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Why Shaping Open Standards Matters | Sovereign Tech Agency

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Sovereign Tech Fellowship | Sovereign Tech Agency

I am no longer an AI-em-dash (—) apologist. If I create a text with AI, I leave them in. Whether the text is worth reading is not a matter of em-dash use, it's a matter of the text being interesting and relevant.

"Thinking of AI as an instrument recenters the focus on practice. Instruments require a performance that relies on technique—the horn makes the sound, but how and what you blow into it matters; the drum machine keeps time and plays the samples, but what you sample and how you swing on top of it becomes your signature. In other words, instruments can surprise you with what they offer, but they are not automatic. In the end, they require a touch. You use a tool, but you play an instrument. It’s a more expansive way of doing, and the doing of it all is important, because that’s where you develop the instincts for excellence. There is no purpose to better machines if they do not also produce better humans." https://frankchimero.com/blog/2025/beyond-the-machine/

Ordinals are very much a "bicycle bear" (https://frankchimero.com/blog/2015/the-webs-grain/).

Arké now has a roadmap page, with lots of em dashes, proudly wearing its AI imprint. Might still change, but it's a good start.

Roadmap

Where Arké is, and is going.

No good reasons anymore for apps to not be localized or have solid accessibility. AI can bust this out super fast.

Arké now has a custom BDK-based onchain wallet to complement the Ark functionality. Onchain transactions now blend in seamlessly with Ark and Lightning.

The latest recovery phrase UI for Arké. You scratch off the surface to reveal the words. And there's a PDF to print and copy it onto that matches the two-column layout on the screen. Fold it twice, and put it in an envelope and tuck it away somewhere safe. Many won't print, but it might still be informative.

Feedback on Arké from TestFlight peeps is coming in and there's a lot to fix and improve. Nothing major luckily, but a ton of refinement. So far, so good.

Polishing a wallet UI is a ton of work. Was fixing a lot of details in the Arké send flow today around resolving BIP-353 addresses and showing the resolved address appropriately. With various input methods like manual, paste, scan, BIP-21 click, and contacts, it gets quite intricate quickly. And then add all the different address types on top of that. All just so users don't have to care and it "just works".

One of the interesting things about Ark (Second implementation) payments is that when you receive, you cannot see who sent it to you. There's no address in the data. Great for privacy, but can also be a bit confusing for users.

Cool that the future of the Bitcoin Core GUI is getting some discussion. There is a great QML replacement in the works, but it needs more developer contribution.

Bitcoin Design

Bitcoin Core App

This case study is shares the vision for the build process of Bitcoin Core App as well as it’s history.

Delving Bitcoin

The future of the Bitcoin Core GUI

A year ago i posted a call to action regarding Bitcoin Core’s priorities, which led to interesting discussions between some Bitcoin Core contribu...

Would love to see more Nostr apps that connect people in simple, fun, approachable, unique ways. What can be done beyond the text feed/forum/chat?

We had a nice project intro session about Arké yesterday, covering the origin story, ambitions, UX and design details, and lots more. Check it out.

Coming up soon (probably):

Arké

Pay with bitcoin. In stylé.

Arké is self-custodial. The app relies on iCloud and Keychain, which iOS users already trust. An Esplora server helps with bitcoin network data, and an Ark server helps with payments. So far there's no need for any other server infrastructure and I am looking to keep it that way if possible.

Arké

Pay with bitcoin. In stylé.

Arké is heading toward TestFlight alpha testing. It's an Ark wallet, based on the implementation by Second, and on signet at the moment. If you'd like to give it a whirl, there's a waitlist signup on the website:

Arké

Pay with bitcoin. In stylé.

Time to mess around and break things.

If bitcoin is good for data storage, anyone know how I can sync my iCloud to it? Would be nice to have an extra backup.

When you hide your balance in Arké, you see a nice scenic view of a Tuscan landscape instead. I find it feels quite nice. A masked balance ("*****") still makes you think about the balance. A nice landscape is more relaxing.

Arké is coming along nicely. I like this phase where you do a ton of small iteration and tweaking and you can feel the overall experience becoming more polished and smooth. And I am sure a whole bunch of my decisions will prove to be wrong in user testing. But that’s no reason not go out with opinionated UX. Have a good weekend. And let’s be kind to one another.