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Market trends report
In conjunction with the announcement of EOSIO Labs™, Block.one has released the Universal Authenticator Library (UAL) repository to explore the future of private key management. UAL is a first step towards our explorations in the wallet ecosystem, an opportunity for both Block.one and others in the EOSIO developer community to collaboratively push the boundaries of what is possible within the industry and the EOSIO™ software. As with all releases of EOSIO Labs, we welcome and encourage your feedback in shaping the future of this repository.
Within the EOSIO wallet ecosystem, our interest has been focused on the direction of key and password management. In the realm of blockchain technology, wallets serve a critical role in authenticating users who interact with blockchain applications. To that end, the term ‘wallet’ is potentially misleading if the user’s intention was to ‘authenticate’ with a service or to ‘sign’ a transaction. Since traditional wallets functioned as a place to store tokens, the blockchain community adopted the term ‘wallet’ in the early stages of its development. However, as the industry focus gradually shifted towards the utility of blockchain applications, storing tokens became less of a focus compared to using applications, and more as a byproduct of utility. Cognizant of this change, we have considered a number of terms that would more accurately describe the purpose of ‘wallets,’ from ‘signature providers’ to ‘authenticators’ to ‘transaction signers’. Ultimately, we have decided that for the purposes of this library and our future literature in the wallet ecosystem, we will be referring to all ‘wallets’ as ‘authenticators’.
Over the last several months, we’ve been thinking a lot about how EOSIO-enabled applications interface with authenticators, and how that impacts both the developer and user experiences. There has been tremendous growth in the ‘wallet’ ecosystem. Hardware and software authenticators purposefully built for EOSIO as well as migrating to EOSIO from other blockchain and non blockchain industries have created tremendous value for blockchain application users and the ability to choose an authenticator that fits their needs.
However, with an ever-increasing number of authenticators comes increasing complexity. App developers must integrate with each authenticator (or give up and choose not to), and end users face increased uncertainty — even confusion — as the user experience of signing transactions across various independently operated authenticators diverge. Users may even find that the app they want to use doesn’t work at all with their authenticator of choice.
To address these issues, we’ve begun exploring interchangeable integrations for Authenticators through a universal API, the Universal Authenticator Library.
The Universal Authenticator Library (UAL) allows app developers to integrate with a variety of authenticators (wallets, app explorers, key managers, etc.) by coding to a single, universal API. It also offers developers an optional, but opinionated, UI layer so that application users get a consistent look and feel independent of the authenticator they are using or the site they are on.
Once integrated, apps are able to provide their users with an experience akin to social login or single sign on with very little effort. And as more authenticators are developed, supporting them is as simple as adding a few lines of code.
Universal Authenticator Library consists of three main components: UAL Core, Authenticators and Renderers.
The best way to achieve optimized wallet usability is to enable the free market to operate efficiently. Users must be able to vote for the best user experience with their choice of authenticator. This user choice will be the engine that drives rapid improvements to the blockchain user experience.
A unifying tool like Universal Authenticator Library will do just that — help developers drive adoption of their applications with a simplified and familiar transaction signing experience, and reduce friction for users so that they have the freedom to use the wallet of their choice.
Universal Authenticator Library is in alpha and it needs your contributions. Here are some of the ways you can get started:
If you are interested in providing feedback and working more closely with our team to improve the EOSIO Labs repositories for developers, you can send our developer relations team an email at developers@block.one.
You can also keep up to date with future updates by subscribing to our mailing list on the EOSIO Developer Portal. We are excited to be continually improving the usability of the software for EOSIO developers as we continue laying a foundation for the mass adoption of blockchain technology.
All product and company names are trademarks™ or registered® trademarks of their respective holders. Use of them does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by them.
Disclaimer: Block.one makes its contribution on a voluntary basis as a member of the EOSIO community and is not responsible for ensuring the overall performance of the software or any related applications. We make no representation, warranty, guarantee or undertaking in respect of the releases described here, the related GitHub release, the EOSIO software or any related documentation, whether expressed or implied, including but not limited to the warranties or merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and noninfringement. In no event shall we be liable for any claim, damages or other liability, whether in an action of contract, tort or otherwise, arising from, out of or in connection with the software or documentation or the use or other dealings in the software or documentation. Any test results or performance figures are indicative and will not reflect performance under all conditions. Any reference to any third party or third-party product, resource or service is not an endorsement or recommendation by Block.one. We are not responsible, and disclaim any and all responsibility and liability, for your use of or reliance on any of these resources. Third-party resources may be updated, changed or terminated at any time, so the information here may be out of date or inaccurate.
EOSIO Labs™ Release: The Universal Authenticator Library (UAL) — Increasing the Accessibility of… was originally published in eosio on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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