Bitcoin Samourai Wallet removes Stealth Mode, SMS Commands, and SIM Switch Defense features

New Google Play store policies have forced the popular stealth wallet, Samourai Wallet to remove Stealth Mode, SMS Commands, and SIM Switch Defense features. The official tweet from Samourai team says Google is becoming more of a walled garden which is weird since these features have proven record of helping users transact safely.

SIM Switch Defense has alerted users to the fact that their SIM card was being hijacked due to extremely poor OPSEC by their network carrier. This feature will now be removed.

Stealth Mode has provided users in hostile environments a way to transact with BTC on their device without making it obvious they were carrying around a Bitcoin wallet. Many users in South America who use this feature are now at risk.

Remote SMS Commands allow users who lost their device to remotely erase their Bitcoin Wallet to prevent further loss of their Bitcoin stash. Google Play has killed that as well.

If you use or rely on any of these features perhaps ask Google Play to rethink their rejection of our exemption request.

Fortunately, since Android lets you install third party applications without the need of Play Store, you will soon be able to download the non nerfed version from the official Samourai wallet website. This has been confirmed in the official blog post as well.

There are also plans to let users download it from the open source F-droid app store.