Sparrow vs Electrum for desktop - page 2.

satscraper

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Quote from: dkbit98 on January 18, 2024, 01:32:44 PM

Quote from: satscraper on January 18, 2024, 08:44:51 AM

Sparrow continues to strengthen its wings.

Sparrow wallet is great alternative for Electrum wallet and it's even better for connecting with hardware wallets and signing devices.
However during my testing with Krux signing device had some issues with my camera that was not detected in wallet so it was not working with Sparrow QR codes, and I had to use Specter wallet instead.

Probably the issue is hidden in Krux camera and relevant software.

And what about pairing Krux with Electrum?

I tested both Specter and Sparrow to check their performance at being pairing with Passport 2 and Sparrow seemed to me runs on steroids. Thus, I have selected Sparrow.

dkbit98

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Quote from: satscraper on January 18, 2024, 08:44:51 AM

Sparrow continues to strengthen its wings.

Sparrow wallet is great alternative for Electrum wallet and it's even better for connecting with hardware wallets and signing devices.
However during my testing with Krux signing device had some issues with my camera that was not detected in wallet so it was not working with Sparrow QR codes, and I had to use Specter wallet instead.

satscraper

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Quote from: virasog on January 18, 2024, 10:41:05 AM

I have noticed more people are favoring Sparrow wallet here as compared to the Electrum wallet. T

Contrary to Electrum which is based on the old key-centered architecture Sparrow has acquired the new descriptor-centred-architectonics which gave him many advantages particularly in interacting with other descriptor-based-wallets to transfer seamlessly the most types of addresses between them in both directions.

apogio

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Quote from: virasog on January 18, 2024, 10:41:05 AM

I have noticed more people are favoring Sparrow wallet here as compared to the Electrum wallet. The reason may be it offers better Advanced features but does the normal end user care about these features?

I guess, generally speaking, people are more aware of the Electrum wallet as compared to the Sparrow wallet. Also, if we survey the users or check the downloads of both wallets (If it is possible), I guess the Electrum wallet may lead in the more popular wallet used by the average Bitcoin users as compared to the Sparrow Wallet.

I am in no way denying some of the good features offered by the Sparrow wallet, but only comparing the popularity of both wallets and Electrum leads here.

I get your point. To be honest I use both.

Sparrow connects straight to Bitcoin Core, whereas Electrum requires an Electrum Server. I run a full Bitcoin node and an Electrum Server, so to be honest, both wallets can work for me fine.

If I couldn't install an Electrum server then the only option I had would be Sparrow. Because for me, connecting to my own node is the only hard requirement I have. I would never connect to other nodes to use a desktop wallet.

Apart from that, I like Sparrow's UI and UX more than Electrum's but this is subjective and it only applies because both the wallets are top notch, so the determining factor is the UI and the UX. If there were security issues with one of them, then I would have stronger arguments Tongue

Anyway, both wallets are great, now that I have used them for quite a while.

virasog

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Quote from: apogio on November 10, 2023, 02:44:55 PM

Since I was the OP I want to add one more argument in favour of Sparrow. I have tried communicating with the Devs, just to see their reactions and how easy it is to approach them. With Sparrow it was incredibly easier. I count this as a very important factor.

I have noticed more people are favoring Sparrow wallet here as compared to the Electrum wallet. The reason may be it offers better Advanced features but does the normal end user care about these features?

I guess, generally speaking, people are more aware of the Electrum wallet as compared to the Sparrow wallet. Also, if we survey the users or check the downloads of both wallets (If it is possible), I guess the Electrum wallet may lead in the more popular wallet used by the average Bitcoin users as compared to the Sparrow Wallet.

I am in no way denying some of the good features offered by the Sparrow wallet, but only comparing the popularity of both wallets and Electrum leads here.

satscraper

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Sparrow has been elevated to 1.8.2 version in today's release.

Among new features brought by this release Sparrow has acquired three the most noticeable (in my view) traits

"Support creating wallets from descriptors containing master xprvs"
"Support reading QRs containing revised BC-UR tags in the 40000 range, including v3 output descriptors"
"Add the calculated master fingerprint to the passphrase entry dialog in Sparrow Terminal"

As always new release has fixed a few bugs that were inherent to previous versions.

Sparrow continues to strengthen its wings.

satscraper

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I like the increase of subwindow for QR dialog implemented by Sparrow in the preceded 1.8.0. I use QR to pair Sparrow with Passport 2 and should say that with such increased subwindow the code reading is much faster and less dependent on the ambient light illumination. Heretofore, the pairing was (sometimes) painful process and required much patience.

cygan

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the new Sparrow wallet 1.8.1 update released today includes the following new functions, among others:

fee rate estimation from http://oxt.me
export transactions with historical values
wider range in fee range slider

you can see the complete changelog as well as the two download and github links below:
https://sparrowwallet.com/download/
https://github.com/sparrowwallet/sparrow/releases/tag/1.8.1

apogio

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Since I was the OP I want to add one more argument in favour of Sparrow. I have tried communicating with the Devs, just to see their reactions and how easy it is to approach them. With Sparrow it was incredibly easier. I count this as a very important factor.

dkbit98

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Quote from: cygan on November 09, 2023, 10:02:01 AM

Satochip and Krux support

Great to see support for more hardware wallets!
Sparrow is getting more serious with every new release, and in spme ways it is even getting better than Electrum wallet.

cygan

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today the 1.8.0 version of the sparrow wallet was released. among other things, the following features were added:

transaction diagram captions
larger and denser qr display
search all open wallets
airgapped message signing
Satochip and Krux support

the download and the complete changelog can be found under the following links:
https://sparrowwallet.com/download/
https://github.com/sparrowwallet/sparrow/releases/tag/1.8.0

Kruw

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Quote from: satscraper on September 04, 2023, 11:34:35 PM

Unfortunately the list of the light clients which have off-the-shelf wheels to add relevant Bloom filters are very limited at the current moment, neither Sparrow nor Electrum are in that list. Besides improvements in privacy such filters help in reducing of wallet's loading time which is not the last thing especially when working via TOR. Wasabi, indeed, has turbosynch mode that implements block filters according to BIP 157&158 but as far as I know they are provided by coordinator which is controversial matter, at least for me.

