❓Why TonSafe?
Now that we have released TonSafe let's share some of the history and reasons for developing TonSafe.
History
It all started when one of the current BASED Group, which did not yet exist at the time, discovered TON. One of the few channels he followed since many years, and never put into the archives or on mute, was that of Pavel Durov, co-founder of Telegram.
His reason for following Durov over the years was a combination of admiration for Telegram which was the only messenger that he would use, refusing to use all others for their lack of privacy and security, and a liking for the content of Durov's posts.
It was thus, as with most of those who came into TON at the end of 2021, that he (re) discovered TON after thinking it had died some years earlier. Full of enthusiasm based on Pavel's post, he immediately invested all savings in TON and downloaded a wallet.
This was now the start of a rather unsatisfactory experience, to put it politely. The wallet was the most popular at the time (and still is), and he went on to try out all the other available TON wallets for Android, iOS, MacOS and web.
None of these wallets met his full expectations from a "UX" (user experience) perspective, nor in the "UI" (user interface), his favorite in fact being the most simple of them all, the "Toncoin wallet" developed by the TON Foundation.
After making contacts with the two main mobile wallets some months later, to offer advice on UX problems and UI issues, as well as safety issues with one of the wallets, both wallet teams were not positively responsive, and so this idea was abandoned.
Realizing that TON will never reach the aim of "mass adoption" in a positive UX sense unless the first and primary interface with The Open Network blockchain - the wallet - is a positive experience to non-crypto newcomers, he determined to fix that issue.
This is how he called us together: from past projects and ongoing relationships over the years, two different teams (one UK based and one US based) were called upon and briefed with an introduction to TON and a vision and roadmap for a new TON wallet.
These two teams from two different companies allocated some human and financial resources to create a BASED Group to work on the task of bringing TON to the wider communities around the world, via a better wallet user experience.
Thus BASED Group was formed in early 2022 and the project to build TonSafe started.
You can read something about our values which was blogged back in May, here.
Policy
For want of a better word, what is the theme, policy, priority or distinguishing feature of TonSafe among the various TON Wallets?
To answer this question, let us first look at what we as outsiders to the other main mobile wallet teams, and thus wallet users, perceive are the strong points of the main TON Mobile non-custodial wallet products: Toncoin, Tonkeeper and Tonhub.
Tonkeeper
Without Tonkeeper, TonSafe would not be here today. Every new technology requires pioneers who bravely lead the way. If we did not have those aviators who took risks, pushed the boundaries into flight, and flew by the seat of their pants, we would not have modern day aviation with all its comforts and safe, secure travel for the masses.
Tonkeeper blazed the way, and continues to do so, with its bold willingness to tackle newest features on the TON blockchain, and to develop those features. Naturally this results in more bugs and issues that inevitably are tested on their users, who likewise take the credit for taking risks for progress and giving feedback to assist development.
Current examples of this would include NFT (still fairly new on TON blockchain and certainly new in wallets), DNS domains which can be used as wallet addresses, before that, Subscriptions, just to name three examples.
Tonhub
Without Tonhub, TonSafe would not be here today. Produced by the Whales team, Tonhub has set the example for all TON wallets in providing its code as open source so that it can be inspected, improved upon, utilized and checked for errors by anyone at any time. This is another major contribution that cannot be under appreciated.
Toncoin
Another open source wallet, with less features than the two above mentioned, was produced by the TON Foundation, and this is certainly a safe wallet to use provided the underlying operating system and device used is safe, as with any wallet.
It is thanks to these three wallets that TonSafe was able to come into being, for without the willingness to develop and experiment, and without the good features and lacking areas of these wallets, there would be no TonSafe, or, no need for TonSafe.
TonSafe
TonSafe was thus born thanks to both the positive aspects of the above policies of other wallets, and thanks to the negative aspects of areas perceived to be lacking for the professional and business markets, as well as the general non-technical public.
As implied in the name, TonSafe is all about Safety. We do not make assumptions about users abilities, or anything else. We actively watch ordinary non-crypto people take TonSafe into their hands, and what they do with it, rightly or wrongly.
By having the other wallets blazing the trail, TonSafe is able to focus on features that our target market above described are seeking, while leaving some of the newer features that contain risks, until we are satisfied they're 100% safe.
TonSafe focus and priority is on user education both within the app and on our website, and mitigating the possibilities for costly errors, wallet user safety in general, and a stable, safe and reliable wallet app.
We also give priority to bringing TON to the world across as many language barriers as possible, as well as to those who do not have a history of cryptocurrency use.
We actively listen to our users and we care about each and every one of you, to have a positive, safe and reliable experience. We do not assume that users will not face any issues or questions, so we published an extensive FAQ and offer pro-active Support.
Thank you for reading, and we hope you will follow our blog, as well as TonSafe.