@davidtavarez Progress update thread Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2021

[davidtavarez]

Hello, this is my progress update for my active funding request.

• Grin++ v0.1.0 for Android was published; this version is fully compatible with the latest Hard Fork.
• Grin++ arm64 binary (and code) is even with the master branch.
• A new UI for the Desktop version of Grin++ was introduced. Grin++ v1.2.3 is the current latest version.
• Some maintenance work was done for grinchck to increase stability.

Next.

Here you can see how to use Grin++ for Android to send and receive grins. The node runs by days without any crash. Now I will focus on improving the UI/UX. Also, I’m going to update the nuget package to be compatible also with grin-wallet. It would be nice if I could publish a npm package that helps others developers to communicate with the grin API.

I’ll keep the Community posted

[davidtavarez]

Hello, this is my progress update. First, I have to say that I’m sorry that I did not post an update before, this have been a long month.

• I updated the dev packages of Grin++ Desktop UI. We’re now using TypeScript 4.1.1, Electron 11.2.3, and React 16.14.0 and many more. This fixes important vulnerabilities, but more important increases the performance considerably, in other words: it runs faster. Also, I can now decouple the code better so the components could be reusable very easily.

• Grin++ v1.2.5.beta.2 is out. Some highlights are:

  • Some bugs regarding the booting up of the local node were fixed.
  • Support for Windows 7 was improved.
  • The service that checks the availability of the wallet was moved to a new server, therefore now it is more stable.
  • The restrictions on sending coins without an address were removed from the app.
  • A http address was temporally added to the Receive screen, which is in fact a tunnel for the onion address.
  • A lot of unused code was removed.

• On Grin++ Android v0.2.0 the node management was improved. It is almost ready to be published on Google Play, but if you want to take a look before you can find the apk here.

  • Screens were polished a bit and the UI looks more consistent.
  • Dependencies were also updated to run a bit faster.
  • A new screen was added, now users can change some settings on mobile too.
    

This month I struggled a lot updating the codebase of the Desktop UI, that was a big time consuming task, but now I can finally focus on improving the code quality and finally decoupling the components to make them reusables on any grin related project (grin-walllet & grin++).

Edit:

• Greek translation was added. Thanks to @nirg.
• The Help section was translated into russian. Thanks to Danila.
  • The Help section can be now also translated to any language.

[davidtavarez]

Hello, all. Grin++ development has been very active lately. We managed to release version 1.2.5 on Desktop, thanks to the great effort of the Community reporting bugs and helping with the translations. For Android version 0.2.0 which is the third release for Android; this version is looking a bit better and it is more stable.

I’ve been focused on decoupling the codebase as much as I can and this probably will take longer than expected, but at the end we’ll end up with a cleaner source code, easy to read, test, maintain and reuse. I will prioritize this before adding more features.

Meanwhile, I would like to invite the Community to keep helping us improve Grin++ by reporting issues, fixing translations and submitting requests.

[davidtavarez]

Final update related to this funding request. These are the Highlights:

Grin++ Desktop

• The UI for Grin++ Desktop stability was improved. We’re using another server for the availability checker and also important fixes were made on how this works internally.
• All the packages were updated to recent versions, fixing vulnerabilities and making the app feel faster.
• More translations were added for Grin++ and the support for Windows 7 was improved.

Grin++ Android

• A lot of bug fixing work was done, specially in Sending and Receiving transactions.
• A new screen was added where users can change basic settings.
• The embedded node is up to date with the master branch.
• Screens styles were improved and unified.

Next

Since we want and need more contributors, improving the codebase is now a priority. Bugs will be fixed, of course, but before adding more features we should make things easier for anyone willing to collaborate, this also includes documenting a lot on both sides: backend and frontend, decoupling the code, and more.

I will also want to see the possibility of generate multiple address for a wallet, and a standard API definition, both of these 2 things will require a RFC.

Thank you for the support!

Edit: There is a RFC from September 30th, 2019 regarding the API, but I believe that it can be improved.