Good news is, Elizabeth Stark’s Lightning Labs is finally launching the desktop alpha version of the Lightning App on the Bitcoin Mainnet. And there is more exciting news to this because for the first-time users can actually begin “being reckless with a double click” while simultaneously sending funds across the world even if it is to feed chicken.
With the Lightning App, which is still in Alpha and under test, the team behind the Bitcoin Queen are building an economy where “all sorts of new use cases are possible with Bitcoin.”
“Today we’re excited to announce the first alpha release of the Lightning App for desktop on Bitcoin mainnet. This is still an early version targeted at testers, but it will give advanced users and developers a chance to start experimenting with a Lightning UX where users control their own funds powered by our Neutrino light client technology”
Read: Now You Can Pay With BTC in Amazon via Lightning Network Thanks to Moon
The Alpha release of the Lightning App will make use of Neutrino light client technology and it will offer a chance to users to experiment with the new Lightning user interface as they control their funds. The desktop version of this app will be powered by the Mac, Windows and Linux operating system and is “an important stepping stone towards mobile while they continue to invest in performance and stability.”
Scaling Privacy, Self Determination and Security via LN
If anything, these are the baby steps needed for the network to eventually scale. As it is, Lightning Network is still in Beta, at experimental stage where the amounts settled off-chain are limited but compensated by speed, scalability and security is guaranteed by the mainnet as well as extra inbuilt features to prevent fraud. The LN is the brainchild of Elizabeth Stark and Olaoluwa Osuntokun, who is the CTO and co-founder.
Also Read: Why Bitcoin Lightning Network and all off-chain solutions do NOT make you immune to on-chain fee
Their aim is as aforementioned to build use cases around Bitcoin and concurrently commit towards scaling the very principles for which Bitcoin as a settlement layer is built on that is privacy, security and self-determination. To that end, they are working round the clock, delving beyond custody via and seeking to improve user experience where “people (need not) to follow complex setup processes or hand over control of their funds to trusted counterparties.”
Lightning App Features
By basing this desktop Alpha version on the Neutrino Light client, there is high quality user experience, security and privacy all possible with erratic connectivity, low power use and limited bandwidth and storage. As a result of this incorporation, this release will auto sync in the background with the sole aim that the feature will be “be fully synced by the time the user has written down and verified their seed.”
Additionally, there is a Unified Home Screen showing on-chain as well as LN balances where any amount allocated to any payment channel is also shown as a percentage. However, a standout in this release is that it will be mainnet by default from v0.5.0-alpha and complementing this is a smarter autopilot which advanced users can deactivate and manage their channels manually should they chose to.
This eliminates the burden where users are relieved of the burden of “selecting which node to open a channel with.”
All in all, there is a big disclaimer perhaps as a notification that the tech is still in beta and users should be careful not to commit huge funds in their channels. Nonetheless, the success of LN means coin holder would make micro-payments as accepting merchants enjoy low fees and instantaneous pay.
