Ledger hardware wallets operate alongside the Ledger Live app, and alongside the desktop version there is also a mobile version, allowing for synchronization across devices so you can manage your portfolio and transact on the go. Besides sending and receiving crypto, it’s possible to stake tokens, and integrations with third-party providers allow fiat conversions and token swaps, while the Ledger Recover service is also available.
When you buy a Ledger hardware wallet, as part of the setup process you’ll also need to download an official app called Ledger Live. This syncs up with your device and functions as an interface allowing you to manage your portfolio, and access a variety of useful features and third-party apps.
Ledger Live is a core part of the broader Ledger package, and alongside the desktop version, there is also a Ledger mobile app available for Android and iOS. So in this Ledger app review, let’s take a look at how to use Ledger Live on mobile, the key features, and how it measures up.
Ledger Live Origins and Changes
While Ledger was founded in 2014 and brought its first wallet to market in 2016, the Ledger Live desktop app was first launched in 2018, and the mobile version followed the year after. Since that time, Ledger Live has evolved through multiple improvements, with new features added along the way.
More recently, Ledger this year added the Ledger Stax and then the Ledger Flex devices to its hardware wallet range–find out more at the Ledger shop–and both have been designed as particularly user-friendly products. To read more about the advantages of the Ledger Stax, please check Top 5 Features of Ledger Wallets You Should Know About.
The current iteration of Ledger Live, as it is cleanly easy to navigate, ties in with this shift towards products with a broad appeal, all of which also lines up with an industry trend towards consumer crypto, which aims to abstract away blockchain technicalities, and means a high-quality mobile crypto wallet app is essential.
Frequently Asked: Is it risky to download Ledger Mobile App?
Firstly, anything crypto-related comes with a certain level of risk. So do your own research. I’m guessing that’s what you’re doing right now, so here’s our 2 cents about the risk of downloading the Ledger Live mobile app: no, it’s not risky. It’s a safety measure you’re implementing in your investment strategy. We highly recommend using a hardware wallet when investing in crypto, and Ledger is one of our favorites to use.
That said, make sure you download to official app straight from Ledger’s website to make sure you’re not downloading a scammers app (if those even exist).
A Reddit comment we can get behind on the risk of downloading Ledger Live:
How to Synchronize the Ledger Mobile App
You can go mobile-only, or for the best of all worlds it makes sense to have Ledger Live on PC, and also to set it up on mobile, allowing you to use Ledger on the go whenever you need. You can read through the Ledger wallet setup process here–How to Set Up Your Ledger Wallet: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners–and to also get the mobile version of Ledger Live you can go to your appropriate app store and download it from there.
Open the mobile app and after a couple of clicks you’ll get to a screen that says Let’s get started, with a couple of options: set up your Ledger from here–meaning not just Ledger Live, but an entirely new device–or you can choose to Access your wallet. If you already read the previous setup guide–as mentioned above–your device will be working and synced with Ledger Live on desktop, and so you can click Access your wallet and get everything connected: devices, desktop app, and mobile app.
You’ll then need to click Connect your Ledger, and the app will search for it using Bluetooth. Strangely, it only displayed an option to sync with a Ledger Nano while I was using a Ledger Stax, but that didn’t seem to matter as it then found the Stax anyway and connected seamlessly.
Having made the Bluetooth connection, you will have to tap variously on both phone and wallet when prompted in order to get the devices paired, and you’ll then have the physical connection in place.
You also need to synchronize your crypto accounts across desktop and mobile, so go to the wallet tab in the mobile app, click the big Add Account button, choose Import from desktop, and you’ll get a QR code scanner on your mobile, along with instructions.
On the desktop app, go to the Accounts tab, click the three dots up at the top right, select Export to mobile, and up pops the QR code you need to scan. Once fully scanned (it takes a few seconds) you’ll be able to import all your accounts along with desktop settings, or you can just select the components you want.
What You Can Do in Ledger Live for Mobile
Wherever you are in the app, you’ll always see–in the center at the bottom–a large, round button with two arrows depicted, and pushing this brings up all the key features of Ledger Live:
- Send and Receive. Exactly as you’d expect, you can send and receive crypto to and from the accounts you’ve added to your Ledger. This is a simple, secure process, meaning you can make crypto transfers through Ledger, on the go.
