Once you have an Ethereum wallet like Rainbow, you can use it to log in to dapps (decentralized apps)!

Instead of creating new accounts and passwords for every website you interact with, you can simply connect your wallet instead. This allows you to control your identity across every dapp you use, and take your .eth name, assets, items with you all around the internet. (If you need a username, Rainbow can help you get one of those, too.)

In this article, we’ll guide how to connect your mobile Rainbow wallet via mobile and desktop! Read this one all the way to the end — there’s important tips about how to stay safe at the end, after we teach you how to connect.

Connecting on mobile:

Step 1: To login using your wallet on mobile, locate the "Connect Wallet" button on the website you want to use

Step 2: Select “Rainbow” if it’s shown as an option, otherwise select "WalletConnect" in the list that appears →

Step 3: Choose "Rainbow" from the list of wallet apps

Connecting on desktop:

Step 1: To login using your wallet on desktop, locate the "Connect Wallet" button on the website you want to use

Step 2: Select "WalletConnect" in the list of options that appears

Step 1-2

Step 3: Open the Rainbow app on your phone and navigate to the QR scanner icon in the top right

Step 4: Scan the QR code using the QR scanner

Step 5: A connection prompt will appear for you to select "Connect"

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

How does connecting to a website or dapp work?

Wallets like Rainbow use a protocol called WalletConnect to connect your wallet to dapps. WalletConnect acts as a bridge that connects your wallet to dapps across the web3 ecosystem. When you connect your wallet to a dapp, it is WalletConnect working behind the scenes to relay that connection and share your information with the dapp you’re trying to connect to.

Tips for staying safe when connecting to dapps

Connecting your wallet makes you very vulnerable to compromise. Anything you do after connecting to a suspicious dapp can be the one that drains your wallet and steals your valuables.
Bad actors will imitate popular dapps to trick you into connecting.
Make sure you never connect to an unverified website that you do not trust. Always check the site’s URL to ensure you are on the real site and not a fake!
When in doubt, don’t.

Additional Readings:

Manage Connections and Networks

Currently, most websites use the main Ethereum network and new connections to your wallet usually default to this network. If you'd like to switch networks or wallets, you can easily do this in two ways on either your Android or iOS device: After scanning the WalletConnect QR code or tapping Rainbow in the WalletConnect list, a connection prompt will appear in the Rainbow app.

learn.rainbow.me