The Merit Lightwallet applications have a lot of useful features. In this post, we’ll walk you through configuring your app to increase usability and security.
To follow along, you should have an unlocked Merit Wallet either in the web wallet (WW) or the desktop lightwallet (DLW). If you need help getting your first wallet set up, see this post.
One thing to note is that all settings in the lightwallet are stored in the application, not on your wallet. This means that if you have one wallet installed on multiple devices (or if you use both the web wallet and the desktop light wallet), your settings will only apply to the device/app on which you set them.
The first set of configurations are those for your wallet. To get to the wallet settings, first, navigate to the ‘Wallets’ section via the left-hand navigation menu.
The first section you’ll see at the very top is a summary of your wallet. Here you’ll see your wallet name, wallet alias, wallet balance, and the number of invites stored.
The first thing to know is that your wallet name is configurable while your alias is not. You set your alias when the wallet was created, and you cannot change it. However, you will see how to configure and edit your wallet name in just a few moments.
Navigate to the ‘Preferences’ section of your wallet.
First, choose a wallet name. Most people use this to help identify the purpose or use of this particular wallet. This is different from your alias in that it can be changed and is more for descriptive, rather than identification purposes.
You can also visually differentiate your wallets by choosing a wallet color. This color alters the wallet’s heading color as well as the wallet indicator circle on the wallet tile wherever it appears in the app.
This is also the section where you can choose to hide your wallet balance. Turning on this feature will prevent the wallet balance from displaying in the app. It will prevent the balance of this wallet from being added to the total wallet balance shown at the top of the app. This feature is mainly for privacy and will help prevent others from viewing the contents of your wallet while in public.
Scrolling down a bit, you’ll see that you can also add a password to this wallet. The password cannot be recovered once you set it, so be sure to write it down if you choose to set one. This password will then be required to send MRT (that’s the acronym for the Merit Coin) or invite tokens. Remember that this password will only apply locally, in this app and to no other app or device on which you imported this same wallet. Setting a password adds an additional layer of security to your wallet app in the case where your device is lost or stolen.
There’s one more security feature we should mention here. Navigate to the ‘Backup’ tab, and you will find both your backup phrase (or passphrase) and your backup QR code. It is worth printing out both of these and storing them somewhere safe and secure. Either of these can be used to restore your wallet and to lose them means that you may lose access to your wallet and your Merit forever. It’s essential to keep these safe as anyone who has access to either can access your wallet. Got it? Great.
All of the settings and configurations we have covered up to this point only apply at the wallet and device level. If you have additional wallets or devices, you can configure these settings on each wallet and each device or app.
There are some additional settings in the wallet applications that warrant some explanation. So navigate to the settings page via the left-hand navigation menu.
The first settings you can configure are for email and SMS. Enabling either of these features will allow you to choose to configure your app so that you are notified when different events occur. Just enter your email or phone number and select the notifications you wish to receive.
Also on the Settings tab are the version number and commit hash. These are useful to access in the case where you encounter issues and bugs and will help the Merit team figure out what’s wrong.
That’s it! You now know how to configure your wallets and apps.
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