CoinPocket. WIRED
Apple is letting bitcoin back onto the iPhone.
Over the weekend, Apple approved the first bitcoin wallet app since it announced, earlier this month, that it was going to change policy and permit bitcoin wallets in its App Store. Before then, it had been a rocky ride for folks who wanted to send and receive bitcoins on their iPhones. Over the past year, Apple dropped popular wallet apps such as Blockchain and Coinbase from the App Store–without explaining why.
The first approved app is called CoinPocket, and it was built by Michael Enriquez, an independent software developer based in Cleveland. He’s looking for work in the bitcoin world and calls his app a bit of a “resume-builder.” Back in March, he wrote a Web-based version of CoinPocket that could send and receive bitcoins on the iPhone. Then, two weeks ago, when Apple reversed course and suddenly said it would be OK with virtual currencies, Enriquez decided to build a full-fledged iOS app. He submitted CoinPocket for approval the next day, apparently getting the jump on much more popular wallet software.
Apple seems to be scrutinizing these bitcoin apps a little more carefully than other software. One week after Enriquez’s application–on Tuesday of last week– he got a note from Apple saying his app was being reviewed, but they needed a little more time. The app was approved three days after that. “It usually takes a few hours to get accepted after going into ‘In Review,’” he says “This time it took a few days.”
At press time, neither Blockchain nor Coinbase are available on the App Store, though company representatives say that both of them have submitted apps. “We still haven’t received official word yet, but we’re hopefully optimistic,” says Dan Held, a product director with Blockchain. The result is a mini-surge in CoinPocket users. Enriquez says he had less than 1,000 users before Friday. But since then, he’s had more than 2,000 downloads.
