It's been a while since I've released an update to Vessel, and with the help of @netuoso, I'm happy to share the next beta release of Vessel. This newest release gives users the ability to create additional accounts and use the Encrypted Memo feature when transferring funds to Bittrex.
Beta: 0.0.7
Vessel is still beta software and it's recommended that you treat it as such. Before committing irreversible actions on your account (such as large outgoing transfers), please test with smaller amounts to ensure it's working properly on your computer.
Download available on github for macOS, Windows and Linux.
- Releases: https://github.com/aaroncox/vessel/releases
- Bug Reports: https://github.com/aaroncox/vessel/issues
- Source Code: https://github.com/aaroncox/vessel
What is Vessel?
Vessel is a desktop wallet for the Steem blockchain, which you can download and use on your computer. Vessel is free to use and open source, and is designed to be a way to help secure your account on the Steem blockchain. While using Vessel, your keys/password never leave your computer, transactions are signed within the app, and then broadcast to the network much like any other downloadable cryptocurrency wallet.
Previous updates about Vessel:
What's new in 0.0.7
The two major features of this release are:
- Account Creation: Create new accounts for yourself
- Encrypted Memos: Use your Memo Key to encrypt the memo when transferring funds (Bittrex only currently).
A full changelog can be found at the bottom of this post.
Creating a New Account
Existing Steem accounts can now create new accounts using Vessel.
A new blue button exists on the upper-right corner of the Accounts section:
When clicked, it will present you with more information about creation an account. This window will show you how much Steem and how much Steem Power must be delegated for creation. Currently this is the only way Vessel supports creation accounts - the minimum amount of liquid STEEM and the maximum amount of delegation (which changes slowly over time).
Select the account you wish to use to create the account (that has the appropriate amount of funds) and then type the username of the new account.
In this example, I'm using the @aaron account and creating an account called testaccount1.
The blue button will light up, and once clicked, brings you to the final confirmation before the account is actually created, as shown below:
This final page will show you the Master Password along with the newly generated private keys for this account. Back all of this up, since only keeps a small portion of this data.
The green button at the bottom, "Confirm - Create Account" will submit the action to the blockchain and create the account.
If successful and you have enough funds to create the account, you will be returned to the Accounts page with the active key automatically imported (unencrypted) into your Vessel wallet. If you want to encrypt it in your Vessel wallet, simply delete the account and re-add it, using the private keys or master password you just wrote down, and specify the password to encrypt it with.
Encrypted Memo Support - Advanced User Feature
This feature isn't going to be for everyone except those with the urge for privacy.
Currently Bittrex supports a feature of the Steem blockchain called "Encrypted Memos", which lets you encrypt your memo deposit so that only Bittrex can read it.
Please make sure you know what you're doing and test this will small amounts first to ensure it works.
Each account on the Accounts page now has a new Memo column with a "Plus" button under it.
Clicking this button will bring up the Add a Memo Key field, already populated with the account name and the public memo key listed on the blockchain.
This page won't allow you to add a Memo key until it's validated to match that of the public key recorded on the account.
Once added, you'll be dropped back on the accounts page and a small green checkmark will appear on that account.
This signifies it's setup and you can now use the "Encrypt Memo" feature on the "Send" page.
Below the memo field, a new checkbox will appear for "Encrypt Memo?", only when sending to @bittrex and only when sending from an account which you've imported the memo key for. Take note of the c7fa... memo shown above.
When you click "Preview Transaction", you'll now notice the memo field has been encrypted, and no longer displays your regular deposit memo.
Bug Fixes + Misc
- Added a warning when delegating nearly all of your SP (since you can't transact after that).
- Added error messages for delegation when you have already delegated everything and can't undelegate.
- Added a warning when attempting to send funds to @poloniex (since it never works).
- Added the version number to the application title.
- Fixed the casing for accounts while delegating SP.
changelog
c621d8f @netuoso Generalize the account creation
42bdbb0 @aaroncox Moved account creation into the accounts tab directly …
93efe4b @aaroncox Increased height of the default window
f02ac87 @aaroncox Changed password to be a private key prefixed with P
2603721 @aaroncox Reworked confirmation screen UI to fit a bit better
faacdbe @aaroncox More collapsing of elements
b21bc86 @aaroncox Removed logging
65bd6f4 @aaroncox Dynamic minimum delegations displayed
1d9ef3f @aaroncox Account creation processing events + lint
7f5d92b @aaroncox Added error handling + processing event handlers
79fecab @aaroncox Fixes #30, I believe
9b3eacf @aaroncox Removed "revokable" and now just date …
a250416 @aaroncox Updated title to contain version number …
b1bfd58 @aaroncox Bumped version numbers to 0.0.7
7d4a7c1 @aaroncox Initial support for encrypted memos …
300697e @aaroncox reorder
3fc22ae @aaroncox Add a warning when undelegating fails …
9b60f7e @aaroncox Add a warning when delegating nearly everything available …
31706f2 @aaroncox Sanitizing the username input for delegation …
fb4868c @aaroncox Moved the errors to display independently
390271b @aaroncox Added a warning to the memo key screen
7a778f3 @aaroncox Poloniex doesn't support encrypted memos
7c5a00e @aaroncox Added warnings for poloniex
Thanks!
Vessel has now seen over 1,000 downloads, thanks everyone for giving it a shot and providing feedback!
Also a special thanks goes out to @netuoso for building the account creation portion of Vessel. His efforts in getting it setup helped me focus a bit on the features I was working on to get a new release out to all of you. I've set him as a 50% beneficiary on this post (meaning he'll get half the reward) for his efforts.
Vessel is an open source project for the community, free to use, and built specifically to help secure your Steem account.