Please welcome Spring - the nostr browser.
This is the first public Android release, we're submitting to the Play Store, but an APK is ready for you to try:
https://github.com/nostrband/nostr-universe/releases/download/v0.1.0/spring-nostr-browser-v0.1.0.apk
The app is open source:
https://github.com/nostrband/nostr-universe/
We believe this category of a Nostr-specific browser is a very powerful tool for all the nostriches and bitcoiners. It takes the experience of using Nostr micro-apps to the next level, and should help accelerate the adoption of non-social Nostr use cases.
Some screenshots are here:
View quoted note →
If you hesitate to paste your nsec into the app, we totally get it - just use your (or someone else's) npub to log in and look around. However, if you do add your real keys - those are handled by a separate library, stored in an encrypted form and protected by the Android keystore, inaccessible to any JS code, immune to XSS or app-level bugs.
What you can do today:
- add nsec keys or npubs, switch between keys
- browse various interesting events on the homepage - trending stuff, suggested profiles, big zaps, highlights, long posts, live streams, nostr web apps
- open any event in any web app that supports this event kind and has been published on nostr using NIP-89
- open/close/hide the browser tabs, grouped by app/domain
- log in inside the opened apps as if you have the 'browser extension' (nip-07 interface injected into tabs)
- pin apps/tabs to your app "drawer" for fast access
- access your contact list at the search page, profiles sorted by recently-accessed first
- search through profiles, notes and long posts
- tab menu - if there is an event-id/npub in the url of the opened tab, you can zap the event, or open with another app from the menu (more coming soon)
- context menu - if you long-tap on a link with event-id/npub in the url, you can zap/open-with from the context menu
- nostr: links clicked inside a tab are handled by showing a list of apps that support this event (NIP-89)
- long-tap on a text selection with event-id/npub to open the context menu to zap/open-with
- paste a url to the search bar to open it in a new tab
- paste an event-id/npub into the search bar to open it in a new tab
IMPORTANT: nostr apps running inside the browser tabs can sign events and decrypt private messages without a confirmation screen and your explicit permission - do not use apps you don't trust until we implement proper app permission management.
What is coming:
- key access permission management
- reordering of pins in the app drawer
- more event kinds on the homepage
- search for more event kinds
- tab switcher screen
- NWC to inject WebLN into tabs
- custom feeds on the home screen
- custom tab/context menu items
- DVMs for translation, transcription etc
- and much more!
What do you think?
Replies (81)
Wen iOS 🤣
Very interesting in going to give it a try now will let you know 😎
Soon. I mean quite soon, there's not much native code there.
I thought it was gonna be a “not doing it” lol appreciate all the work! 🤙🏻🤙🏻
It's hot love it 🔥🔥🔥
Def doing it, even desktop is somewhere out there on the roadmap
❤️❤️❤️
I think this is a BFD and opens the door for a browser on iOS someday
Great, Congratsss!!!
Great, thank you. Could you add automated builds so we can update via obtainium? 🫶
👏👏👏
👏👏👏
Oh I see probably not even necessary.
Plopped my private key in there because I trust you. Coracle and others work flawlessly, I love the idea of a dashboard and accessibility to so many pwas at your fingertips. The completely invisible nip 07 integration is so refreshing. This is a game changer.
Really great job with this release
@brugeman! I'm impressed with how far it is for an early version. I'm already subscribed on Obtanium and looking forward to many more releases.
Great to hear, thanks!
Yay!!!
Finally
Ok this is legit awesome. Finally micro web apps available on mobile.
View quoted note →I am calling it a win when I uninstall chrome 😂
This looks amazing!
View quoted note →Let's go!
This is basically the experience of Urbit / a personal server. Wild! So cool :)
Congrats, the Ux/Ui is really good super smooth, and the app itself is a really cool idea, going to use it for sure, also a very nice app for newcomers.
Never heard of Urbit, but from the description - yeah, that's roughly the same direction, a common infrastructure to run various apps and let them access your data, without middlemen or data silos.
There is so much work to be done there, almost zero caching or smart event management, just bare bones.
And then imagine we implement nostr-tools or even ndk natively to speed up event processing and provide caching for the benefit of all the apps... The possibilities are wild!
