Steem Wallet By Freewallet Review - Beware!
I recently decided to try out the Steem Wallet By Freewallet, available in the iOS app store. Actually, as of now it is the only Steem wallet available there, unless you count eSteem, which is actually a full Steemit app with access to your Steemit wallet.
Sending Steem To The Wallet
Getting some Steem into the wallet wasn't much trouble. Just click on the plus button at the bottom right, then click on "Receive," and then click on "My Wallet Address." It will show you the address to send your Steem to, along with the required memo field.
I sent 10 Steem, and within a few seconds - bang! - the Steem was there. No transaction fees and fast as greased lightning.
Getting My Steem Out - No Go!
Next, I tried sending some Steem from the Steem Freewallet to my Steemit wallet. I entered my username, kendewitt, but I wasn't sure what to put in the memo field. So I went to my Steemit wallet and found the Memo Key and scanned that into the field. I entered 1 Steem in the amount field, and clicked send. I knew something was up when I saw a red line under the transaction. I waited and waited, for over an hour, and as I write this, the red progress bar still reads "sending," and nothing has shown up in my Steemit wallet.
OK, Let's Try Again With Shapeshift
Since it seems I've lost one Steem into the ether, I thought, why not try sending some Steem through Shapeshift and converting it into actual Ether with a capital E.
I opened up Shapeshift, selected Steem to Ether, input my Ether address, and the amount of Steem to convert. Then I hit the "Shift" button, and it showed me the memo to send my Steem to for the conversion. Shapeshift doesn't tell you the address to send Steem to, which is shapeshiftio, but I already knew what it was because I spent yesterday figuring out this also user-unfriendly app yesterday.
Sweet. I went back to the Steem Freewallet and put the address and memo in. Then I put in 9 Steem in the amount field, clicked send, and...
Still waiting. As you can see, it's the transaction at the top that says "Sending," and you can also see my previous attempt to send to my Steemit wallet, which says the same.
Conclusion - Go Ahead And Experiment Like Me!
I don't recommend this wallet. But I do wish there were more people trying these things out and reporting them here on Steemit. We need better, more user-friendly on and off-ramps to get our Steem in and out. Companies that release products that aren't user-friendly and don't let you easily do what you want to do are not helping the community, and they aren't helping Steemit to succeed.
If you're a developer, get on this! You have an opportunity to provide a user-friendly experience and help the Steemit community, which in turn will increase the value of Steem.
Stay tuned for my review of Shapeshift, which also has its fair share of hiccups, but at least didn't lock my money up in a perpetually unconfirmed transaction.
Stay safe. Beware. And always dip your toes in the water before jumping in the pool.
Same thing happened to me.My first 200 STEEMS can't be withdraw since they disable payouts for 3 days now. Once i cash out, i will NEVER use this scammy wallet. Maybe they are trading with our money for profit.... i will never use a wallet where i don't control the private key.
Wow, 200? That is F'd up. Yeah, I won't be using it anymore either, except to continue to get my 10 Steem out. Hey, what's your ID in the wallet? I'll try sending my 10 Steem to you just to see what happens.
Do you have anynews?
Woah...what a case you've got there. Maybe, they got some troubles 2 years ago? I'm a new Freewallet user but so far every transaction or withdrawal is OK.
Thanks.. but is your transaction showing on the blockchain?
No, I just checked freewallet.org on Steemd
Just found this on Reddit
https://www.google.co.jp/amp/s/amp.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/4jmk1g/warning_to_1000_users_of_ethereum_wallet_by/
This reddit post is from last year 2016 tho it gives good advice tho..i personally use jaxx wallet
I have a Jaxx wallet, but it doesn't have Steem.
Yh I use changelly to transfer steem to bitcoin or ether..it a bit slow tho
is it available on playstore dear @kendewitt?
Probably, I don't have any Android devices.
Alright, thanks.
If you try it out, please let me know how it is on Android. Or do another review.