Yep, now that the framework for BIP157/BIP158 is in Core, filters served by a coordinator would be better served by the Bitcoin network for availability and reliability.

satscraper

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Quote from: Kruw on September 04, 2023, 07:08:50 AM

Quote from: Cricktor on July 09, 2023, 04:46:42 AM

It should be well known that any SPV light client wallet gives you no privacy for your wallet's addresses history. You only have privacy if you connect it to your own Electrum server which itself requires to connect to a full Bitcoin node.

You can retain your privacy as a light client by using BIP157/BIP158 block filters instead. Wasabi Wallet, Blixt, and Breez all use this technology: https://bips.xyz/157 , https://bips.xyz/158

Unfortunately the list of the light clients which have off-the-shelf wheels to add relevant Bloom filters are very limited at the current moment, neither Sparrow nor Electrum are in that list. Besides improvements in privacy such filters help in reducing of wallet's loading time which is not the last thing especially when working via TOR. Wasabi, indeed, has turbosynch mode that implements block filters according to BIP 157&158 but as far as I know they are provided by coordinator which is controversial matter, at least for me.

Cricktor

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Quote from: Kruw on September 04, 2023, 07:08:50 AM

...

Interesting and thank you for these details. More stuff to read, digest and hopefully understand. There is one thing with crypto that's for sure: there's always something new to learn and stuff you haven't heard of pops up almost daily or weekly. It dawns me, it's supposed to be that way, isn't it!

Kruw

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Quote from: Cricktor on July 09, 2023, 04:46:42 AM

It should be well known that any SPV light client wallet gives you no privacy for your wallet's addresses history. You only have privacy if you connect it to your own Electrum server which itself requires to connect to a full Bitcoin node.

You can retain your privacy as a light client by using BIP157/BIP158 block filters instead. Wasabi Wallet, Blixt, and Breez all use this technology: https://bips.xyz/157 , https://bips.xyz/158

cygan

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a few hours ago a new version of the sparrow wallet was released. with the 1.7.9 version there are again numerous fixes as well as some new features/upgrades like e.g.

wallet accounts summary dialog
keystore labels in descriptor QRs
rename labelled UTXOs by changing matching related transaction labels
HWI v2.3.1

the complete changelog can be found in the github link below:

https://sparrowwallet.com/download/
https://github.com/sparrowwallet/sparrow/releases/tag/1.7.9

o_e_l_e_o

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Quote from: apogio on August 14, 2023, 03:07:14 PM

So the reason to connect sparrow to bitcoin core instead of electrum server is the simple fact that you don't have to run an electrum server. It only requires bitcoin core to run. Am I right?

Correct. If you cannot run an Electrum server, or you don't want to, then you can connect Sparrow directly to Core, with the downside that you will need to perform a full rescan for any addresses you import as I explained above.

If you are already running your own Electrum server, then I would preferentially connect to that.

apogio

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Quote from: o_e_l_e_o on August 14, 2023, 02:55:57 PM

If you are connecting to your own full node, or you own Electrum server which is built upon your own full node, then no, there is no difference. If you start adding third party servers or nodes in to the mix, then it depends on what you are comparing.

I am running a full node and electrum server upon it, so there is no difference as you said.

So the reason to connect sparrow to bitcoin core instead of electrum server is the simple fact that you don't have to run an electrum server. It only requires bitcoin core to run. Am I right?

o_e_l_e_o

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Quote from: apogio on August 14, 2023, 02:31:04 PM

Does anybody know what the difference is between connecting Sparrow straight to Bitcoin Core Vs connecting it to Electrum Server?

If you connect directly to Bitcoin Core, Sparrow will create a wallet in Bitcoin Core for the relevant addresses, and then have to perform a full blockchain scan to get the history of those addresses (if there is any). Any time you create or import new addresses or wallets to Sparrow, then again, you'll have to perform a full scan to get any relevant history. This is just how it works for Bitcoin Core itself.

If you connect it to a full Electrum server such as Fulcrum or ElectrumX, then any addresses you add or wallets you import are updated almost instantly, just as they are when you connect your Electrum wallet to a third party server.

Quote from: apogio on August 14, 2023, 02:31:04 PM

Is there any significant difference in terms of privacy etc?

If you are connecting to your own full node, or you own Electrum server which is built upon your own full node, then no, there is no difference. If you start adding third party servers or nodes in to the mix, then it depends on what you are comparing.

apogio

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Does anybody know what the difference is between connecting Sparrow straight to Bitcoin Core Vs connecting it to Electrum Server?

Is there any significant difference in terms of privacy etc?

Topic: Sparrow vs Electrum for desktop - page 2. (Read 1754 times)