The creators of the Bitfury-backed Lightning Peach wallet, which supports cryptocurrency transactions conducted through the Lightning Network (LN), a layer-two payment solution for expediting digital asset transfers, have released several important updates for their open-source software.
Peach wallet’s non-custodial (meaning does not hold users’ private keys) desktop and mobile versions now feature an “extended” and “standard” mode. These options allow users to access a user-friendly and intuitive interface.
Difference Between The Standard And Extended Interface
While operating in the standard mode, users can independently set up their own Lightning node and “all actions performed [by the user] in the application can only be seen by” them, Lightning Peach’s official blog post explains. In this mode, users can perform basic LN-based transactions such as “paying an invoice,” the blog notes.
As part of the feature set for Lightning Peach’s extended mode, “payments without a user-generated Lightning invoice” can be made and set to “streaming” and/or “recurring.” These transfers can be performed by selecting the recipient(s) from an imported a contacts list. Currently, these features are only accessible to Peach network users, however the platform’s development team is working on creating a solution that allows external users to use the app as well.
Semi-Centralized Service
As noted in Lightning Peach’s blog, “all actions must be routed through” Peach’s servers which “connect directly to other users.” “To process these requests,” the the Peach servers must have access to the IP address of the wallet that is initiating the transfer. The company’s servers also need the users’ public key so that they can settle the transactions. However, other financial data such as the “payment amount or payment messages” has reportedly been “end-to-end encrypted” to maintain user privacy and security.
Desktop compatible versions of the Lightning Peach wallet have a “built-in lightning node (lnd) that is launched in initial setup.” This effectively “lowers the technical barrier to entry” which can help onboard new LN users, Lightning Peach’s blog states. New users are not required to set up their own LN node – which is fairly technical process. But smartphone users must set up their own node.
According to Lightning Peach, “it is not yet feasible to run a full node on mobile-only,” which is why the development team has not added the feature to mobile phones for now.
Getting Quick Feedback From Users
Peach wallet users have the option of allowing Lightning Peach developers to view their usage statistics in an “anonymized” manner. As explained, this feature can be enabled by selecting a checkbox within the app, however it is “disabled by default for user security and privacy.”
