sending and receiving of transactions.
User Experience and Design Improvements
Since releasing the previous Lisk Mobile we have been busy collecting community feedback to enhance and improve it even further. With Lisk Mobile v2.0.0 we focused on delivering many improvements to make its usage even easier and more convenient, as well as more consistent with our brand as can be seen in the images below.
- Dashboard
- Send LSK
- Bookmarks
Bitcoin Support Removal
With the release of Lisk interoperability and the subsequent launch of the Lisk blockchain application platform next year, we are paving the way for a multi-blockchain and multi-token Lisk ecosystem. After much consideration, we, therefore, made the strategic decision to only support Lisk native tokens within Lisk Mobile.
Combined with the technical challenges and lagging behind delivering popular Bitcoin features (e.g. Lightning), we made the decision to remove the Bitcoin support in Lisk Mobile in order to ensure we only provide perfect usable solutions, and hence not disappoint our user-base. The same decision was applied to Lisk Desktop v2.2.0.
The Bitcoin bridge stand-down will happen in December 2022. That means you have to transfer all the BTC that you store on the Lisk Wallets (both Desktop and Mobile) to avoid losing them.
Taking this into account, our growing team can now focus more efficiently on implementing all the required changes necessary for the upcoming launch of the Lisk blockchain application platform.
The Bitcoin implementation will remain in the former Lisk Desktop v2.1.0 which can be used to transfer any outstanding BTC out of the wallet. However, third-party Bitcoin wallets can also be used. This is possible thanks to a common standard, called BIP39, which we have used during the implementation. In this case, the most credible alternative would be to use Electrum, one of the oldest and long-standing Bitcoin wallets. Here, you simply have to use the same passphrase as your Lisk account to get access to your BTC.
Please note: For Lisk Mobile version 1.4.1 ( including all previous versions), a minor issue has been detected after removing the support for BTC. To counteract this, it is highly recommended to set LSK as the default currency in the Lisk Mobile app, as this will ensure any unwanted issues do not occur. In addition, please ensure you do not clear the app cache, as this may result in losing your stored passphrase and saved bookmarks.
If you already had LSK set as the default token in v1.4.1 or any previous version of the Lisk Mobile app, it is not necessary to change anything.The latest version v2.0.0 of Lisk Mobile will function correctly.
Finally, all identified bugs will be resolved in Lisk Mobile v.2.0.1
If you encounter any difficulties, please head to Lisk.chat to get support.
Security Enhancements
Lisk v3 introduced many security enhancements, such as its new address system which doesn’t require account initialization anymore. This ensures that our user's funds are always safe. Next to protocol security enhancements, there are also multiple strategies we deploy to ensure the security of our wallets.
With Lisk Mobile v2.0.0 we continued to adhere to our principles and standards. With intense, community-led beta testing and strong test coverage, we do our utmost to ensure the safety of our users.
The Way Forward
After the Lisk Mobile v2.0.0 release, the next step is to plan and implement Lisk Mobile v3.0.0. It is going to offer access to Lisk v4 which introduces the Lisk interoperability solution and marks the official launch of the Lisk blockchain application platform.
For that, the Lisk Foundation’s main contractor Lightcurve is increasing its team size and is looking for Frontend Developers. Apply to be part of the team making Web3 a reality.