Apple's rigorous scrutiny towards open, permissionless financial interactions compelled the developer of the most favored Nostr client for iOS, Damus, to eliminate the zap functionality. For most app developers, this could signal game over, but nostriches never give up.
We firmly believe that talent, curiosity, and the potent belief in technology's transformative power are indomitable forces. These forces will empower us to construct a world underpinned by solid principles, contributing to a society that's robust, honest, and authentic.
The days of depending on a handful of power-hungry gatekeepers, who decide what we can deem right, are long gone.
If you like it then you shoulda put a zap on it
Zapplepay lets you zap notes on Damus, even though App Store masters said it’s forbidden. Given the recent call from Apple to Nostur's developer insisting on the removal of zaps, the need for a smooth alternative is more critical than ever.
Screw the rulers
Lets go over a few simple steps to send zaps and support favorite content creators regardless of whether Apple allow you to do so.
Part 1: NWC
Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) allows you to seamlessly zap notes in a single tap. Here's what you've gotta do:
- Visit https://nwc.getalby.com/ and log in with your Alby account. If you don’t have one, you can follow this simple step-by-step guide by .
NWC is a way for applications like Nostr clients to access a remote Lightning wallet through a standardized protocol. For instance, you can link your Alby account with any other application using this feature. You can find out more about it here.
- After logging in you will be welcomed by a simple page, offering you to create a new connection.
- Tap "+ New connection" button.
- Fill up required info:
- Name the connection
- Set an expiry date if you'd like
- Set a budget.
It's highly advisable to set a budget. By doing so, you'll limit the app's access to a specified amount of sats over a defined time period. This ensures that even in a worst-case scenario, not all the sats in your wallet will be at risk.
- Hit "Confirm"
- You'll be redirected to the next page, which will offer you to reveal the pairing secret. Let's leave it as is for now and move on to the next step. Do not close this tab just yet.
Please note that the term 'pairing secret' has the word 'secret' for a reason. It's critical that you keep it confidential. Disclosing it to others could grant them access to your wallet.
Part 2: Zapplepay
Zapplepay is the final piece of the puzzle that transforms likes and essentially any reaction into a zap. If Apple or any other entity decides to oust this tool, they'd have to simultaneously banish all reactions along with emojis. Now that would be quite an amusing spectacle to witness 😁.
Just a handful more steps, and we'll finalize our crafty alternative route, wrenching away the power of tech giants and any other world authorities to control who can send sats to whom:
- Visit https://www.zapplepay.com/
- Fill up the required fields (yes, I know, the impatient ones are probably already tired of all the steps, but you've only gotta do it once and I promise, we're almost done).
- Enter your npub (displayed on your Nostr profile page);
- Choose a trigger emoji (it is 🤙 for Damus and ❤️ for Nostur);
- Specify the amount of sats you want your reaction to send;
- Now, that we've come to the final step, return to the NWC tab
- Reveal the pairing secret and hit "Copy Secret"
- Paste the secret into the "nwc connection string" in your Zapplepay tab.
Remember to pay attention to the "+" sign between "nostr" and "walletconnect" in the empty field of your Zapplepay tab. The secret you copied from NWC doesn't include this "+", so you may need to insert it manually. Though the developer of Zapplepay, , mentions it's no longer necessary, it's worth being mindful of in case you encounter any hitches. Feel free to experiment with both methods to ensure success.
- Click "Save"
Wait, there's more?
Yes! There's more to it!
First of all, there's an alternative way to zap with Zapplepay. You can simply reply to the note you want to zap with an emoji you've configured. So, for example, if you want to have your likes stay the way they are, you could configure, say, a hug 🫂 emoji to send zaps and simply reply with a hug (and nothing else) to corresponding posts.
Note that at the time of writing reactions work better than replies with emojis. There is no doubt this will improve in the future.
Moreover, and this is the coolest part, you can setup an NWC connection for each separate emoji to represent different amounts of sats to be sent. This means you can zap varying quantities on the fly.
We are winning
You're all set to send zaps by simply liking the posts or replying to them with certain emojis in Nostr clients now. Nobody can stop you from doing that.
A huge shoutout to for his unique idea and marvelous execution of this sophisticated way to say "Screw Apple"!
Found this post useful? Support it by sending me a few sats via Zapplepay 💜