for example this relay is my phone. nostr client apps can host your relay with an onion address by default. its easier than running a bitcoin node as well because you can only relay your own notes, and the notes related to you, or you interacted with.
The problem with a phone acting as your relay is that you're not running a relay to read your own notes, you're running a relay to serve your notes to others.
A phone that has intermittent coverage is not going to give a good experience to other attempting to retrieve your notes.
You will need a tertiary relay that has a good Internet connection to serve your notes for you.
Interesting concept tho.
im aware of that. i just think of it as. some permanent storage. where if other relays delete my older notes, they're always accessible on my phone. and can be broadcasted on demand again.
also maybe you can also relay your followings or mutuals. or posts you liked. so a social circle would basically relay eachother.
you follow someone? if their relays are down you can try to check relays their followers. you repost someone? or quote? or like? you broadcast it to your own relays. etc.
if someone you follow reposts something they will probably also broadcast it as well. and profile of that person. so then you a have list of that person's relays. etc. idfk.
because then not everybody has small circles, many people follow thousands of people.
i try to think of it as big social graph, organic discovery but yeah idk how efficient that would be.
also you can always pay for relays as well. so yeah.
All great, but I think a permanent server in your home or a data centre would be a better approach, unless you are a nomad.
A simple raspberry Pi at home or a $5 a month VPS would do a better job.
