Published just today, August 29, developed by an independent developer Nadav Igvi, that uses “c-lightning” as its backend, Spark is a new web-based GUI (Graphical User Interface) Electron app for Windows, Linux and macOS. Also available for Android users and soon to come on iOS as well.
Spark is an app with which spending Bitcoins become as easy as tapping twice on the screen of your device. Basically this is what we have been waiting for – an app with a simple GUI for Bitcoin spending over the LightningNetwork. A user can now run their own fully validating Bitcoin node, their own “c-lightning” node, and their own Spark GUI to use the Lightning Network as trustlessly as possible.
With the help of “nanopos”, a Point-of-Sale Lapp (Lightning App) we can use the Spark GUI on a mobile Android device. They have provided a demo video where we can see that with the help of a tablet, which is a common way customers transact with merchants today, we can easily make payments.
Some of Spark’s features include:
-Simple & minimalistic interface,
-Purely off-chain Lightning Network transactions using “c-lightning” as a backend,
-Near-zero configuration,
-Progressive Web App,
-Cordova mobile and Electron desktop builds,
-Personalizable themes,
-Automatic self-signed certificates,
-LetsEncrypt integration,
-Tor hidden service (v3) support,
-Code-signing and reproducible builds
“Spark is flexible in that it can be configured to be run in multiple ways. One way is to run Spark in order to access it remotely via a web browser. Another way is to run it locally with the Electron-based app. A third way is to run Spark as a server and connect to it with the Android app,” says in “grubles” medium blog post continuing that “the simplicity and flexibility of Spark allows it to be used on a variety of devices; from desktops to laptops, as well as mobile devices. Up until now, ”c-lightning” users had to take to a terminal emulator to use Lightning. Now, those users can spend and receive bitcoins over the Lightning Network with the tap of a finger or a click of a mouse!”
These are such great news for the crypto community, and I believe a lot of Bitcoin and crypto enthusiasts have been waiting this for quite a while.
In my humble opinion I would compare this to Windows 95. It was simple, but still one of the first widely used operating systems. Now it seems like centuries ago, which is also true, but looking at what we have now in terms of user experience related to LightningNetwork, and comparing to what is more to come for the development – I believe in a year or two we will be looking at shiny, colorful, moving, well thought interactive platforms and apps with simplified user experience and Bitcoin with LightningNetwork will become widely adopted, just like Windows 10. LN needs more active nodes and more channels for better testing. So get your Spark and test it now!
For the requirements and on how to Install Spark, go to the end of the post.
Source:
https://goo.gl/GjTtjB – The original blog post by “grubles” with all the requirements and tutorials on how to install Spark.
Written and gathered by:
Jānis Rijnieks