Btw shout out to
@HoloKat who designed the UI. We sucked at implementing it perfectly, but overall it's still quite pleasant!
iOS coming
please try to get the Utilities category
Why? I have zero experience with iOS. Is there a browsers category?
Hah! I was going to say, this thing screams Karnage all over it 😉 I love it! Thanks to both of you.
Thank for yet another step to make nostr the basic protocol for internet.
Let us know when you need translaton service for this app.
#nostrtranslators and #translatorsclub are ready to do their part.
To those worried about the use of nsec on the newest #bombshell dropped on #nostr today, the #NostrBrowser, dev Brugeman @artur says,
"the key is stored in local disk encrypted, nip07 js interface is injected into the web apps to access the keys."
TBH, this is what every unsold #nostrich would be bitchin about, so there you go, what are y'all gawkin #nostriches waitin for?
I'm on the lookout for the app on Play Store though, ditchin Apple - totally not an option for #zaphappy nostriches like moi #grownostr
View quoted note →Nice work mate! Looks good so far!
Any reason this couldn’t work with something like log-in with nsecBunker eventually? That would be an amazing set up without exposing the private key at all!
This is great. Wen nip-07 login?
Here we go again..
View quoted note →Sounds interesting, thanks.
Thank you! Much need!
Can somebody tell me what client/relay the communities thing with the /reddit format is called? How do I access it from desktop?
deeesktop, desktop!
I consider myself security minded and I'm not an "install absolutely random apks" kinda person, but I read half of this and the pros outweigh the cons so I have to try this out lol
First glance: All I can think is, "here it comes." This is great
Eventually)
Try habla.news or satellite.earth
No reason it can't work with nsecBunker, will definitely add it.
I will, thank you!
This app is awesome already!!
View quoted note →This is looking sexy AF. I just downloaded it and very sleek design. Good job!
Thanks, that was
@HoloKat !
😻
Amazing job! I was trying it since yesterday and have and amazing potential! That can be a big step forward nostr ux in term of auth and login. However, I have not entered the nsec because I want to wait for that permission control you speak of. Also a couple of details that I have noticed is that for example the share buttons, which normally open an android dialog menu to choose the app to share, do not appear. And the other thing that I think makes sense is to add the option to open in native app, using nip89 is great, but it would be nice to be able to open links or notes in native apps.
Otherwise amazing! It looks like a toy store with all these apps in one place😍
Thanks for the feedback! Open in a native app is definitely great idea, somehow I didn't think of it. Will look into the share buttons issue.
Very cool as always sir. So much to dig in to here!
Share button work by the navigator method share, some browsers doesn't have this capability. I was struggling with that recently xD
Yeah exactly, we will just inject that method into Spring tabs, no worries
I'm trending!
are you using nip-89 for this?
Of course
Bitcoiners know their heroes!
Congrats, great first release... where does stuff go when you download things?
Love it. Keep it up guys.
Amazing first release, wow! I've been waiting for something like this.
Graphically already quite pleasing as well.
One thing I don't really understand is the heavy focus on features that the apps in the browser specialize in, instead of leaning completely into the unique value prop of this app. Onboarding, key management, payments and customised app discovery is what I would personally fully specialise in.
Displaying "Popular" and "Trending" notes, highlights, profiles might be great to have something to show people in the app for now. What I would like to see more and more are things like:
- app recommendations and filtering based on my profile lists (f.e. dvm's my Following list use, Note taking apps my list of "Writers" use, ...)
- onboarding and helping newcomers see the "one keypair, infinite apps"
aspect of nostr you seem to be in ideal place for
- ways to organize/categorize apps, select them as favorite (NIP-89)
Also I think just one Navbar suffices. Seems like everything would fit.
Great job man. Would love to contribute (logo, UI, ...).
it's awesome 🔥
Amazing feedback Niel, thank you!
The logo does need a lot of work indeed 😉
The upper navbar has space reserved for at least a couple more icons (wallets, relays), and the bottom one too (tab switcher, tab reactions). I honestly really want to have just a single navbar, but can't come up with a good way to achieve that. Maybe if we discover that most of those buttons aren't really used often then we'd fold them...
The graph-based app recommendations are definitely coming, right now the density of the app usage graph is just not good enough to make anything interesting.