Will keep you updated .
Thanks!
I have 100 steem in the android version. Same endless red line. 3 hrs now. I may truly give up on this stuff for a while.
Well, today this app works much faster. Haven't had a delay for ages.
I also do not recommend this wallet. Check this out, they turned down the payout service!
Why? At least, this never happened to me. Been using the wallet for quite a long time, though.
I've never felt the need to have a standalone Steem wallet. Why would you need one? It's convenient having the wallet integrated right into the Steemit web app. And I figure it's about as secure as any other wallet with access to the Internet would be.
I'm just trying things out to see what's best. The built in wallet is fine, but I think it needs a little polishing. At least I can send and receive Steem with it and it doesn't lock up my transactions. As it stands, most wallets are at least a bit confusing, including the Steemit one. At worst you end up losing money.
Thanks for trying it out so we don't have to :) I am upset with some of my tech as it is.
I actually hope others do try it out and report back and maybe I'll find out that I was doing something wrong. It could just be that I'm an idiot.
Good point. Someone send a rescue -- I am so disheartened by tech, I don't get involved until about the third gen.
I will keep an eye out for others using it.
User friendliness has always been a problem with wallet design. The Steemit wallet at least tries to hide some of the underlying complexity, but you still have to deal with the matter of public / private keys and several different key types. I agree things do need to be made foolproof for the average person who just wants to make money blogging and doesn't really care about the fact that Steem is a cryptocurrency under the hood.
I had bought some loads of steem and send it to shapeshift so that it can change to ethereum. That was the last of my steem.
Sorry to hear that. I got Shapeshift to work for me today with Steem to Bitcoin directly from the Steemit wallet. Their interface for shifting Steem needs some work.
Good review .. yes we should help each other trying to post our reviews about the new wallets and exchangers and so .. I did a review before about an exchanger ripping me 40% ( by trick not as declared commission ) .. but unfortunately coz I am very new so my article wasn't recognized much among the articles of the whales lol
Well, it looks like my two transactions with the Freewallet have finally officially failed, and my 10 Steem are back. In a wallet I can't figure out how to get them out of. Anyone know what the memo should be?
kendewitt. I just sent a msg to them and as replay I got. "sorry for the inconvenience. We´re working on it to reestabilish the service." PS.: It´s running out since 2 weeks ago and my steems are stocked there.
Yes, I've been having the same issue getting STEEM out of the freewallet app. Same reply!
Hi Kendewitt I just lost 1.621 steem on the same free wallet, I posted it on my steemit profile, I got just 3votes can someone please help me up vote the post some that a lot of steeemians can be reached, imagine how much they have fleaced from unsuspecting law abiding individuals.as I speak Sith you I can't get my Steen dollars out of there.Please help.
I've been using freewallet for almost a year now and i never have problem with it.
Which OS? How do you send the Steem to another Steem wallet?
I was using android.
its the same like sending other crypto just enter the address.. If you use android try downloading their all in one wallet.. its very convenient
I use iOS. Maybe the problem is just with the iOS version.
yes they don't have all in one app in ios but the one in Android is very cool because they support Lots of coin in just one app
Just tried it again through Blocktrades. It finally worked. So I guess the problem is that you have to have a memo key when you send from Freewallet, which the Steemit wallet doesn't provide. But Blocktrades always gives you a memo to paste in.
i also have hard time sending steem before thru their stand alone wallet but all in one is better. thanks :)
Looks like the all in one Freewallet isn't available for iOS yet.
I use ios all in one wallet and didnt get any problem with transfering steem from freewallet to my steemit account. You can check https://steemit.com/@freewallet/transfers to see how much steem freewallet has totally. As of today i see nearly half a million steems on their account.
Thanks for the info. Actually, I was finally able to transfer my Steem out via Blocktrades. It seem that if you don't include a proper memo it won't transfer. I'll check out the all in one version.