Install

How to install AirWallet on Mac, Windows, Linux, Android and Chrome, check that your download is genuine, and get a copy onto your offline device without the internet.

Downloads are invite-only on airwallet.tech for now, so these steps start from the download you were given. For what each system needs and what works where, see Platforms and compatibility. Before you open anything, it's worth checking your download (see Check your download, below): it takes a couple of minutes.

#Which file is which

Each platform has two downloads: AirWallet (the one app, used as an everyday wallet or as an offline signer) and AirWallet Offline (the hardened build that can't connect at all). File names end with the date they were built.

Not sure which Mac you have? Apple menu → About This Mac: it lists a "Chip" (Apple Silicon) or a "Processor" (Intel).

#Mac

AirWallet needs macOS 11 or later.

1. Open the .dmg file.
2. Drag AirWallet (or AirWallet Offline) onto the Applications folder in that window.
3. Open AirWallet from Applications (or Launchpad).
4. The first time, macOS may say that Apple could not verify the app, because AirWallet isn't notarized by Apple yet. Click Done, then open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway. You only do this once. On older versions of macOS, you can instead Control-click the app → Open → Open.

If you open AirWallet from somewhere other than Applications, it offers to move itself there. Your wallets aren't stored inside the app (they're in your user Library), so moving or updating the app doesn't touch them.

#Windows

AirWallet runs on Windows 10 and 11, 64-bit.

1. Double-click the .exe file.
2. If Windows says "Windows protected your PC", click More info → Run anyway. Windows shows this because the app isn't code-signed yet.

The first start unpacks the app (into your user's AppData folder) and checks every file; after that it starts straight away. It opens in its own window. Your wallets are kept separately from the app itself.

#Linux

The Linux download is an AppImage for 64-bit PCs (x86-64): one file, nothing to install.

1. Make the file executable. In a terminal:

   chmod +x AirWallet-Linux-x86_64-<date>.AppImage

Or, in your file manager: right-click the file → Properties → Permissions, and allow executing it as a program (the exact wording depends on your desktop).

1. Double-click the file.

Double-clicking needs FUSE (fusermount), which most desktop distributions already have. If the AppImage won't start, run it like this instead:

./AirWallet-Linux-x86_64-<date>.AppImage --appimage-extract-and-run

AirWallet opens in its own window (WebKitGTK, the engine GNOME's apps use); without WebKitGTK, it opens in a locked-down browser window instead.

#Android

There are two Android apps, and a phone can hold both:

• AirWallet: the one app, used as your everyday wallet or as an offline signer.
• AirWallet Offline: the hardened offline app. It has no internet permission at all.

To install one:

1. Copy the .apk file to the phone, or download it on the phone.
2. Open it (for example from the Files app or your downloads).
3. Android asks whether to allow the app you opened it from to install apps. Allow it (Allow from this source), then go back and tap Install.

Android 10 and newer run AirWallet as it comes. Android 7, 8 and 9 need a newer web engine first, once, while the phone is still online: update Chrome from the Play Store (on Android 7 to 9, Chrome is the phone's web engine), then switch to airplane mode. No Google account? Aurora Store, from F-Droid, installs Play Store apps anonymously. A factory reset puts the old version back.

#Chrome extension

The extension needs Chrome 116 or later.

1. Unzip the download into a folder where it can stay. AirWallet runs from that folder, so don't delete or move it afterwards.
2. Open chrome://extensions in Chrome.
3. Turn on Developer mode (top right).
4. Click Load unpacked and pick the AirWallet-Chrome folder (for the offline extension: AirWallet-Offline-Chrome).

To update, replace the folder's contents with the new version, then click the reload button (↻) on AirWallet's card in chrome://extensions.

The offline extension turns a Chromebook, or any computer with Chrome, into an offline signer: Developer mode is all it needs. Its toolbar button opens it in a tab, where the camera works.

#Check your download

The release files are listed with their SHA-256 checksums in SHA256SUMS.txt, and that list is signed with AirWallet's release key. Checking both tells you the file is exactly the one that was built, not a swapped copy. Do it every time, and always for an "update" someone forwards to you.

You need three files next to the file you downloaded: SHA256SUMS.txt, SHA256SUMS.txt.sig and RELEASE-SIGNING-KEY.txt. The release key's fingerprint is:

SHA256:SV031wxY3OKk8aYTY4a6b7UYa80onuXiDi0tFobgOFE

Compare it with what the person who sent you AirWallet told you some other way (in person, in a call): a swapped file could come with a swapped key.

1. Check the list's signature. On a Mac or Linux, in Terminal:

   ssh-keygen -Y verify -f RELEASE-SIGNING-KEY.txt -I airwallet-release -n airwallet-release -s SHA256SUMS.txt.sig < SHA256SUMS.txt

On Windows, in PowerShell:

   Get-Content SHA256SUMS.txt -Raw | ssh-keygen -Y verify -f RELEASE-SIGNING-KEY.txt -I airwallet-release -n airwallet-release -s SHA256SUMS.txt.sig

It must say: Good "airwallet-release" signature for airwallet-release with ED25519 key SHA256:SV031wxY3OKk8aYTY4a6b7UYa80onuXiDi0tFobgOFE

1. Check your file is on the list. On a Mac or Linux:

   shasum -a 256 -c SHA256SUMS.txt --ignore-missing

It must say OK next to your file. On Windows:

   certutil -hashfile <your file> SHA256

Then find that number in SHA256SUMS.txt.

ssh-keygen already comes with macOS, Linux and Windows 10 and 11. To install an Android app or the extension, check the file on a computer first, then copy it across. More on downloads and updates: Updates, downloads and outside code.

#Which copy goes on the offline device

You have two choices for the device that holds your keys:

• AirWallet in Offline signer mode. The same app as your everyday wallet; you pick Offline signer on its first screen. It refuses every connection in its own code, and on a Mac or Linux the operating system backs that up.
• AirWallet Offline. The hardened build. It can't connect at all and has no mode to switch. On Android this is the stronger choice: the app has no internet permission, so Android itself refuses it every connection, while AirWallet in Offline signer mode relies on its own lock.

On a Chromebook, or any computer where you'd rather use Chrome, the AirWallet Offline extension is the signer: it has no network permission.

Either way, keep the device itself offline: airplane mode on, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off, and no other apps on it. How each platform blocks the network: Keeping the offline device offline.

#Getting it there without the internet

Carry the file across any way that isn't the internet: a USB cable, a USB stick, a microSD card or Bluetooth file sharing. Check the file on your computer first (above).

You can also download AirWallet right on the device and then switch the internet off for good. That's very slightly less airtight, and it still works.

Do things in this order:

1. Old Android phones (7 to 9) only: while the phone is still online, update Chrome (see Android, above). Without that update, AirWallet may not start.
2. Install AirWallet (or AirWallet Offline) on the device.
3. Take the device offline for good: airplane mode on, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off.
4. Only then create your wallet (or import one), so a new wallet's keys never exist on a connected device.

Next: First launch.