GetGems developer update - android build 2.1.7(410)
1. Our major concern during the last two weeks is improving Counterparty stability. We currently rely on Counterparty servers in order to perform tasks like opening a new wallet, sending coins, etc. The Counterparty dev team updates their servers and API very frequently and these changes aren't always backwards compatible. Then we suddenly find ourselves with broken API and rushing to publish fixes because important features suddenly stop working. Our plan of action is to launch a cluster of our own XCP nodes (they are open-source after all) and rely on them instead. This way, we will control the rate of updates and can make any updates to our client before the servers change. We have successfully set up a staging environment for this and will soon after some QA deploy it to production as well.
2. We finished development for unsolicited user support - meaning the ability to search the global user database of GetGems users according to their GetGems username and start a conversation with them without knowing their phone number. [In the future, our model dictates that sending unsolicited messages to users who don’t necessarily want to receive them, will cost GEMZ (this is part of the attention economy model)].
3. We are thinking of ways to increase our user base and make the GetGems app more viral. The first method we're working on is handling sending of coins (GEMZ/BTC) to contacts who don't have the GetGems app (they are using a regular Telegram client). These users will receive a Telegram message saying that their contact is trying to send coins and they have to download the app in order to collect them (download link added). This feature is currently in QA.
4. Another very exciting feature we're working on is integration with an amazing 3rd party sticker provider. This opt out feature will display context-aware stickers during chat (even animated GIFs) which makes chatting through GetGems much more visual and fun. When these special chat messages are sent to users who don't have a supporting client (like the GetGems client), they'll receive a message urging them to download the GetGems app in order to see the content of the message. We are currently in the middle of the integration phase which we expect to be finished within less than week.
5. We currently allow several GetGems accounts to be opened on the same phone number (useful in case somebody loses the passphrase and has to open a new account). This behavior causes an inconsistency when sending coins to users by text message, in case the receiving user has opened several different accounts (wallets) on the same phone number - which wallet should receive the coins? We altered the current behavior to send the coins to the latest account but this fix is temporary. We're working on a more robust solution where the receiving user will provide the sending user with the current wallet that is in use by their app.