I also have doubts about the idea that people really do need advanced app categorization. NIP-89 should allow us to reduce the need for app categorization - you'd browse content and discover apps contextually when you're viewing/creating/editing some event kind. At least that's the theory.
You're asking a great question of 'what's the focus of this thing? what's the problem it's solving?' I honestly don't have much of a clear answer. Just like nostr itself, it seems to try to solve too many interconnected problems. We'll try to figure things out as we go, so thank you for your perspective, noted!
We tried to avoid focusing on the duties of apps - the content section is very light and is just an invitation to dive into one of the apps. We could just fill the whole screen with app icons, but that's so boring and identical to your existing static smartphone screen... Nostr's data portability is one of the key features, allowing you to have a dashboard of most interesting things happening across the apps. What do you think?
Great how people appreciate feedback so much on nostr!
Thanks about the navbar update, a double one seems neede then indeed. And it's still early for NIP-89 but in my mind you could be a great guiding force.
For app categorization I meant that in a personal way. As in, the user makes his own folders of apps (Bitcoin Wallets, Social, Writing, ...) as is very commonly done on mobile home screens already. Given the gazzillion new apps every week, this will be needed, for me at least ;)
"a dashboard of most interesting things happening across the apps" is the goal indeed, but if I take inspiration again from android and iOS this might maybe be better handled by an open standard for widgets? Of which you can build the first ones. That way the user can build a custom nostr dashboard.
(And someone like me that is fed up with seeing all the same Trending stuff, all the time, everywhere and doesn't think it has that much signal can just avoid all that).
(I'll maybe draw some stuff up later that came to mind)
Estou ansioso para testa-lo.
Thorough feedback is worth appreciation!
Yeah we'll keep pushing nip-89 forward w/ nostrapp.link and the Spring browser. App reviews coming soon btw.
App categorization/folders for the homescreen is a great idea, thank you!
Re. an open standard for widgets - our plan is to make homescreen completely customizable with ability to setup any number of 'feeds' (essentially relay+filters), with a nip for a 'feed' representation. Widgets are an even more general concept, will keep it in mind for the future. What kind of widgets would you find valuable, aside from various feeds?
Do you think nostr.band's 'trending' aren't much of a signal? Do you think they have some visible flaws, or is it just that they're 'everywhere' and thus annoying?
Will be very grateful for any graphical input from you!
1. With some clever use of the search bar (difference between clicking and typing) I still think you can make it with one Navbar.
2. I started playing around with my own version a bit here:
https://w3.do/OD6aT9j4
3. Customizable homescreen plans sound great. None-feed type widgets are indeed not easy to imagine, no revelations there for now.
4. Nostr.band is an awesome tool. I just personally don't like displaying the most "globally" trending things for onboarding, home screens etc, when no filter is applied. Curation with good filters (profile lists, dvm's, relays as communities, ...) is what can really set nostr apart in many ways, but it might be a bit too early.
Thank for this awesome input, Niel! Some feedback:
1. I love your push for a single navbar. Especially when the tab is open (to leave more space for the tab content). I think that in-tab navbar should be in the footer though - top one is harder to reach, bottom is much more convenient to tap fast to, say, switch between tabs. We will play with this idea on our end. And yes, your use of the search bar is quite smart, noted!
2. Great futuristic design! Although I hesitate to call this thing Portal, which is defined as 'the gate', and people here don't like gates :) And I still think the central part of the browser should be dedicated to content, not app icons. Do you think our app drawer sucks? Won't scale? Inconvenient? Or you just don't think content should take the central stage?
3. Yes I think being able to build custom content dashboard might be a very important unique feature of Nostr. Although generic widgets are an interesting direction too - imagine those were micro-micro-apps living right there on the homescreen...
4. Agree, well said.
Thank you!
Android มาเทสต์กันคับ แอปคูลๆ #spring #siamstr #thainoatrich
View quoted note →ใครใช้แอนดรอย์คุณสามารถใช้เบราเซอร์นี้ในการเชื่อมต่อไคลเอ็นต์บนเเบราเซอร์ได้เหมือนใน Pc แล้ว Login ด้วย Extension
#Siamstr #Thainostrich #Nostr
View quoted note →Try Spring v0.1.2
- key permissions
- share and copy working inside tabs
- native app option in the app selector
View quoted note →Wow ill try asap 😍
