Shout-out to Fierro Labs for this great article.

Origins

I don’t think I’m alone when I say that I had a bad experience using the collection of apps by Functionland. This isn’t meant to bash on them, but meant to highlight where I think the apps could be improved. Keep in mind I am using these apps on a Pixel 4a (Android 13) and an iPhone 13.

If you watched my video FxBlox Setup video, my reactions were genuine and it was a pretty smooth first attempt. I didn’t run into major problems as many others have and all my hiccups and issues were shown on the screen. What was not shown in the video, was me playing around with the Blox, files, and photos apps afterwards. And that is what this blog post is about. Video on this and more coming soon.

FxBlox App (Android)

I went through the full setup process on Android (before the iOS app was available). The app had misspellings which I think gave people an even worse reaction to the setup process; it supported the idea that this was an “unfinished and unrefined” product and it left people with the feeling of “is this even worth it?”. People had gone into the setup process with a bad taste in their mouth already, because of the product delays that got us our devices eight months after the original estimated delivery date.

Granted, we all know it is unfinished and that is not being denied by the team at all. Because they know they are going to do something about it. They have to. But the psychological effect of people’s suspicion being proven correct had taken place. I got the sense that people are very upset about it and are getting hesitant about the success of the end product.

Side Note: To be frank, what didn’t help was a bunch of non-technical people buying into the campaign during the height of the pandemic and crypto-optimism era. They had promises of quick passive income (possibly get rich quick) and they realized they got into a little more than they could handle. But don’t worry, you got me, broski.

After the setup, I looked around the app as I’m sure many other owners did. The thing that stands out to me is that it is lacking functionality. Understandable. So here are a few things I would like to see:

• As a blox owner, I would love to have the ability to factory reset the device right from the app.
• As a blox owner, I want to have a (“+”) button in the “Blox” or “Devices” tab, that lets me go through the formatting process for a new drive to use with the currently selected tower.
• As a blox owner, I want to have a (“+”) button in the “Blox” or “Devices” tab that allows me to add another Blox to my setup/array of devices.
• As a user, I would want to have more (“!”) information buttons in the different screens to educate me on things like the “PeerID” and “DID” and, in general, education on the “Blox”, “Users/Friends”, “↑” tab, and “Devices” tabs.

My general feedback about the setup process in the FxBlox app is: it was mid. First, the “blue” color used when connecting a power adapter isn’t even blue! It’s turquoise/teal! In the setup video, we clearly see a nice BLUE color during the firmware update phase. It would be good to see the deep blue when the device turns on so we can clearly see the difference between the current teal color and white.

Second, it would be a much smoother experience if the Blox didn’t have to be turned off and on multiple times. Or educate us on why it is necessary. Lastly, it would be much more informative/reassuring to the user if there was no need to move away from the app during the firmware update. If there was a progress bar that showed when the device was done updating, that would be great.

I think your experience may vary, personally whenever I ran into an issue I just force closed the app(s) and tried again. I did this 3–4 times during the MetaMask linking and DID creation phase (which is the worst part, i.m.o).

FxFotos (iOS & Android)

The biggest issue with the FxFotos apps is how they pair with the Blox which tldr … they don’t? The first thing they will ask of you is permissions, which makes sense. It wants access to photos and it wants to see if a Blox is on the network. That’s as expected and although the app does pull in my photos, I now need to find a way to sync the Blox.

I head to Settings by clicking on the empty avatar image on the top right. I am presented with one option which is “Create DID”. Well… didn’t I already create a DID? Can’t I just use that one? Who knows. I go through the process and it asks me to open up my wallet so that I can sign a transaction. But I never get a pop up and it leaves me wondering if I should be on the Goerli testnet (just like in the Blox setup)? So, I try that and still nothing. At some point later on, I try again and I’m surprised to see the DID signature popup while on the Goerli ETH testnet on my Pixel. (It never popped up on iOS)

I’m returned to the FxFotos app. The workflow on Android is different than on iOS at this point. On Android, I am also presented with an option to “Add a Blox”. So, I fill in the information and it promptly fails upon hitting “Connect”. And it just leaves me with a couple questions.

Would a DID really be all that’s needed to sync the photos on my phone to the ones in my Blox? Why can’t I add the DID that I already created instead? Is there a way to condense that DID into like an ens domain and provide that to make the DID linking process less complicated? Did I need to be on the Goerli testnet? I hope someone can address these questions in the comments or Telegram.

FxFiles Experience (Android only)

So, if you didn’t know, the FxFiles app is only available on Android. Don’t worry iPhone users, you’re not missing out on anything. It is in essence, just a standard file viewer app. The awkward thing about it is that right when you open the app for the first time, it goes straight to the permissions page in Settings. This is weird because it should just be a pop up within the app. In this app, there is no way to connect to a DID or connect the Blox. So it’s just another app that will be the framework for how we upload files to the Fula network in the future.

What I think would be cool with this app is using it with emulators. On android and dedicated emulating devices, you need to point the emulator to where files are located. But the issue of where you get your ROMs is still a legal grey area. Imagine you downloading this app and streaming your games from your FxBlox on the go! Or having a larger access to games friends shared with you or from the community?! (we will explore this idea in a future video😜)

Conclusion

The apps need some work to say the least. Functionland has said that they are currently prioritizing the development of the incentivized testnet and will help all users troubleshoot their setup/connectivity issues before its release. This is to make sure that everyone who is able to participate, can do so.

The apps and workflow will only get better from here and future Blox owners will take the UI/UX experience for granted. I’m looking forward to that day, I hope you are too!

Follow my YouTube channel for more web 3 content. Follow my Medium blog for more personal experience content. And checkout the Functionland telegram for support and updates. Cheers!