Monostr
Nostr client for Android with tips in Monero. No Lightning, no custodian, no wallet inside the app.
monostr.com · relay wss://relay.monostr.com · watcher https://watcher.monostr.com
Monostr is in beta.
Also on Zapstore and as APK in the GitHub releases (Obtainium works too).
What it does
- Feed, threads, profiles with Posts and Replies tabs; like, repost, quote, reply
- Pictures in notes and own uploads (Blossom), sensitive content blurred
- Private messages (NIP-17), private bookmarks and mutes (NIP-51), search (NIP-50), notifications
- Sign in with Amber (NIP-55) or a key (nsec, or a password-protected ncryptsec, NIP-49; the key can be backed up as an ncryptsec too); light and dark theme; English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish
How the Monero tips work
- The sender taps the Monero icon under a note or on a profile. Monostr opens the sender's own wallet app (Monerujo, Cake, Feather …) with a
monero: link; the app never holds a wallet or a spend key.
- To receive tips, a user registers the primary address and the private view key with a watcher —
watcher.monostr.com by default, or one they run themselves (watcher/). The view key lets the watcher see incoming payments but never spend; the watcher operator can see them too.
- The watcher publishes a signed tip receipt on Nostr. Clients show the tip under the note.
Privacy: the view key reveals every incoming payment to that wallet, not only tips, so use a separate wallet just for tips (setup can create one), never your everyday wallet. Receipts are public: recipient, time and the note are visible to anyone, the sender too unless the tip is anonymous, and the amount unless the recipient hides amounts (hidden by default for new setups from 0.18). For no third party at all, run your own watcher.
The protocol is specified in docs/protocol/monostr-tips.md.
Repository
| Path | Content |
|---|
android/ | The app (Kotlin, Jetpack Compose, rust-nostr) |
watcher/ | Go service that detects payments (monero-lws) and publishes tip receipts |
relay/, search/, media/ | Configuration of relay.monostr.com, the search relay and the Blossom server |
docs/protocol/ | Tip protocol (NIP style) |
fastlane/ | Store texts and pictures |
Build
JDK 21, Android SDK (compileSdk 37):
cd android
./gradlew clean :app:assembleRelease --no-build-cache
Without signing properties the result is an unsigned APK at android/app/build/outputs/apk/release/app-release.apk. The release build is reproducible: a fresh clone builds the same bytes as the published APK (before signing). The version lives in android/version.properties.
Release APKs are signed with this certificate (SHA-256):
61:9d:7b:95:c3:ed:13:1c:35:bc:ee:f6:34:89:34:2d:45:5b:3a:99:f4:ab:b8:be:28:91:9e:33:33:02:fe:1e
Privacy notes
- Tip amounts are hidden by default for new setups from 0.18 (protocol 0.5; existing setups are asked once): the intent and receipt leave out the amount, so only the count of tips shows; Settings can show amounts again.
- DM notifications hide the sender name by default; Settings can show it.
- Pictures load only on tap by default; Settings can load them automatically.
- Notes, likes and reposts carry a NIP-89
client tag ("via Monostr") only if you switch it on in Settings; off by default.
- Long-form articles (NIP-23) open in an in-app reader with likes, reposts, replies, bookmarks and Monero tips; profiles show an Articles tab.
- A Monero address can be published without a watcher (NIP-A3 payto); tips to people who only have a payto address open your wallet without a confirmation in Monostr.
- Follower numbers are the largest count the relays report (NIP-45); no proprietary index is asked (since 0.22.4).
License
Monostr (app, watcher, relay and ops configuration) is free software under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 or later (SPDX-License-Identifier: AGPL-3.0-or-later), see LICENSE. Copyright (C) 2026 The Monostr contributors.
Parts of the code were written with the help of AI coding tools.
