How to open a lightning channel that can receive LN payments from android app (Easy)

in #bitcoin6 years ago

I've seen a few people looking to receive lightning payments on android but have no capacity for receiving. This is how you can setup your channel if you want to be able to receive LN payments on andriod. This is mainly just for people who want to play around with lightning and send/receive small payments. If you are a merchant you will probably need a full LN node or a service like BTCpay.

  1. Download the Bitcoin Lightning Wallet App https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lightning.walletapp&hl=en_US

  2. Send Bitcoin to the app wallet (on-chain) and wait for confirmations. Start with at least 0.004 BTC (There is usually a minimum funding amount of 0.003 BTC for opening a channel and you will need a little extra to cover fees).

  3. Select 'Open new channel' under the Bitcoin Logo at the bottom.

  4. Choose a Peer. Start with the recommended ACINQ node as this has receiving enabled and some others don't.

  5. Once the channel opens do a few trial payments. Try a few pixels at https://satoshis.place/

  6. To receive payments you need to first free up space by spending. Think of it like a bottle of water. When you open the channel you have a full bottle, to receive anything you first need to pour out some water. You just need another container to pour it into...

  7. Go to https://zigzag.io/#/. This site allows you to exchange Lightning bitcoin with on chain bitcoin.

  8. In the 'You send' box fill out how much space you want to free up. Select BTC (with lightning Logo) in the 'You send' section and BTC (with normal logo) in the 'You get' section. Set both the Refund Address and BTC blockchain address to the on-chain bitcoin address of your app. You may need to break up the payments into smaller amounts if you are having trouble getting the payment to go through. Scan the invoice on your app to finalise the LN transaction/s.

  9. Now you have freed up space on your channel for receiving payments. You can check this by going to 'channel details':

  10. You will also have received bitcoin back to your on chain address, you can use this bitcoin to open a new lightning channel . One channel will be used for receiving and the other for spending - The wallet will choose this automatically.

  11. To receive a LN payment go to 'receive funds' then 'Lightning payment' in the bitcoin lightning app. This will then let you generate an invoice and QR code.

Have fun and play safe