Wisp

Wisp is a fast Android nostr client built by Barry Deen. It packages the familiar parts of a social app into one mobile experience: a chronological feed, photos and videos, rooms, live streams, private messages, reactions, and a wallet for sending money as easily as liking a post.

The client is designed for people who are new to nostr. Wisp implements the outbox model, supports dedicated DM relay sets, and uses end-to-end encrypted private messages. Users can join topic rooms, build custom feeds, upload media through Blossom, and move around the network without depending on a single platform account.

Wisp also includes a non-custodial wallet based on the Breez SDK (Spark). New users can receive zaps, send sats to creators, pay friends, and recover their wallet with a seed phrase. The wallet can display balances in USD, and encrypted wallet backups are stored on relays the user controls.

Why fund it?

Nostr needs clients that feel useful before a user understands relays, keys, or Lightning. Wisp hides much of that complexity while keeping the underlying protocol benefits intact: portable identity, user-chosen relays, open-source code, and direct bitcoin payments.

OpenSats supported Wisp in the seventeenth wave of Nostr grants. The grant helps Barry work on Wisp full-time and keeps development focused on onboarding, mobile polish, private messaging, and payments.

Barry's related nostr work also includes relay infrastructure that can make clients like Wisp more useful: MOAR, a configurable multi-tenant relay gateway; Haven, a personal relay for storing, backing up, and sharing user events; and AlgoRelay, an algorithmic relay for personalized feeds.

What's next?

The submitted roadmap started with the Q2 2026 push to leave beta, ship Normie Mode with USD-denominated wallet balances, publish on Google Play, and launch the web client. The next phase moves Wisp across platforms: Wisp for iOS is planned for development and beta launch through Q3 and Q4, while Dark Wisp explores a more privacy-focused Android fork. Relay-based private communities are planned for Q1 2027.