Chainscanner: Evolving the Web3 User Experience

The UI of Ankr AppChains offers Web3 developers a readymade solution for every interaction their users need to have with their new network’s infrastructure. With a complete solution for creating and interfacing with dedicated blockchains, devs can focus on building an application layer unlike anything we’ve seen before.

Intro

It’s difficult explaining the benefits of a new technology like blockchain to a world of potential users while getting them as excited as you are about how it’s changing the status quo of everything from finance to gaming. For most people, seeing is believing – especially when it comes to something like their assets. The problem is, Web3 is still creating a pleasing user interface for all the ways we interact with decentralized systems, including the infrastructure behind the applications.

We need block explorers like Etherscan to see the status of transactions, sites like CoinMarketCap to get a view of token data, sites like Ankr Staking to stake crypto, and sites like Snapshot to participate in governance. These tools are a necessity for using blockchain applications, but why do they all need to be in different places? It’s kind of like having to use a different web browser for every different topic you’re curious about.

Ankr has now started solving this problem with the all-in-one user interface for Ankr AppChains: Chainscanner. This is a tool that allows us to show rather than explain the inner workings and benefits of Web3 while bringing blockchain infrastructure to life in ways we’ve never seen before.

A New Interface for Blockchain Tech

Blockchain and Web3 tech is frequently compared to the early days of computing and the internet. The internet wouldn’t see any real power until it developed a user interface strong enough to let people see just how powerful the internet and computers could be. If we take things all the way back to the 1980s, we find some of the first GUIs (graphical user interfaces) with the initial release of Microsoft Windows and Apple’s Lisa system. Introducing these interfaces became a pivotal moment when computers allowed their users to “visually navigate a virtual desktop, opening graphical ‘windows’ displaying the contents of electronic folders and files.”

(The Windows 95 UI)

In the same way, Chainscanner provides a window into all of the AppChains that are operating on Web3. Just like the first GUIs, Chainscanner allows us to dive into data, information, and tools that were previously much more difficult to extract and play with. This opens up a new world of possibilities.

(The Chainscanner UI with Meta Apes Web3 game chosen)

What Exactly Is Chainscanner? The UI for Ankr AppChains

Ankr AppChains is an ecosystem of application-specific blockchains (sidechains) that were built for Web3 projects by Ankr’s engineering team. within mother-chain environments like BNB Application Sidechains, Polygon Supernets, and Avalanche Subnets. Chainscanner and the Ankr AppChains product are one and the same. It is akin to the operating system of AppChains (like Windows is to Microsoft) that allows users to interact with the infrastructure layer that underpins the Web3 applications they are using.

Chainscanner provides a pleasing user interface over the blockchain infrastructure that powers our AppChain projects. The platform's purpose is for developers to view the core infrastructure of a blockchain easily and for consumers of those dApps to understand and visualize the actions available to them. Interacting with Chainscanner allows consumers to be truly involved, knowledgeable, and powerful stakeholders in their favorite applications while giving them the tools to go beyond a position as a speculative or even experienced token holder.

How Chainscanner Is Changing the Web3 Experience

The platform combines the following capabilities and packages them in one easy-to-use platform for a drastically improved and streamlined Web3 user experience.

• Block explorer - Transparently displays all on-chain data.
• Staking interface - Allows users to earn staking rewards with their favorite tokens.
• Validator enrollment hub Provides onboarding to contribute validator nodes.
• Governance portal Lets users vote on app updates and the direction of ecosystems.
• Development resource Offers devs testnet tokens, docs, and resources for building.
• Information source Provides unique insight into the hosted chains and apps.

Chainscanner doubles as an environment where users can learn everything they need to know about different chains and dApps before using them – combining CoinMarketCap-like research tools with Etherscan-like functionality. This is an incredibly helpful platform for dApps to showcase their offerings and attract new communities. The bottom line is that the combination of AppChains and Chainscanner is making Web3 more scalable, user friendly, and welcoming to newcomers and vets alike.

Taking the Burden Off Of Web3 Developers

For Web3 developers, the combination of Ankr AppChains and Chainscanner is incredibly powerful. It provides an end-to-end solution not just for creating their own blockchain but for creating all of the infrastructure that makes it usable like a block explorer, staking interface, and even an easy path to list tokens on exchanges. This lets builders save an enormous amount of effort and hoursso they can focus on creating applications that wow users, gain traction, and climb the dApp rankings.

Final Thoughts

Chainscanner, in its current state, is like the very first version of Microsoft Windows or any Apple OS. It is a tool that will be iterated on until it is virtually unrecognizable, with endless room for improvement. The future will hold entirely new ways of interacting with AppChains, visualizing data in more attractive ways, contributing independent infrastructure, and many other improvements that are currently unforeseeable. We are incredibly excited for what the future holds and truly unlocking the potential for a user-friendly and utterly powerful Web3.

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