Solana Mobile, a subsidiary of Solana Labs, recently debuted Solana Mobile Stack, which is described as “an open source software toolkit for Android enabling native Android web3 apps on Solana with the Seed Vault secure custody protocol that facilitates instant signing of transactions while keeping private keys partitioned from wallets, apps and the Android operating system.”
Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana, said:
“Developers have been blocked for too long from creating truly decentralized mobile apps because the existing gatekeeper model just doesn’t work anymore. We live our lives on our mobile devices – except for web3 because there hasn’t been a mobile-centric approach to private key management. The Solana Mobile Stack shows a new path forward on Solana that is open source, secure, optimized for web3, and easy to use.”
The Solana Mobile Stack (SMS) “provides a new set of libraries for wallets and apps, allowing developers to create rich mobile experiences on Solana, the world’s most performant blockchain, and is built to run alongside Android.”
The SDK “provides libraries and programming interfaces for Android apps and secure key private storage, simplifying the developer experience to build and extend dApps functionality for Solana.”
The SDK is “available starting today.”
Solana Mobile Stack was “introduced at an event in New York today, which also included the introduction of Saga, a flagship Android mobile phone with unique functionality and features tightly integrated with Solana, and is available now for pre-orders for delivery in early 2023.”
Raj Gokal, co-founder of Solana, stated:
“Developers can now bring the power of Solana to the computers in our pockets, not just our backpacks. Solana can revolutionize so much of what we do everyday, but we need to open the possibilities for decentralized apps on our mobile devices in order for this potential to be realized.”
Initial features of the Solana Mobile Stack SDK include:
- Mobile Wallet Adapter: A protocol for connecting web apps and native Android apps to wallets on mobile devices. The open source protocol is designed to support all mobile platforms, not just Android, and can work with wallet apps providing signing services to apps running remotely, such as other mobile devices, and on desktop or laptop computers.
- Seed Vault: A secure environment built into a mobile device that keeps private keys, seed phrases and secrets separated from the application layer yet still capable of interacting with apps running on the device or in a mobile browser. Seed Vault accesses the highest privileged security environment available on a device, from secure operating modes of the processor to dedicated Secure Elements, which enables a secure transaction signing experience through UI components built into Android.
- Solana Pay for Android: Solana Pay, a decentralized payments rail on Solana, is built into Solana Mobile Stack, providing wallet apps the ability to use the system features of Android devices to capture Solana Pay URLs via QR codes, NFC taps, messages, and web browser interactions to launch Solana Pay requests. In addition, instant virtual card issuance will allow users to make contactless-based mobile payments backed by their self-custodied funds via traditional payment rails at tens of millions of merchants across the globe.
Additionally, Solana dApp Store is “a new app distribution system on Android for decentralized apps.”
The Solana dApp Store will “provide a distribution channel for apps that want to establish direct relationships with their customers, allowing them to transact without platform fees.”
The Solana dApp Store “will co-exist with Google Play on devices, providing access to web2 and web3 apps.”
The Solana Mobile Stack and Solana dApp Store “open up unexplored opportunities for devs to create new and better experiences.”
A few possibilities:
- Minting an NFT anywhere, anytime is now a reality because secure transactions on a phone can be easily authorized thanks to the secure partition between a user’s keys and the software and hardware levels of a phone.
- Individuals can transact for goods and services with their securely held digital assets across millions of traditional contactless terminals as well as the growing decentralized Solana Pay payments network.
- Play web3 games on Solana from anywhere, and keep funds safe and secure with Seed Vault.
- Users can now manage trading risk while on the go more easily and effectively thanks to an improved user experience possible with native DeFi dApps.
- Consumers can participate in token-gated mobile commerce experiences based on their digital assets and the secure communications between a wallet, Seed Vault, and a dApp.
- Creators and developers can establish direct relationships with users through their dApps without intermediaries collecting data and extracting fees thanks to the distribution of the Solana dApp Store.
- Demand for a mobile-first, open source, blockchain-based mobile development environment can be seen in the early supporters of the Solana Mobile Stack:
For more details on this update, check here.