Aegis for Nostr v0.1.8 Released
1. Added support for nostrsigner:// while retaining aegis:// compatibility
2. Standardized the auth path to /auth/nip46
3. Added a method= query parameter
👉 Try it now: https://testflight.apple.com/join/DUzVMDMK
Discussion
Have you considered making Aegis a third-party iOS keyboard? Even if it required a completely different approach to signing notes…
I have a hypothesis that this approach would work, I just don’t have the technical know how to try it.
Interesting idea. What do you see as the advantage of doing this through a keyboard?
Since iOS doesn’t allow for free multi tasking, this will be one way to communicate with an app while it sits in the background.
I asked chatGPT how could this be achieved:
Scenario: App wants user to sign a Nostr note
• App A sends an unsigned note into a system text field (or copies to clipboard).
• User switches to the custom keyboard.
• The keyboard recognizes the unsigned note format (e.g., JSON/NIP-01 structure).
• Keyboard writes the note into a shared container.
• Main app is notified (e.g., via background fetch / polling / shared flag).
• Main app signs the note and writes it back to the shared container.
• Keyboard reads the signed message and injects it back into the text field.
Seems very possible to me. 😅
That’s a very creative approach — I hadn’t thought of doing it this way. However, the user experience seems a bit complex, with switching keyboards, triggering the signature, and then switching back — if I understood correctly.
Have you tried using Aegis? This is how I implemented background execution on iOS:
1. Start Aegis, which launches a lightweight local relay service (only handling signature-related tasks) and sets it as the NIP-46 signature relay.
2. Move the app to the background and loop a silent audio track to keep it running in the background
With this setup, other nostr apps can continuously use the local relay for signing operations. The user experience is quite similar to using Amber, except that the app must not be killed.
The keyboard switching is just chatGPT being stupid.
You can just make a full keyboard/signer. Hitting “return” should be enough to trigger the entire workflow.
I tried Aegis. It’s not working for me.