Hello Pioneers!
Today we are introducing two major products of Pi Network: the Pi Browser and the mobile
version of the Pi Wallet.
In fact, it is the Pi Browser which allows you to access the Pi Wallet directly from
your mobile phone.
And to install the Pi Browser for the first time, tap on the “Pi Browser” menu item
of the side menu of this app and follow the instructions there.
The instructions will ask you to install our brand new mobile application, that is the Pi Browser, and after the installation,
the two apps will talk to each other and the pi browser will automatically sign you into
your Pi account.
If for some reason this automatic process doesn't work the first itme and the browser doesn't sign you in automatically
then, just simply go back to the same "Pi Browser" menu here, where you started, and tap on the button again.
This process does not need to be repeated. You can visit the Pi Browser directly in the future, after you are signed in.
By installing and having the Pi Browser and being signed in into it, if you want to access the wallet there, you can do so by by visiting the URL: wallet.pi
But what is the Pi Browser and why do we need it?
The brand new Pi Browser aims to create a more open and direct Pi Utilities platform
where developers can easily develop, test and deploy Pi Apps, and Pioneers can try them
and use them.
This is basically the new interface of the Pi Apps or Utilities Platform.
Keep in mind that being a first beta version, as a general-purpose web browser, it is still
a bit primitive, but it is the only browser that can support Pi applications.
And you can expect obviously that there will be improvements and more features to be added later by us.
Last week we launched the desktop Pi Wallet to every Pioneer, and today we’re launching
the mobile version of the Pi Wallet that lives inside the Pi Browser.
So, if you have not created your wallet through the desktop version, you can download the Pi
Browser app and create your wallet there.
If you have already created your wallet on the desktop last week, you can now access the same wallet using the same passphrase
on your mobile phone through the Pi Browser and safely store your passphrase on your
phone through fingerprints or FaceID.
The Pi Wallet is an important milestone in Pi’s strategy of progressive decentralization
towards the Mainnet because every Pioneer will be able to interact with the Testnet now
and the Testnet blockchain through their wallets by making Test-Pi transactions.
Setting up your wallet now prepares you for accessing your real pi when we enter the Mainnet down the line.
And testing transactions now helps us make improvements in the scalability of the Pi blockchain and the Pi Mainnet down the line.
Why are the Pi Wallet and Pi Browser bundled together, you might ask?
Having the wallet accessible inside the Pi Browser will ultimately allow future Pi Apps
and traditional businesses to easily integrate Pi and Pi Payments and interact with the Pi blockchain.
This will enable Pioneers to have seamless decentralized web experiences, in other words,
easily perform Pi blockchain transactions when visiting specific Pi App websites.
This is a big evolution of the Pi Utilities platform and the Core Team’s effort to build
the Pi ecosystem.
The Core Team will determine, with the community’s feedback of course, as to whether we will maintain two
mobile apps (i.e. this mining app and the browser app) or whether we will merge them together into one in the future, but
for now they are two distinct mobile apps.
Next I will give a more detailed introduction of the Pi Browser.
The Pi Browser intends to provide a web experience into a decentralized world.
In addition to supporting any traditional Web applications like existing web browsers do,
the Pi Browser will enable people to browse, interact and transact in decentralized applications
— applications that integrate with blockchain technology — for a seamless and friendly
user experience.
Additionally, the Pi Browser will have a directory of selected Pi Apps and its own DNS system
to support a whole new class of .pi domains.
For example, current apps — Pi Wallet, Pi Chats, Mining, Brainstorm — will be accessible
by typing in respectively wallet.pi, chats.pi, mine.pi and brainstorm.pi in the URL field
of the browser.
In the future, more Pi apps by third-party developers will be selected and added to the
directory and be able to register .pi domains to be accessed through those domains in those URLs.
And in the meantime, developers will be able to start iterating on their apps through their own non-pi
domains.
The Pi Browser is a more open Pi Apps platform because it enables developers to test and
deploy the applications that integrate with the Pi Testnet, Pi Wallet and other elements
of the Pi technology stack.
It can do this without the limitation of the approval process or confinement of the old
Pi Utilities platform inside the Pi mining app because anyone can visit any website freely
on the Pi Browser.
By contrast, it used to be that apps must be selected by the Core Team to be embedded
in the Pi Utilities platform inside the Pi mining app.
Note that we will be updating the Pi platform SDK to also integrate with the Testnet and
perform Test-Pi transactions for Pi Apps allowing developers to test their Pi apps on the Testnet as well
with users, and having users accessing those apps directly from their own domains during testing.
Moreover, as Pi Network becomes more decentralized, the browser will be able to match the network’s
decentralization progress.
Ultimately in the future, Pioneers can access both pi apps listed on the Pi Directory and
unlisted apps directly through their URLs, and make the ultimate decisions of whether
those apps are trustworthy or not without the strict oversight of the Pi Core Team.
Through this vision, the selection process for the directory would not necessarily impede
good apps from being developed, deployed, tested or used by Pioneers.
Well that’s it for now.
Go try the Pi browser, setup your pi wallets and send some Test-pi to your friends.
Remember Test-pi is not real pi and is only for testing transactions on the Pi Testnet.
Test-pi is the currency of the Testnet blockchain.