dCloud - A web3 Cross Platform Cloud Storage App

TRON Hackathon Hackathon Season 3
1

Project Name: dCloud
Project Track: Web3
Team Name: cctechmx
Team Member(s): 1
DevPost URL: dCloud | Devpost
Project Goal: Bring decentralized cloud storage (BTFS) to the masses by creating intuitive and Open Source apps for mobile, desktop and web.
Contract Address: Not applicable, using BTFS network.
Project Info:
dCloud Presentation_v2.pdf (1.9 MB)

Project Website: https://www.dcloudcs.org
Project Test Instructions:
Mobile version: dCloud v1 5 3 Setup - YouTube
macOS version: dCloud v1 5 4 macOS - YouTube
Project Details:
dCloud idea was born back in 2020 from community feedback on BitTorrent telegram chat, after the BTFS v1 main net release we all wanted to have decentralized dropbox-like mobile app in which you can easily backup your data without giving away your freedom, privacy and big bags of money.
When BTFS v1 airdrops began some advanced users from the TRON SRs and Devs discord channel took the lead and started to create host nodes on servers, laptops and even Raspberry Pis (which, based on experience end up being the hosts favorite setup) . We all shared ideas on how to make nodes more energy efficient and improve the overall node stability to get more contracts and thus more $BTT.
More and more people were interested on having their own nodes to enjoy the airdrops coming from BitTorrent team, thus, users with high cost servers started to get burn due to a higher competition with smaller and more energy efficient nodes. A clear path was paved favoring small nodes over big servers. Fairness and decentralization is possible with BTFS.

October 2020. BTFS was compiled and executed for the first time on a physical Android device using Termux terminal emulator, this gave us the confidence on the portability capabilities of BTFS and the architecture proposal of dCloud was born:

  • OS Bootstrap → dCloud devs (Built separately per OS)
  • BTFS binaries → BitTorrent
  • React Native (GUI) → dCloud devs (Android + iOS shared code)

By separating dCloud code like this we’ll be able to reduce the developing effort. BitTorrent team delivers the binaries, dCloud team devs focuses on implementing them to the specific OS environment and code a single Graphical Interface for both major mobile platforms: Android and iOS.

Mid 2021. Android OS bootstrap is completed and basic GUI is developed for BTFS v1, however we faced major roadblocks to make the app available on Google Play due to Peer to Peer code restrictions by Google Play policies, so the development switches the effort towards improving the app instead of complying with Google Play.

Feb 2022: after thousands of code lines and tons of passion dCloud is a reality (not perfect yet but working towards it). We have released a BTFS v2 compatible app and proudly can say it is now in a proof of concept stage. Basic UI functions for Android are implemented as well as out-of-the-box FULL BTFS v2 node features.

May 2022: Hackathon S1 deliveries provided and dCloud was honored to received 1st prize for web3 track :slight_smile:

June - October 2022: Even tough we have been building on a lower profile several updates were introduced in dCloud, including but not limited to:

  • Code homologation between iOS & Android (Removal of third party dependencies in Android version)
  • UI improvements
  • Upload feature in App included
  • Storage duration modification option
  • Added support for BTFS 2.2.1
  • BTFS shared library updated to BTFS 2.2.1 plus compiling options optimized for size reduction

dCloud Github repo has been released as Free & Open Source since May 2021 and will continue like this forever. We believe that keeping a FOSS will boost dCloud development in the future and will encourage further ramifications and use cases for both BTFS and dCloud. Being a FOSS project does not imply it won’t have a revenue stream, it just means anyone can collaborate to improve it or to build on top of it.

For testing and bug bounty topics please refer to: dCloud testing & $BTT bug bounty program

Project Milestones:

  1. Prototype realization → 2020 (Done) | Hackathon S1

  2. Architecture definition → 2021 (Done) | Hackathon S1

  3. Proof of concept (Android) → 2021 (Done) | Hackathon S1

  4. FOSS conception → 2021 (Done) | Hackathon S1

  5. Proof of concept (iOS) → 2022 | Hackathon S1

————— End Of Hackathon S1 deliverables ——————

  1. Renter user Experience (GUI) → 2022 | Hackathon S3 → Completed (Release dCloud v1.5.2 · simbadMarino/dCloud · GitHub)

  2. Android version simplicity improved → 2022 | Hackathon S3 → Completed (Release dCloud v1.5.3 · simbadMarino/dCloud · GitHub)

