Trying to choose a phone wallet to graduate out of custodial (WoS)

Trying to choose a phone wallet to graduate out of custodial (WoS) - my 2 sats

1180 sats \ 13 comments \ @nichro 23 Mar lightning

Trying to choose a mobile wallet for someone to graduate to from custodial (WoS). I narrowed it down to a few choices based on my use case, wonder if people could give their 2 sats.

Use case:

Already have and use a hardware wallet
Use Alby for for nostr management (login, zaps) and pocket change sats
Do not want to go too deep into channel management, do not want to run and manage a node (yet. that will come with a btc node as planned)

Narrowed choices:

#BlueWallet Versatile, simple, clean. On-chain & Lightning both. Even multisig. But Lightning requires own node / LndHUB so it would be attached to Alby, which is probably fine. Lots of wallet types possible. Swiss army knife feel.

#Mutiny Wallet Cross-platform. Can be PWA so usable over web like Alby. Also simple. On-chain and Lightning both. Has minimal channel management, an ideal level probably. Enough to get familiar with it without it becoming a big worry for day-to-day UX. I dig Mutiny's vibe oh! also has Nostr integration, so it's a possible for Alby replacement altogether. If keeping Alby, may be redundant to have Mutiny if it'll serve the same purpose. I'm definitely keeping an eye on Mutiny development, one of the most interesting projects to me atm.

#Phoenix Wallet and #Muun Wallet These ones felt similar to me, both like almost natural nice light step away from Wallet of Satoshi on the custodial-noncustodial move. Channel management seems minimal like Mutiny. Simple combined-balance display. Phoenix has in-app Tor as an option and possibility to link. Muun has an alternative to the usual seed phrase for backup/recovery, including using email (like Wallet of Satoshi im guessing).

#Zeus Feels the most advanced in capabilities and target users out of all the bunch. Even if using Quick Start to use the embedded node/LSP, all those possible configurations and settings are sure to trigger curiosity OCD. Possibility to link with Alby LndHUB and use it from there. The UI looks serious and luxurious, I dig it. Am I getting the wrong impression of this wallet? I would see it as the next wallet to "graduate" to when closer or ready to run own node as a big boy. Oh, Nostr friendlist import is always a nice add.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

Leaning towards Muun or Phoenix, with Muun slightly edging first because of the email-based recovery. Can be nice to not have to keep and secure yet another seed phrase if the wallet is going to be for pocket change basically.

If anyone feels like sharing their 2 sats, misconceptions I have or suggestions, still appreciated!

edit: while re-reading, tried to extract things that set each wallet apart from all the rest, and bolded those parts.

view all related items

229 sats \ 0 replies \ @OT 23 Mar

Don't use muun for lightning. On chain fees will rise again soon and you'll pay too much.

Probably phoenix is the best if you don't want to learn too much. It just works

144 sats \ 0 replies \ @justBrian 23 Mar freebie

just start with phoenix and use it til you run into limitations, or want to upgrade to a more advanced 'node in the phone' setup such as zeus or blixt wallet. especially if all were talking about is a pocket change amount. If you aren't going to be sending zaps or small amts and rather are going to be making larger buys (think like $10 +) over lightning, aqua is a decent simple option (tradeoffs abound).

142 sats \ 0 replies \ @expatriotic 23 Mar

Use Zeus #476795

518 sats \ 1 reply \ @DarthCoin 23 Mar

Please read these guides:

Muun is a terrible idea. Muun is NOT a LN wallet and is the most crappy one. See more details in that comparison guide

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @nichro OP 23 Mar

Darth! I've read some of your writings before, so thank you for the suggestions, will definitely go through these too

96 sats \ 0 replies \ @ZezzebbulTheMysterious 23 Mar

Zeus is a great mobile wallet -- I use it as a mobile front end to my LN node.

If you are going to get into this with the lowest in fees and highest in reliability, run your own LN node.

73 sats \ 4 replies \ @kevin 23 Mar

Phoenix or Aqua Wallet are probably the best ones at the moment. When I've tried Zeus (without my own node) and Mutiny I've run into a lot of payment and reliability issues.

Be aware that Aqua does use Liquid under the hood so it isn't 100% non-custodial like Phoenix but it works very very well.

10 sats \ 2 replies \ @nichro OP 23 Mar

I'm not against Liquid. When you say under the hood, meaning you don't interact with L-BTC at all but they use it to hold funds (rather than onchain) and tell the user it's lightning?

Edit: nvm just saw a screenshot of the UI. Looks like they consolidate it all under a "layer 2 Bitcoin" balance. Interesting.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @kevin 23 Mar

Yeah - all L2 (LN or Liquid) lives on the liquid sidechain, when you want to make lightning payments it's pegged out via https://boltz.exchange afaik

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 23 Mar

You have the option of sending or receiving via liquid or lightning

Aqua has a support via telegram

42 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 23 Mar

It’s a boltz atomic swap

You can also peg into liquid and vice versa

61 sats \ 0 replies \ @ch0k1 23 Mar

I am currently using Phoenix and I can confidently say it's very simple and easy to use.

I would also vote for Zeus because of its functionalities that give you the ability to control many aspects of your lightning experience.

50 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 23 Mar

Don’t use Muun. Use aqua