Monday 11 July 2011

Spending, Mining, And Receiving Bitcoin Payments On Your Android Smart Phone

With new places to shop with bitcoin gradually popping up, both online and in  brick and mortar establishments, the bitcoin economy is slowing picking up pace. But, even as the "well you can't use bitcoin to buy regular stuff in a regular store" is being countered, this still leaves most non-geeks wondering how, or if, they can use their bitcoin on the go, much like you can with any fiat cash based system. Obviously, the sooner this is able to happen, the sooner people will start looking at bitcoin as a viable option to paying for goods and services from anyone happy to recieve bitcoin right?

Well, apparently, that time has arrived! 

A developer named Brian Armstrong has come up with an app, downloadable from the Android Market, that is an Android version of the Bitcoin client that would normally sit on your laptop/PC. So now you can fully complete bitcoin payments and collections via your mobile phone, with the app even allowing you to scan QR codes (two-dimensional matrix barcodes, or scanable addresses) to initiate a transaction, and email invoices to request payment.

It's early days yet though, so it's advised you exercise caution when using the app in its current version, and proabably best you use it for small amounts so you don't lose all your bitcoins. However, now that it's out there, and given that its code is open source, it's only a matter of time before a more stable upgrade becomes available for all and sundry to use confidently. I believe an app for the iPhone crowd is in the making too, so watch this space!

Below, a short video showing the Bitcoin Android app at work.

1 comment:

  1. I was glad to hear there is finally a working wallet for iPhone, but sad to discover that its a total fail. It doesn't work at all. I'm continuing my ban of all Apple products until there is a fully functional Bitcoin app that ACTUALLY works.

    Labels: Bitcoin Payments Android Smart Phone Android Market QR Code Android Library Bitcoin Wallet

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