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Contacts, pairing and invoices

Contacts​

A contact is a name and an address: Epicbox, HTTP or Tor; the row says which. Send to a contact from its page, or pick one on Send. Contacts are kept on the device and are included in the wallet data file.

Pairing (experimental)​

Pairing and invoices are experimental and off to begin with. Turn them on in Settings › Advanced › Experimental. Off, they are hidden and nothing is checked for them; pairings already made stay saved and come back when the switch is on again.

Pairing links two wallets once. Each wallet keeps a key made for that one contact; nothing about it is shared with the Epicbox server. After pairing, a transaction file to that contact is sealed: only their wallet can open it, and it cannot be changed or forged on the way. Payments over Epicbox keep working as before.

  1. Open Contacts and choose Pair.
  2. Choose a way: Spoken, Invite by message or In person.
  3. Verify together, then They match.

Pairing needs Epic Cash Desktop or Epic Cash Mobile on both sides. A contact that is not paired still gets ordinary transaction files and Epicbox payments.

Three ways to pair​

  • Spoken. One wallet shows five pairing words and leaves a sealed invite on the connection servers (by default epicbox.epiccash.com, epicbox.stackwallet.com and the BT LABS server). The other wallet types the words under Got words or a link? and finds it. Both wallets must be online and reach one of these servers, so spoken invites need Epicbox. The words expire.
  • Invite by message. Three messages in any chat: the invite, the reply, the finish link. No server is needed, so this works when a network blocks Epicbox.
  • In person. Each phone scans the other's code. No network is used.

The wallet reads the clipboard only while Pairing is on, only when it comes to the front or the Pair screen opens, and offers each link once. It never stores or logs what it reads.

Why verify​

After pairing, both wallets show the same four pictures and names. They come from the two wallets' keys, so a pairing that someone changed on the way shows different words on the two screens.

  • Compare them on a call or in person, then tap They match. The contact becomes Verified.
  • Skip for now leaves it Paired, not verified: transaction files are still sealed, but the contact cannot send invoices until the words are checked.
  • If the words differ, tap They do not match. The pairing is dropped on this side. Pair again, in person or with a fresh invite.

The word names stay in English in every language, so two people whose apps use different languages can still compare them.

Invoices (experimental)​

Invoices need Pairing. Only a Verified contact you allow can ask you to pay: Allow invoices on the contact page, or under Settings › Invoices.

  • An invoice shows under Invoices › Pay with the contact's name, the amount and a reference.
  • Nothing is paid until you approve it with the wallet password or PIN.
  • An invoice never adds money to your wallet.
  • Turning the switch off is immediate: new invoices from that contact are dropped and open ones are declined. Invoices from anyone else are dropped unread.

To ask for a payment: Invoices › Issue on the desktop, Request a payment on the phone. On the phone a request can also be shown as a QR code the payer scans. A request nobody pays expires.

An exchange that pairs with you deposits and withdraws this way. Deposit: the exchange asks, you approve, the exchange posts. Withdrawal: the exchange sends the payment, your wallet answers on its own, the exchange posts.

After a restore​

  • With the wallet data file, a restore brings every pairing back unchanged: same keys, same Verified marks, same settings. Contacts notice nothing.
  • Without it, the pairings are gone from this wallet, but the keys are not: they come from the recovery phrase. Pair again with a contact who kept the pairing, and their wallet finds the same keys and keeps the Verified mark.
  • A contact sees Keys changed only when the phrase is a different one. That can mean a new wallet, or someone else using the name. Check the words again before trusting it.

Use a pairing on one device at a time. For one wallet on several of your own devices, see Linked devices.