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Early this morning, the two major products of Pi Network was launched together: the Pi Browser and the mobile Pi Wallet. The pi Browser houses the Pi wallet, which will serve as tghe bank to already mined Pi in the future. To access the Pi Browser and the mobile Pi Wallet, download the new Pi Browser app from the iOS App Store or Android Play Store through the button on the home screen of the initial Pi mobile app. Please make sure you're downloading the official Pi Browser app from the Core Team (marked as “Pi Community company” in store listings), and beware of fake wallets or scams.
The Pi Browser aims to create a more open and direct Pi Utilities platform where developers can easily develop, test and deploy Pi Apps for Pioneers to try and use in the future. The Pi Browser is basically the new interface of the Pi Apps/Utilities Platform. As a general-purpose browser tool, it is still primitive, but it is the only browser that can support Pi applications. This is also the beta version of the browser, and more changes and features will be added later.
Last week the launching of the desktop Pi Wallet to every Pioneer took place, and today is the launching of the mobile version of the Pi Wallet inside the Pi Browser app. So, if you have not created your wallet through the desktop version, please download the Pi Browser app and create your wallet there. If you have already created your wallet on desktop last week, you can now access your wallet on your mobile through the Pi Browser app and safely store your passphrase on your phone through fingerprints or FaceID. The Pi Wallet is an important milestone in Pi’s strategy of progressive decentralization towards the Mainnet because every Pioneer will be able to interact with the Testnet blockchain through their wallets by creating Test-Pi transactions. We are also preparing more for the Pi Mainnet both in terms of 1) community readiness and 2) improvements towards the blockchain and its scalability, as the community tests transactions on the Testnet.
Why are the Pi Wallet and Pi Browser bundled together?
Having the wallet inside the Pi Browser App will ultimately allow future Pi Apps and traditional businesses to easily integrate Pi Payments and interact with the Pi blockchain. This will enable Pioneers to have seamless decentralized web experiences, i.e. easily perform Pi blockchain transactions when visiting specific Pi App websites. This is a big evolution of the Pi Utilities platform and the Core Team’s effort on building the Pi ecosystem. Below is a more detailed introduction of the Pi Browser. The Core Team will determine with the community’s feedback as to whether we will maintain two mobile apps (i.e. mining app and browser app) or merge them into one in the future.
Pi Browser
The Pi Browser intends to provide a web experience into a decentralized world. In addition to supporting any Web2.0 applications like existing web browsers, the Pi Browser will enable people to browse, interact and transact in decentralized applications — applications that integrate with blockchain technology — for a seamless and friendly user experience. Additionally, the Pi Browser will have a directory of selected Pi Apps and its own DNS system to support a whole new class of .pi domains. For example, current apps — Pi Wallet, Pi Chats, Mining, Brainstorm — will be accessible by typing in respectively wallet.pi, chats.pi, mine.pi and brainstorm.pi in the URL field of the browser. In the future, more Pi apps by third-party developers will be selected and added to the directory and be accessed through similar .pi URLs. Developers will also be able to start iterating on their app through non-pi domains earlier.
The Pi Browser is a more open Pi Apps platform because it enables developers to test and deploy the applications that integrate with the Pi Testnet, Pi Wallet and other elements of the Pi tech stack. It can do this without the limitation of the approval process or confinement of the old Pi Utilities platform inside the Pi mining app because anyone can visit any website freely on the Pi Browser. By contrast, it used to be that apps must be selected by the Core Team to be embedded in the Pi Utilities platform inside the Pi mining app. Later, we will update the Pi platform SDK to integrate with the Testnet and Test-Pi transactions for Pi Apps that allow developers to test their Pi apps on Testnet from their own domains.
Moreover, as Pi Network becomes more decentralized, the browser will be able to match the network’s decentralization progress. Ultimately in the future, Pioneers can access both apps listed on the Pi Directory and unlisted apps directly through their URLs, and make the ultimate decisions of whether those apps are trustworthy or not without the strict oversight of the Pi Core Team. Through this vision, the selection process for the directory would not necessarily impede goods apps from being developed, deployed, tested or used by Pioneers.