Pi Browser & Pi Wallet
The Pi Browser is basically the new interface of the Pi Apps/Utilities Platform. The Pi Browser aims to create a more open and direct Pi Utilities platform where developers can easily develop, test and deploy Pi Apps for Pioneers to try and use in the future. As a general-purpose browser tool, it is still primitive, but it is the only browser that can support Pi applications. Currently, the browser is in its beta version, and more changes and features will be added later.
The mobile version of the Pi Wallet is inside the Pi Browser app. 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 blockchain through their wallets by creating Test-Pi transactions. We are also preparing more for the Pi Mainnet both in terms of 1) community readiness and 2) improvements towards the blockchain and its scalability, as the community tests transactions on the Testnet.
Why are the Pi Wallet and Pi Browser bundled together? Having the wallet inside the Pi Browser App will ultimately allow future Pi Apps and traditional businesses to easily integrate Pi Payments and interact with the Pi blockchain. This will enable Pioneers to have seamless decentralized web experiences, i.e. 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 on building the Pi ecosystem. Below is a more detailed introduction of the Pi Browser. The Core Team will determine with the community’s feedback as to whether we will maintain two mobile apps (i.e. mining app and browser app) or merge them into one in the future.
Pi Browser
The Pi Browser intends to provide a web experience into a decentralized world. In addition to supporting any Web2.0 applications like existing web browsers, 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 accessed through similar .pi URLs. Developers will also be able to start iterating on their app through non-pi domains earlier.
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 tech 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. Later, we will update the Pi platform SDK to integrate with the Testnet and Test-Pi transactions for Pi Apps that allow developers to test their Pi apps on Testnet from their own domains.
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 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 goods apps from being developed, deployed, tested or used by Pioneers.
Pi Wallet
To introduce the Pi Wallet, it’s worth briefly going over what a crypto wallet is. A crypto wallet is essentially a pair of “keys”: a public Address and a secret Passphrase (or a secret key). While the wallet address must be shared with others to transact with you on the blockchain, the passphrase must be kept secret as it is like a password to your bank account required to move any assets. Today, the launch of the Pi Wallet means that Pioneers are invited to generate their wallet Address and Passphrase.
The Pi Wallet can generate wallet addresses on multiple blockchains and hold different crypto assets on such blockchains using the same passphrase, but initially we are focusing on Pi assets only. Currently, it is only connected to the Pi Testnet blockchain, hence it only holds Test-Pi for testing purposes. When the Mainnet launches in Phase 3, the same Pi Wallet can also connect with the Pi Mainnet, thus holding the real Pi you will have mined at that time. As we’re in the phase of the Testnet, the purpose is to make improvements on everything including the wallet, thus it is a possibility that we may ask everyone to completely reset their wallets with Test-Pi before moving to Mainnet. Pioneers will also have the choice to reset their wallet by choice before Mainnet is live.
In general, crypto wallets are categorized into custodial and non-custodial wallets with a difference in whether there is someone else helping you manage your passphrase/secret key or assets in the wallet. The Pi Wallet is a non-custodial wallet, because the Pi servers never have access to your secret key or passphrase. To be more user-friendly and based on feedback from early testing Pioneers, the Pi Wallet secret key is represented by a list of more legible words called “Passphrases''. The secret key can be dynamically derived from the passphrase so people only need to store a passphrase without actually saving a secret key. Using passphrases instead of the derived secret key for safekeeping reduces the chance of human mistakes in recording, and at the same time, achieves the same level of security as the secret key itself. In the mobile version of the Pi Wallet, if your phone has biometric authentication (fingerprint or face recognition), the passphrases are safely stored on your phone and can be retrieved through fingerprint or FaceID.
Although a non-custodial crypto wallet provides the self-sovereignty benefits for people, a difficult problem for any crypto assets holder is the case of losing their secret key or passphrases - the account recovery problem. The Pi Wallet is and will be a non-custodial wallet, and we aim to also innovate a mechanism to solve the difficult account recovery problem by utilizing part of your security circle while maintaining its non-custodial property. This mechanism will be released in a later version of the wallet.
After your Pi Wallet is created, the Pi Testnet faucet will initiate it with 100 Test-Pi for you to test transactions with Test-Pi on the Testnet, just like you would on the Mainnet after its launch in Phase 3 (the end of this year). We want to emphasize that Test-Pi (or test-π) is NOT REAL Pi! This does not enable trading of real Pi. Test-Pi is solely for the purpose of testing transactions on the Pi Testnet and contains NO VALUE. The Test-Pi balance in the wallet may be reset because Testnet will be periodically reset as part of the testing. Please remember that currently sales of Pi are unauthorized and violate the terms of service, which may result in the freezing of the account.