Hive, a startup that develops bitcoin wallets, introduced a beta version of its new Android wallet application.

Hive, a startup serving the emerging technology, big data and mobile application development communities, presented a beta version of its Android bitcoin wallet app.

The new Hive app has a number of key features that distinguish it from other apps on the Android marketplace. For instance, it can host third-part bitcoin apps within the wallet.

Jan Vornberger, a leading application developer, said: “I would say it’s our app platform, which makes Hive extensible, [is the big differentiator].”

Moreover, Hive offers a simple interface for its users. The app includes two main screens for main wallet functions. The first one, which is a contact list, appears when the app is launched.

If a wallet contact is integrated in the address book on Android device, Hive app will display the person’s image. In order to look through the transaction history, the user needs just swip to the right. Additionally, Hive app allows to save and keep the wallet’s data in a secondary place if the device is lost.

A box icon at the upper right of the screen provides a list of installed applications. There is a marketplace app where the user can download other applications. Still, now only a few apps can be downloaded as Hive app for Android is in beta version. For example, Hive desktop client doesn’t have the Coinbase application now.

Jan Vornberger said that Coinbase app at its first bitcoin wallet project for Mac OS X had some problems but Hive is working to fix it.

Coinbase will be a useful app which will allow its users to quickly change currencies, from fiat to bitcoin and over to Hive.

The Hive wallet app will be among the first to use the payment protocol BIP70, which provides high speed of transactions. The thing is that BTC is transferred directly to the recipient and block-chain confirmation is not necessary.

Currently, BIP70 payment protocol is not widely applied. However, Vornberger think that the situation may soon change, he says: “Of course, this only works if the payee also uses the payment protocol. For all BitPay merchants that’s already the case, and I expect others will follow as well.”

Vornberger has a previous experience in building bitcoin apps for mobiles. In 2013, he launched his first wallet project dubbed Bridgewalker. The app was then acquired by Hive.

Vornberger also added that the current beta version of the Hive app is likely to be changed. He noted:

“The current [user interface] and icon set is just a placeholder for the beta and will probably look different when we release the official version.”

Hive can be downloaded in beta on the Google Play Store.