Nostr Web Client

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. 😅

ZharlieW 5mo ago

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.

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Discussion

TKay 5mo ago

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.

ZharlieW 5mo ago

I see, that makes sense — thanks for the clarification!

Which app did you use Aegis for signing with?

I’ve tested it with Nostur, Olas, 0xChat, and Flotilla — all of them work.

TKay 5mo ago

Hmmm… I’m using Olas.

Oh wait, I am on iOS26. So it might not be ready for this yet.