Developing and submitting an Embedded App

Find the necessary instructions to develop and submit an app for Ledger devices

Estimated reading time: One minute

Sections in this page

• User profile
  • If you are new to developing Ledger embedded apps
  • If you already understand BOLOS and Personal Security Devices (PSDs)

Development phases

Things to know

• The BOLOS platform (Learn - Bolos)
• Personal Security Devices (Learn - PSDs)

Things to do

• Get in touch with the Ledger developer community
• Process & Requirements
• Code

Contribute

User profile

If you are new to developing Ledger embedded apps

Please read this section entirely.

If you already understand BOLOS and Personal Security Devices (PSDs)

You can skip the first paragraph and go to Things to do.

Development phases

Things to know

The BOLOS platform (Learn - Bolos)

BOLOS is the operating system behind all Ledger personal security devices. It provides a lightweight, open-source framework for developers to build source code portable applications that run in a secure environment.

Learn about the BOLOS platform

Personal Security Devices (Learn - PSDs)

Ledger Personal Security Devices allow users to store cryptographic secrets and sign transactions securely and conveniently. It is important to understand how they work before coding an embedded application.

Learn about the personal security devices

Things to do

Get in touch with the Ledger developer community

Joining Discord is not required to code your embedded application, but it will be easier to meet with our team and discuss the specifics of your project. Join us on the Ledger’s Discord server and introduce your project in the #nano-app channel.

Process & Requirements

Make sure you understand the Process and follow the Requirements starting here. The Guidelines will also help you with certain technical topics.

Code

Embedded applications are coded in C on the Blockchain Open Ledger Operating System (BOLOS).

To develop an embedded application you will need to:

• Have Linux (or a VM running Linux)
• Set up the BOLOS environment (consisting of the Nano S, X or S Plus SDK, and two compilers) by using the application builder Docker image
• Use the Ledger Framework
• Either get a physical device or use the Speculos emulator

Other languages are possible (no details here).

Contribute

If you want to improve the documentation you can use the comment box at the bottom of each page, or open a pull request on our repository

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Types of apps and global architecture

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