The ionomy community is growing by leaps and bounds, so we wanted to make sure everyone knows where ION development is happening, and how you can take part.

Releases you can count on

First, all official releases for ION Core can be found at the IONCoinCore repository: https://github.com/ioncoincore/ion/releases. If you ever need to find a stable release of the current ION wallet, ionomy.com links you to a mirror for all stable releases.

ION is open-source

ION is an open-source project, meaning anyone can check out the code on GitHub. Not only can you inspect it, you can also take your own shot at making improvements. When the community gives feedback or contributes code, suggestions are reviewed, tested, and often integrated into official releases.

Testers needed: How community testing helps

Developers are always solving problems. Unfortunately, though, solving problems often has unexpected consequences like accidentally breaking other things! That’s where you come in. Community testing keeps ION development moving forward by closing the loop between coders and mainstream end users (most of us). It’s the everyday users who are in a great position to test new builds and point out what’s working and what’s not.

Stable releases vs. alpha and beta versions

Testing software early in its development is never risk-free. Community members participate at their own risk. A few simple precautions can go along way to mitigating those risks. We recommend that all testers maintain their private keys and securely back up their wallet.dat file. That’s good practice for anyone who stores coins — even in a stable wallet. We also recommend testing with micro-amounts of ION, which is easy to do because a single ION can be divided into a million parts. If you’re not sure about something, ask questions!

Active development

Right now there are several repositories that host ION community development. ION developers are actively implementing the ION Improvement Proposals (IIPs), features that were voted on by masternode owners. You can read more about the five IIPs on ionomy’s GitHub: https://github.com/ionomy/iips. The IIPs are being worked on in both public and private development environments.

The cutting edge: where the sausage is made

In addition to the IIPs, developers are actively working on core wallet upgrades that improve security, usability, and functionality. Some of these developments are being implemented by trusted community developers on the “cevap” repository. (Ćevapi is a Balkan dish for those who like to know how the sausage is made!) There are early releases available to test right now on https://github.com/cevap/ion. It’s a testing ground and needs to be treated as such. Raw releases. Active development. Features should be tested, run. People are running beta wallets. Beta branch with bugs.

Getting started

If you’re ready to dive into open source testing, join our amazing community and let’s see what we can all learn. If you are interested in testing but have questions or concerns, please reach out to the team on our discord server in the #development channel. You can join the discussion here: https://discord.gg/CBKatvn

Workshops for new testers

If you want training to become a community tester, we can show you how to set up a virtual machine environment that keeps testing versions completely separate from your active stable wallet. Please indicate your interest on this form.