We all use Chrome everyday, and yet we just discovered that Chrome extensions can be given permission to connect to your USB devices! Once we heard this, we had to make this extension that communicates with Opendime over USB.
This extension can:
- load the random numbers (256k bytes) to initialize new Opendimes
- read the bitcoin payment address, and link to public block explorers
- perform an in-depth verification of the Opendime, including:
- bitcoin messages signature (using a unique nonce each time)
- factory certificate verification
- verification by signed message (with nonce) to the anti-counterfieting chip
- be easy to use
Once installed, all of the above is done just by plugging in an Opendime!
Go to the Chrome Web Store, and click Add Extension, and you're done!
Problem: Chrome no longer support extensions on any OS other than ChromeOS. See notes below.
- https://developer.chrome.com/apps top level docs
- https://developer.chrome.com/apps/app_usb USB interface stuff
- https://developer.chrome.com/apps/api_index useful index page
- http://semantic-ui.com/examples/theming.html Semantic UI CSS cheatsheet
- Specific version of Sematic UI: Verion 2.2.9 taken from https://github.com/Semantic-Org/Semantic-UI-CSS/releases
- https://davidshimjs.github.io/qrcodejs/ for QR code rendering
- http://pkijs.org/ x.509 ertificate stuff
- https://github.com/indutny/elliptic EC curve stuff
- https://github.com/bitcoinjs/bitcoinjs-lib Bitcoin stuff
- chrome://extensions keep open all the dev time
- chrome://device-log lists USB events!
- look at the end of
code.js
for some things that can be commented one way or the other; you can make it display test data for most cases - App window is currently coded to be 840x640px but we can change that. You should work in a similarly-sized window.
- simply load
main.html
into chrome from the filesystem, and most things work:
open main.html
To debug/change it as an extension, go to chrome://extensions/
and...
- click "Developer mode"
- click "Load unpacked extension"
- give it this directory (ie. where
manifest.json
is located) - Use the Launch and/or Reload buttons
- once installed, will also pop up any time an opendime is inserted
Chrome "apps" are depreciated and going away. However, "extensions"
do not support USB, so we are an "app" today. Still, it's listed
under 'extensions' in all Chrome UI (present version), but since
we are an "app", the contents of manifest.json
is quite limited.
Also the top of every page in the google docs, they warn us:
Important: Chrome will be removing support for Chrome Apps on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Chrome OS will continue to support Chrome Apps. Additionally, Chrome and the Web Store will continue to support extensions on all platforms. Read the announcement and learn more about migrating your app.
Timeline for app non-support is 2018, and WebUSB won't be ready for years. Let's just take it one day at a time.
This app works well with NW.js without any changes. Going forward, a few changes would fix URL opening and improve the native menus and such.
To try it with NW.js, first download NW.js for your platform. Then
run the executable (NW.exe
or nwjs
) from inside this directory
with .
(just dot) as the first argument.