📣 Introducing zap.store 0.1.0
For months I have been dreaming of a better app store, frustrated by big tech's permissioned bs, GPG's complexities, and Obtainium's reliance on centralized services and poor UX.
Here's the first (very alpha) iteration of zap.store, a permissionless app store leveraging the nostr social graph.
✔ Android only (for now! Desktop coming soon)
✔ Obtainium drop-in replacement (smaller catalog but growing)
✔ App releases are signed/curated by this account, as developers start self-signing
✔ Web of trust check before installing an app
Get it at https://zap.store or https://github.com/zapstore/zapstore
(SHA-256 hash of the APK version 0.1.0 is 8540bd492064c17d83bcdc6d2a463c2aea46f13c2b0d13b8a96023df95bd0c9d)
Feedback more than welcome, it's also possible to send directly from the ⚙️ screen in the app
s/o to nostr legends @nielliesmons and @elsat for their invaluable help
🔥⚡
nostr:nevent1qqsp9rs7n9uktz8plu2zt4hymp30epjsqyz9ufyg5w7skxggp97p30qpzpmhxue69uhkummnw3ezumt0d5hsygrceeh65u3xgwrjsnny0wnf8zv4wd0v3374ckn9wdl92yc0qf3s05psgqqqqqqsxne66q
It even tells me I have updates available, very nice
Updating apps seemed to work as expected, it went faster than conventional updating 😊
Screenshot speaks a 1000 markdown bullet points 😉
note1q8vjume5qet2nkg9tm96wkj4svmjhl6c3suhrq23yw92zxqthckququygu
Some first feedback:
* No support for beta/pre-releases (it detects a higher installed version of Zeus than what is available)
* Clicking on a profile opens the browser in the primal 🤮 profile url instead of using the default user nostr app
* Login flow could be better using Amber, even if readonly
* I'm looking forward for more advanced features like reviews, tor proxy support, etc
nostr:nevent1qqsp9rs7n9uktz8plu2zt4hymp30epjsqyz9ufyg5w7skxggp97p30qpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qygrceeh65u3xgwrjsnny0wnf8zv4wd0v3374ckn9wdl92yc0qf3s05psgqqqqqqs3r963u
Thank you. Everybody recommending Obtainium, but my experience has been lacking! Years ago it was Fdroid, had a better experience with that I think but not perfect.
So far, Nostr has terrible UX too
I can’t think. I don’t understand what now is.
I’m trying to find the new standards
What's wrong with F-Droid? Why not put the apps on there?
Because open source devs insist on fragmentation
Because up
And how to justify the fake narrative to demand nothing?
I forgot
Zap.store is built on nostr identity layer, which other appstores lack. This means that on my follows list, I can check if e.g. @Alex Gleason uses, recommends, or verifies sha256 of a particular app.
This may sound like a trivial change, yet it changes appstores to function more in line with recommendations from friends and family in real life 🌶️
Wow, congratulations man! 🎉 🧡Some first thoughts, the app looks amazing, would be amazing to have a kind of catalog or something to discover to not start in cold. Also searches didn't disappear of you clear the text input, neither if you try to go to home screen, what you search sticks there until you search something new.
Gracias amigo, great feedback. Clearing search is weird you're right, will fix. Discovery is coming, step by step!
👀
nostr:nevent1qqsp9rs7n9uktz8plu2zt4hymp30epjsqyz9ufyg5w7skxggp97p30qpzemhxue69uhhqatjwpkx2un9d3shjtnrdakj7q3q0r8xl2njyepcw2zwv3a6dyufj4e4ajx86hz6v4ehu4gnpupxxp7sxpqqqqqqze55qcl
Can I submit an app on my own, for which I'm not the developer?
During the bootstrap phase only this nsec is signing releases but I'm building tools for developers to sign their own.
Since there is no centralized source of truth anyone can claim an app is theirs, hence the importance of the social graph to establish trust and weed out scammers
I think this is a novel approach that does not exist on centralized appstore or play store. For instance @sommerfeld can submit an app repo for @Zapstore consideration, and review.
Placeholder feature request:
https://github.com/zapstore/zapstore/issues/13
Doesn't that still depend on zap.store repo maintainers approving a PR? Still centralized
Nevemind elsat, I misread your proposal!
Correct. There could/should be some way to bug devs to take ownership.
You can have slower, app dev owned growth, or faster zap.store curation.
Even with the latter nostr WOT lends social credibility, unlike traditional appstores.
But it would be cool to also include apps where their devs don't know/care about nostr.
I was thinking of something like the Arch User Repository (AUR) where users submit packages that are not theirs and it's up to other users whether they trust it or not.
> But it would be cool to also include apps where their devs don't know/care about nostr.
This is the default during bootstrap. It will be curious to track how dev ownership trends overt time.
This will 100% be the case when we open up for users to choose their relays. Step by step
Getting there. Step by step towards more freedom, agency, and a saner world.
nostr:nevent1qqsp9rs7n9uktz8plu2zt4hymp30epjsqyz9ufyg5w7skxggp97p30qpp4mhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mqzypuvuma2wgny8pegfej8hf5n3x2hxhkgcl2utfjhxlj4zv8sycc86qcyqqqqqqgkf6dhv
Congrats on the launch! Thanks for featuring us on your home page.
Sheesh it is horrible in mobile
What would you improve?
Oh I think he means the website. Sorry can't handle it all 😂
Yeah just needs some mobile optimization
why is this not on F-driod store? Obtainium allows for direct download from dev to user. you're using Hetzner CDN on .store which is controlled by ICANN but you're tired of obtainium? Your README file is completely Blank! you have no information about this app other this post! Can you please fill this information? I do not wish to blindly download your app apk at this current state.
That's fair. Good things take time.
👀 that's a good looking app. well done 🤙🏻
sent feedback in app on network and search
Why should I trust the published version of signal that I see in zap.store?
https://github.com/tw-hx/Signal-Android
This branch is 4783 commits behind signalapp/Signal-Android:main
Good catch, this is why we show the repo URL. It was a mistake and that app was removed from the relay.
If you no longer want to see it please clear the storage for the app. In the next version there will be an easier way to do it.
it'd be great to start with a mobile friendly website 👌
Noted.
As google search lead can you bump up nostr note results in the rankings?
🤠
nice. i just downloaded it. but instead of giving the list of all the apps it is a black page with a search bar. good if you already know what app to search
Amazing, I updated a few nostr clients that were already installed. But I crashed when I installed a new app called Amber.
No Freerse can be found. Consider adding it. 😉
https://github.com/Freerse/Freerse/releases/tag/v1.5.8
Freerse is there since this afternoon! Try it on 0.1.1
What happened with Amber? Can you share more details?
Great job. I just tested that I can search for Freerse. Thanks 🫂
After I clicked the button to install Amber, the screen went white and I couldn't click anything. But I could return to the homepage. Here is a screenshot.
https://image.nostr.build/ed2908870b1ed99c168a53bc75ed836d024f96bdf73f3a92d386bbd347391edd.jpg
I clicked on other apps that were not installed and the same thing happened to them.
Are you on 0.1.1? Can you try cleaning the local cache?
Yes. I deleted the old version and reinstalled the new version. The same thing happened.
Thanks for taking the time. It's the only report like that I know of. Would you mind sharing which device and OS version you are running? Feel free to DM
Nice. Just installed the Zeus wallet. Now I'm trying to understand how to obtain a lightning address to put in my profile.
Oddbean new post about login | logout 
