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The Samourai team, the privacy-centric bitcoin portfolio, has removed a number of key security features from a version of its app as a result of Google's "extremely restrictive policies".
After having released version 0.99.04 of its app Tuesday on Google's digital distribution service called Google Play, Samourai explained in a blog post that three functions – stealth mode, SIM switch defense and remote SMS commands – are been removed as a result of Google's push to "become more an experience of a walled garden".
A version is available that contains these features, but not through the Google app service. Google has not responded to a request for comment.
"Walled garden" is a term synonymous with closed or closed ecosystem, which refers to a software system in which the service provider takes a holistic control over all operations in the system including applications, content and media. However, this is not a new trend assumed by Google, but rather one that has been spreading for years among large technology companies even outside of Google, including Facebook and Amazon.
Speaking with CoinDesk, the co-founder of Samourai, who follows the pseudonym "SW", explained that the observation of the enclosed garden referred to a series of policy changes made in the last year by Google towards all developers of Play Store applications.
"Samourai users may have noticed that they no longer receive notifications when they receive bitcoins, because if you want to use the notification services you need to route everything through Google services," said SW.
The accumulation of "little things like that" according to SW is pushing Samourai developers to give up more features when they release new versions of wallet to the application.
In addition, SW hopes that a compromise can be reached between Samourai and Google Play to reintroduce these features at a later time, saying:
"Self [Google] contacted, we will be able to make arrangements and be able to understand a way to maintain these characteristics. We are happy to change the code on our part to maintain compliance with them ".
"A question of life and death"
In fact, after being informed of the changes made to Google's policy in October, SW describes the request for exemption from changes to the rules immediately after highlighting in the request that "for some of these users, especially in South America, it's a matter of life or of death ".
Stealth mode is a feature that hides the existence of a bitcoin wallet on a user's mobile device so that transactions can be performed without detection in dangerous parts of the world. Remote SMS commands, highlighted by SW to CoinDesk, ensure that the "phone theft" of a user can simply send an SMS and delete the wallet from the phone securely. "
"These are things that maybe Google did not think because they are not thinking about the goal of a bitcoin wallet … What I hope is that someone in Google will manually look at what we're doing here and say well, they're actually trying to do it the right way, "said SW.
Despite Google's denial of Samourai's exemption request, the company released a temporary solution for users who still want to use these three features by uploading a full version of the bitcoin wallet, version 0.99.03, to GitHub.
According to Samourai's official Twitter account, this version is designed to "install on the Google Play version" and ensures that users are "able to access the wallet[s] as normal. "
However, as evidenced by SW, the installation from GitHub requires users to "load laterally" the application by changing the settings of mobile devices in "installation from unknown sources". This is a potentially risky move for users who are not used to manually screening third-party Google applications of parts called Android Package Kits (APK) for viruses or malicious software.
As SW explained:
"Part of what [Google] he's saying we're trying to make a safer user experience, but what they're doing is pushing users to upload APKs to their devices that, if they're not careful, can install a malicious APK. "
Nonetheless, Google Play, according to the SW co-founder, offers developers "maximum exposure" and reaches users who are "a very small team … we need people to use their wallet to support themselves".
Therefore, the wallet manufacturer will continue to use the Play Store platform as the sole distributor of the application before a "1.0 version" is officially launched.
Until then, Samourai is encourage users to ask Google Play to "rethink their refusal".
"I really hope Google reconsiders," emphasized SW.
Google Play image via Shutterstock
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