As part of our Methodology, we ask:
Published code doesn’t help much if the app fails to compile.
We try to compile the published source code using the published build instructions into a binary. If that fails, we might try to work around issues but if we consistently fail to build the app, we give it this verdict and open an issue in the issue tracker of the provider to hopefully verify their app later.
The product cannot be independently verified. If the provider puts your funds at risk on purpose or by accident, you will probably not know about the issue before people start losing money. If the provider is more criminally inclined he might have collected all the backups of all the wallets, ready to be emptied at the press of a button. The product might have a formidable track record but out of distress or change in management turns out to be evil from some point on, with nobody outside ever knowing before it is too late.But we also ask:
Verdicts apply to very specific releases of products and never to the product as a whole. A new release of a product can change the product completely and thus also the verdict. This product remains listed according to its latest verdict but readers are advised to do their own research as this product might have changed for the better or worse.
This meta verdict is applied in cases of reviews that we identify as requiring an update.
This meta verdict applies to all products with verdict “reproducible” as soon as a new version is released until we test that new version, too. It also applies in cases where issues we opened are marked as resolved by the provider.
If we had more resources, we would update reviews more timely instead of assigning this meta verdict ;)
The Analysis ¶
This does not represent a full code review.
A description to our liking. Here it is in full:
Breez is a Lightning Network client which makes paying in bitcoin a seamless experience. With Breez, anyone can send or receive small payments in bitcoin. It’s simple, fast and safe.
Ok, seamless, lightning, … nice.
Breez is a non-custodial service that uses lnd and Neutrino under the hood.
We want to hear that! Be your own bank!
For more technical information, please go to: https://github.com/breez/breezmobile.
So they are non-custodial and provide source code. More work for us :)
Warning: the app is still in beta and there is a chance your money will be lost. Use this app only if you are willing to take this risk.
That’s certainly inspiring more confidence than other apps with 2 months of track record claiming to be the best in the world. :)
Well, in terms of Build Instructions the app is lacking.
$ git clone git@github.com:breez/breezmobile.git
$ cd breezmobile/
$ git tag
0.5-openbeta
0.5.8-openbeta
0.5.9-openbeta
0.7-openbeta
0.8.improvements
As on the playstore it says “Current Version: Varies with device”, we go with
what google gives us when we install it on a phone: 0.8-beta. The best match above would thus be the tag
0.8.improvements:
$ git checkout 0.8.improvements
$ cat android/app/build.gradle | grep version
versionCode 1
versionName "0.8-beta"
versionNameSuffix "-pos"
looks good so far. For now. We will not guess like this in the future.
Build breez.aar and bindings.framework as decribed in breez/breez
$ git submodule status
$
… so … the build instructions give no clue which version of breez/breez to build and there is no submodule?
$ git clone git@github.com:breez/breez.git
$ cd breez
$ git tag
0.5-openbeta
0.5.8-openbeta
Had there been a 0.8… in the breez project, we would have had a clue
where to go next but absent that, there is no hope of reproducing the app. For
now our verdict is: not verifiable.
(lw)
Do your own research!
Try out searching for "lost bitcoins", "stole my money" or "scammers" together with the wallet's name, even if you think the wallet is generally trustworthy. For all the bigger wallets you will find accusations. Make sure you understand why they were made and if you are comfortable with the provider's reaction.
If you find something we should include, you can create an issue or edit this analysis yourself and create a merge request for your changes.