

The Coinbase iOS app has launched - ninthfrank07
http://blog.coinbase.com/post/64824441934/the-coinbase-ios-app-has-launched

======
yafujifide
This is good news, but it's important to remember that the way Coinbase works
is for Coinbase to keep the private keys. A Coinbase "wallet" is really more
like a Coinbase demand deposit account. That means you are trusting Coinbase
to hold on to your bitcoins, thus losing one of the key benefits of bitcoin,
which is that you hold your money. A better alternative is the Blockchain.info
app, but from my understanding this is not available for un-jailbroken iPhones
(please correct me if I'm wrong).

~~~
w-ll
Correct, I go as far as to not even really consider Coinbase a wallet, even
though I know that's what there shooting for. I still like using Coinbase to
buy when dips occur, It's the easiest way for US residents.

Blockchain.info web interface I believe works on the iPhone, albeit It's been
a while since I've been there. If you really want to embrace Bitcoin, build
from source
[https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin](https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin)

~~~
cobrabyte
Agreed... Coinbase is simply a mechanism to purchase and move Bitcoins through
to my bank account. I never felt right storing coins in anything other than a
paper wallet.

------
bredren
This is good news. Congrats to Coinbase guys.

If you are new to Bitcoin apps, you may want to check out Gliph. [1]

The app lets you view your Coinbase, Blockchain.info or BIPS bitcoin wallet
and send Bitcoin to people easily.

[1] [https://gli.ph/](https://gli.ph/) (I work on Gliph.)

~~~
kolinko
Wow, sweet. It seems though that the "send me a link" feature doesn't work
with non-US phones? It would be nice if you had a friendler message when
someone enters a non-us phone (essentially, a number beginning with "+", and
not with "+1")

------
nextstep
Coinbase already had an app... At least I had one installed from way back. It
had the exact same icon and name. It was basically just a list of transactions
and you couldn't take any action. Maybe they aren't counting that app.
Interestingly, this new app must be using a different bundle if because I now
have both Coinbase apps installed next to each other on my phone.

~~~
carbocation
Am I wrong for having a moment of panic were I wondered if I had been tricked
into installing an app that was not actually Coinbase's all those months ago?

------
letney
Wow. This seems like big news in the Bitcoin world to me. This means Apple is
giving the green light to Bitcoin related apps in the iTunes store.

I wonder if Apple will start allowing entirely phone-based wallet apps now...

~~~
wyager
Look at the Blockchain app.

------
jaekwon
Why is it that Apple doesn't allow Bitcoin wallet applications, but does make
an exception for Coinbase?

~~~
kolinko
there is a blockchain app as well, and someone mentioned gliph in this thread

------
jayfuerstenberg
I'm still a novice to Bitcoin but I thought the lure of it was so that there
is no way to track/audit money transactions in as far as who was involved.

The top screenshot seems to show such an audit trail. I hope it is stored on
the device (never on Coinbase's servers) and only temporarily.

~~~
asdfaoeu
It's not a private wallet it's an interface to a coinbase's shared wallet
obviously they track it. If you didn't want that you would use one of the many
local wallets / blockchain.info's wallet.

~~~
jayfuerstenberg
Thanks for the info!

------
nnnnni
Finally! Now when the inevitable "Coinbase is shutting down" post appears,
I'll have some idea of what they're referencing...

(
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6573455](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6573455)
)

------
deftnerd
Coinbase taking over a lot of the bitcoin ecosystem makes me nervous. They
seem to have great engineering skills, but have the morals of PayPal. It might
be better to push for other services that seem to be pushing for the
betterment of the whole bitcoin community like inputs.io

~~~
orand
Do you have any specific examples of behavior to illustrate your low opinion
of Coinbase?

------
fiatjaf
Hm... this seems nice (while the Android app is just their website packed with
Phonegap or something like it).

------
wyager
For those curious: Yes, there is already a wallet app available on the App
Store called "Blockchain". It's a thin client app, which is usually more
secure than using Coinbase (which keeps your private keys). It supports
sending, receiving, etc. from your phone. The UI is so nice that I prefer
using it to all other Bitcoin apps, be they mobile or desktop.