  3. Google Play Introduction → 2022 | Hackathon S3 → Not fulfilled on time

  4. macOS and Windows release → 2022 | Hackathon S3 → macOS released on v1.5.4 (dCloud v1 5 4 macOS - YouTube), windows partially developed

————— End Of Hackathon S3 deliverables ——————

  1. Upload progress animation improvements → 2023

  2. User Experience enhacements → 2023

  3. App Store introduction ->2023

  4. Host user Experience (GUI) → 2023

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Hello community & judges! I’d like to start by clarifying why we decided to join the hackathon with dCloud again, main goal is to extend the dCloud reach to desktop environments. Currently dCloud is only available for iOS and Android. By Nov 14th anyone will be able to download and test dCloud for macOS and Windows. We delayed our submission due to different reasons, on the technical side we were making sure the the mobile apps were stable enough before reaching more platforms.

Now that this is completed we entered the third hackathon to bring you desktop support as well as Google Play support. If everything goes as planned you will be able to download dCloud directly from Google Play which has been pointed out as a major weak point for dCloud form the community. We will always put our BTT/TRON and users feedback seriously.

Thanks for believing in dCloud & BTFS! We won’t let you down! :slight_smile:

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This is very interesting, because storage of data is a major facet in developments

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Will it be free storage system? Or we have to pay for storage space?

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Yes indeed, we want it to be as easy as possible

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Sounds awesome then, alot of persons do be interested

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Right now you have to pay in BTT, no fees from the app itself but price is very low :wink:

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Hi dCloud team, glad to see you back for the season 3 :wave:

I have some small questions to ask you guys if you don’t mind:
dCloud is a good way to bring users to BTFS. My question is do you have a good way to bring users to dCloud in the first place? Do you have or did you plan to make a tutorial “dCloud/BTFS for dummies”? Do you have a pitch deck targeting different audience such as universities and companies which have different needs and concerns, especially in terms of data security?

Thank you and good luck :crossed_fingers:

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Thanks or your questions Fabs! Nice to see you around here :slight_smile:

Q1) Being brutally honest on the first question: No, most users have trust issues on downloading an app from a random link on the internet, specially crypto users (our current target users) are specially cautious on this, this is why we want to focus on bringing dCloud to Google Play, this will hopefully increase confidence in our app. After this we have to improve the on-board experience for the app itself, currently it is easy to use but not much for a non-crypto user. In the future we might implement in-app purchases using either google or apple payment gateway for non.crypto users. This is still a mid term goal but planned (specially now that Apple has implemented actions against NFTs used as licenses :confused: )

Q2: We did a live stream in Spanish in the past to on-board people to dCloud/BTFS (dCloud En VIVO Tutorial - YouTube) however we need to have another round cuz BTFS and dCloud itself have been changing a lot since the early days. We can either do another live stream in English /Spanish or just a plain video or article explaining how to do it. We are open to ideas on what fits the most people.
We don’t have a pitch but would love to have one, if you have a set of questions already thought please let me know and we can try to address each one :).
We don’t feel dCloud is ready yet for the masses and that can explain why we haven’t do much on trying to reach more audiences but for sure its good to be prepared in advance with the hard questions :wink:

Thanks for the good vibes!

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Hi. I want to thank Simbad Murano for what he does. I actively test and use the iOS version and it’s really simple and cool. I hope for your development and I can’t wait for the desktop versions to be released. :slightly_smiling_face:

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I love detailed roadmaps a lot, I wish u good luck

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Are you only on tron or crosschain?

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Awesome project, you motivate me

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Having cloud storage that compute millions of data at the same time, is a great thing to look forward in the future

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Hey Danil!! appreciation is mutual, an utility app like dCloud needs to be useful and simple to use :slight_smile: Thanks for testing out this early versions! We are excited as well to release the desktop versions!

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Hello there, thanks for your interest in dCloud! The app runs on BitTorrent Chain (BTTC) because BTFS runs on it, if BTFS supports additional blockchains in the future dCloud will support them as well :wink:

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Thanks for the answer :pray:t2:

I’m sure a lot of tronics will help you to spread awareness about it in the Tron-BTTC community. What would be cool is a tutorial for crypto newbies (or potential blockchain users) that takes into account the lack of knowledge they may have (lingo, technicals or even “how do I get some BTT”) and an other one for “higher level”.

Maybe @Tronbakery will be interested in preparing an article with you for its media :eyes:

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one of the more cool projects from a technical perspective :+1:

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I would suggest the same

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We are working hard to complete the Google Play release!! Code release soon in GitHub!

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