Wrote something about the goals for Arké. Feedback appreciated. https://gbks.substack.com/p/arke
Nice to get an update from our electric utility provider that electricity prices will be 8.8% lower next year. More of that, please.
Of course. But would you really want that when you can also switch to corn?
And one more Arké update, all about the mobile UI. Take a peek. Would you use this?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-aZlS7a6NM
That’s the default Apple system font for serifs, New York. Haven’t even looked into anything custom there yet.
Sharing some super half-baked screenshots of the Arké iOS app. I am porting the desktop screens to work across both MacOS and iOS, with almost all logic and components being shared. Just piecing things together roughly with lots of visual and interactive tweaks and polish to come. That's going to be fun and it's where the real UX finessing is. 
AI sucks at time estimation, maybe in an opposite way that people do. Says 11-14 hours, and is done in 10 minutes 🤷.
Arké now has a (very rough) mobile app that is best friends forever with its desktop companion. Thanks to new nostr:nprofile1qyxhwumn8ghj7mn0wvhxcmmvqy28wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hsqg8dktefjxjev6wjyyy8xlgmh0ktraj6jtfy5zmy7pd52472qef9dy5cmhc8 Bark FFI Swift bindings. Here's a shaky setup-and-link demo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVLt4o_GdpQ
What do you think?
Then we can show them some servers with estimated fees. Users can click through if they don't care, or they can dig deep, up to them.
Another Arké update? How will we pick servers during wallet setup? That, and fees, is what I am investigating here. Curious to hear any thoughts, as always.
The first step in this flow is for the user to indicate how they think they will use the wallet.
Another Arké update? How will we pick servers during wallet setup? That, and fees, is what I am investigating here. Curious to hear any thoughts, as always.
You mean the name of the parameter? I think it’s just “ark”.
This is an example with a rich BIP-21 URI (like what you might get from clicking a link at a checkout)). Instantly parsed and evaluated. Payment meta data is easy to see. Payment options (addresses) are matched against existing contacts, networks verified, balances checked, fees evaluated, and the best option highlighted. Just hit send and done. What do you make of that?
Latest Arké update about building a rich send experience that is simple and convenient no matter what you throw at it (known contacts, ark/bitcoin addresses, lightning invoices/offer/addresses, BIP-21, BIP-353, whatever...). A work-in-progress. What do you make of the direction?
Hi nostr
Today we’re launching our public beta at moneydevkit.com
It’s the fastest, easiest way for anyone to take payments online.
So fast actually, I set the world record from deployed website to production payment (4:38.94). https://v.nostr.build/VaPmy43L3K7i1E1v.mov
Try it for yourself:
npx @moneydevkit/create
npm i @moneydevkit/nextjs
Under the hood, we’re using self custody lightning (can I say that here? 😆), but you don’t need to worry about any of that. Just install the library, paste a few code snippets (or have your agent do it like I did), and take payments.
Love it.
I recorded a hands-on 30-minute demo on how I use AI for coding for Arké (MacOS app, XCode). Curious to learn from others, if you have any tips. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcxkYZTtOTM
Arké update 4, about native contacts, contact auto-assignment, a new console, and lots of little layout and convenience things. Still a major construction site, still progress. https://community.second.tech/t/arke-macos-prototype/156/9
I saw some people comment on the BIP-177 by default thing. Something I plan to get around to at some point and add options to choose from. Just not priority right now.
You are not wrong. It's total BS.
Arké now also has a consolé. Very handy for doing some manual operations during development. Took 3 chats to build this with Claude in Xcode, mostly because I knew exactly what parts needed to be touched and also set up just a little bit of the skeleton to give Claude a more narrow scope. Such a breeze to build with.
Another update on Arké. Started to add tags, contacts and lightning functionality. It's a mess, but it's progress. https://community.second.tech/t/arke-macos-prototype/156/7?u=christoph
I think it requires a lot of creative exploration and weird experimentation. Don’t think it can be logically derived. People interact in funny ways.
That's the plan (see the dropdown). https://bitcoincore.app/send/basic-flow/
~50% of mobile users have at least one accessibility setting turned on, according to this Dutch research. Dark mode, bold text, zoom, increased contrast seem to be most used. Good to make sure our apps support these. https://appt.org/en/stats
WCAG 2.1 color contrast guidelines are a bit of a disservice to design. Color and contrast perception is much more complex than two simple ratios for small and large text.
Modern operating systems have tons of features that allow users to adjust text size, contrast, etc. Perception changes based on ambient lighting and smartphones adjust the display to those conditions. There are also different font weights, and fonts with different characteristics (like the fine lines of Bodoni), as well as effects like outlines and drop-shadows. As well as different use cases - reading dense scientific material strains eyes more than a quick scan of some news headlines.
WCAG 2.1 is like a blunt instrument. It can be a good starting point, but it's not the end-all-be-all (APCA is a good step forward). A more sophisticated approach also takes these other factors into consideration. Unlike designing for print, screen interfaces can be super dynamic and responsive and adjust to whatever the user needs and wants.
Yep, still working on it.
If there was an award for least intuitive design tool, Adobe InDesign would be my clear favorite. Even after decades of occasional use, selecting things, changing a color, resizing an image, and other super basic stuff remains absolutely unintuitive and I have to keep asking AI for how those things work. Always makes me super appreciative of the latest generation of design tools.
That's how it is sometimes. When you just use things and don't think about them, they may feel just fine. But if you scrutinize hard, you find all kinds of flaws. Good to look at things both from the intuitive and the analytics perspectives.
Let's ask AI how it sees this statement:
"The statement misses critical counterpoints. The state's monopoly on legitimate force isn't arbitrary - it exists because having multiple competing armed groups typically leads to civil conflict, warlordism, or private armies serving the highest bidder rather than public interest. Somalia in the 1990s and other failed states illustrate what happens when this monopoly breaks down.
The framing of "no competition" is also incomplete. In functioning democracies, state forces face different forms of accountability: electoral oversight, judicial review, civilian control, media scrutiny, and civil society monitoring. These aren't market competition, but they're competitive checks on power.
The reality is more nuanced than either "monopoly always corrupts" or "state force is inherently benevolent." The key isn't eliminating the state's role in security, but designing robust oversight mechanisms, maintaining civilian control, ensuring transparency, and preserving individual rights within that framework.
The challenge is structural: how do you maintain effective security while preventing the abuse of that necessary power? This remains an ongoing tension in democratic governance rather than a problem with a simple solution."
Not an expert, but this sounds like the next euphoria, collapse and downturn are preprogrammed due to greed and obnoxious financial games. Can we maybe please not? Or am I not understanding this correctly? https://podcasts.apple.com/de/podcast/stephan-livera-podcast/id1415720320?l=en-GB&i=1000717154870
Can you ever have enough Liquid Glass? I think not.
Amazing. What specifically does the grant for the Bitcoin Core App go to? I did not see anything in the description.
Have you tried the beta? I wonder if you feel the same about other apps.
Definitely true that Liquid Glass is a very delicate style and making it feel at home with other content is a fine balance.
Was great to present and demo the Bitcoin Core App wallet alpha in Prague last week. So happy our signet transfer during nostr:nprofile1qyx8wumn8ghj7cnjvghxjmcpz4mhxue69uhk2er9dchxummnw3ezumrpdejqqg80tujrmfzys8gcks2u3whcnqqcz6hth3kwst3chs3tkff3ncalegtxcjql presentation worked. Feedback was positive. Huge thanks to everyone chipping in on the project. 