- Buy and Sell. If you go to the Buy feature, Ledger will ask for your preferred payment method (for example Visa, Mastercard, PayPal), and search for quotes from third party providers. Selling crypto also routes you to third party providers, and you’ll need to provide bank account details to receive fiat. However, while it’s useful to have these options, you can also simply on and off ramp through your preferred exchange, transferring assets to and from your Ledger.
- Stake. You can stake certain coins through a simple process in Ledger, including the likes of ETH, SOL and ADA, which allows you to earn passive rewards. To learn about this in detail, please read How to Stake Crypto With Ledger: A Complete Guide for Beginners and Experts.
- Swap. Ledger Live includes integrated token swaps, although you’ll actually be going through third-party service provider Changelly. Again, this is a useful feature to have, but going directly to a centralized exchange or a DEX may be the simpler option.
- Ledger Recover. This service is unique to Ledger, and it allows you to restore a wallet that has been lost or stolen, or that for any reason you can’t access, without the need to provide your secret recovery phrase. This can provide an additional layer of security, albeit through external parties (Ledger and two other partner companies: Coincover and EscrowTech). A one month free trial is currently on offer, but after that Ledger Recover is a subscription service costing $9.99 per month.
Important read: How to recover your Ledger wallet – and how to avoid losing it in the first place
Also, at the bottom of the app on either side of the round navigation button, you’ll find tabs labeled Earn, and Discover. Earn takes you straight through to the staking features, and Discover takes you to a suite of third party apps (and also the Ledger Recover service), including for buying and selling crypto, swapping tokens, and staking.
And if a white interface on your crypto wallet app is straining your eyes late at night, then go the settings cog up at the top right of the app, click on General, and select Theme, from where you can switch to dark mode.
Positive and Negatives of Ledger Live for Mobile
So how does the Ledger mobile app perform, and is it as slick as the newer Ledger wallets themselves? Let’s run through the pros and cons.
Positives
- Clean design work. The Ledger Stax hardware device was designed by Tony Fadell, who is well known for having previously designed the original Apple iPod, and he also worked on the iPhone. That means the Stax looks great, and the Ledger mobile app matches up nicely with the hardware.
- Easy to use. Again, this provides consistency with the hardware. Ledger’s new wallets are consumer-friendly and aim to make crypto more accessible, and so it’s critical that the Ledger Live app is equally intuitive to navigate, which is certainly the case, although of course, some knowledge of crypto is required.
- Mobility. It’s a mobile app, so perhaps this should be expected as a given, but it’s still a clear plus point: the Ledger mobile app is effective on the go, and managing crypto on mobile devices while maintaining high levels of security is a working reality through this wallet/phone/app combo.
Negatives
- There can sometimes be a lot of clicking between the two devices (phone and wallet). This will not be a problem for crypto natives used to constantly signing transactions in browser-based wallets, but may be an unexpected requirement for crypto newcomers.
- It’s not possible to check token swap rates without having the assets already in your Ledger account, meaning you can’t make comparisons across providers until after having moved coins to the hardware wallet.
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Bottom Line
In conclusion, when comparing Ledger mobile and desktop app versions, managing your portfolio is generally easier on desktop and you might want that to be the main interface for your wallet, but having a mobile version available too seems essential if crypto is to broaden its reach.
As such, the Ledger mobile app performs strongly: it’s an easy set up, simple to sync, looks clean and navigable, and you can perform all essential transactions from the mobile version, with full access to third-party apps and staking services. This all potentially changes Ledger from a device used primarily for securely vaulting long-term crypto holdings, to a more flexible, on-the-go product.
Ps. We compared Ledger to a couple of other hardware wallets:
- Ledger Stax vs Trezor Safe 5
- Ledger Nano S Plus vs Ledger Nano X
- Ledger Nano X vs Trezor Model T
- Ledger Nano X vs Coolwallet Pro
Ps2. Our team also reviewed Ledger products:
Other interesting reads:
Advanced security features on Ledger
Ledger firmware updates – how it influences your crypto safety
