I'm finally getting around to a long overdue update post for the Steem Keychain browser extension. Thankfully, you don't have to wait for me to make a post to be able to take advantage of all of the great new features that have been added since the initial release over four months ago!

What is Steem Keychain?

Steem Keychain is a browser extension (a piece of software that adds additional functionality to your web browser) that allows you to securely store your Steem account keys, easily manage multiple accounts, and seamlessly interact with many of the apps built on the Steem platform.

When using a Steem-based site that has integrated with the Keychain extension, you no longer have to copy and paste your private keys into the website, which can be a serious security concern. Instead, the site will request that the Keychain extension use the appropriate key to sign and broadcast transactions on its behalf.

Benefits

In addition to safeguarding your keys, Keychain has a few "key" features that make it really convenient for Steemians:

Manage multiple accounts in one place
Check your balances, voting mana, RC mana, transaction history, and more
Make transfers, power up/down, manage delegations and witness votes
View and manage custom tokens built on the Steem Engine platform
Seamlessly interact with many Steem-based apps without ever having to enter your private keys

Adoption

While the extension is pretty useful on its own, it's made considerably more valuable by all of the Steem-based apps that have integrated with it. Here's a list of sites (off the top of my head) that have integrated the Steem Keychain extension. If there's a site that I forgot to mention (which I'm sure there are), please let me know in the comments and I'll edit the post and add it!

Steem Monsters
Steem Engine
Steeve
Steem Peak
Peak Monsters
Magic Dice
Drug Wars
Smart Steem
Minnow Booster
Token BB
DTube (Keychain Integration Coming Soon!)

For those apps who have not integrated Keychain yet, what are you waiting for?! Keychain has already been installed by over 700 users, and with the Firefox version just released we expect that number to increase significantly.

Finally, we are pushing hard to get Steemit, Inc to integrate Keychain into steemit.com which we believe would help with their published security values as we discussed in this post. After some discussions with @elipowell it sounds like this is something that they are open to doing after they finish with some of their current priorities.

Special thanks to @eonwarped for doing all of the development work to integrate the Steem Keychain extension into condenser. You can check out how that works here: https://cryptoempirebot.com

UPDATES - Firefox Version Now Available

Now let's get to the new stuff! I'll start off with the most exciting update, which is that the Keychain extension is now available as a Firefox add-on which you can get here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/steem-keychain/

Many, many people have requested this for a long time, and I'm sorry it has taken us so long to get it out...but the wait is over and we're excited to welcome all of our friendly Firefox fans into the Keychain Klub!

I should also note that the Google Chrome version can also be used in the Brave browser, for those of you who are more privacy focused! Just click the previous link to the Chrome version while in the Brave browser and then click "Add".

UPDATES - Steem Engine Tokens

As many of you already know, we have added support for custom tokens created on the Steem Engine platform to the extension. Now you can manage all of your tokens built on the Steem platform from one simple place just as easily as you currently do with your STEEM and SBD!

UPDATES - Other New Features

Here's a list of other new features which have been added since the initial launch:

Power up and down right from the extension
Manage your witness votes right from the extension
Manage your Steem Power delegations right from the extension
Added Voting Mana and Resource Credits
Added many new API calls for apps to use

Future Plans

Here are a few things the team would like to add to the extension in the future as time and resources allow. If there is something you don't see on this list that you would like to see added, please let us know!

Support for Safari, Opera, and Microsoft Edge browsers
Integrate with new account creation services such as Steem Ninja and Blocktrades
Allow claiming account creation tokens and creating accounts right from the extension

Thank You For Your Support

Finally, the Steem Keychain team (@aggroed, @stoodkev, and myself) would like to thank everyone for their support, praise, and constructive feedback on this project. We really feel that it was something that was sorely needed in the Steem ecosystem, and that it has made interacting with the quickly growing number of Steem-based apps much easier and more secure for users. We couldn't have done it without the support of the amazing community we have here on Steem!

Steem Keychain Update - Firefox Version Now Available!