Go-software for Android?

[wms]

Just found a new go app for my android, called just "Go Free" (and they have a paid version) by AI Factory. It lets you play against an AI.

On the plus side, it looks very pretty. It plays go. It lets you pick board size and handicap. I can't just the strength - I can beat it in an even game without much effort at 9x9, but it feels like it might put up a decent fight for somebody in the 10k or under range.

On the minus side, the input is hard to use (it drops the stone under your finger, where you can't see for sure that it is in the right place), scoring is problematic (doesn't let you adjust living/dead stones), and it feels slow because each time the computer puts a stone down, there's a blinky animation. You can't make your move while the animation is going, so when you know the exact response and tap your finger the moment you see the computer's stone, your tap gets ignored. That kind of thing drives me nuts.

Maybe this is old news to the rest of you, but I was pleased to find it.

[oren]

Just found a new go app for my android, called just "Go Free" (and they have a paid version) by AI Factory. It lets you play against an AI.

There is also GoDroid and Gobandroid let you play against gnugo. Settings to gnugo are selectable.

[wms]

Just found a new go app for my android, called just "Go Free" (and they have a paid version) by AI Factory. It lets you play against an AI.

There is also GoDroid and Gobandroid let you play against gnugo. Settings to gnugo are selectable.

I knew of godroid. It's OK, but not as pretty as Go Free.

Just tried gobandroid. The input was awkward again, the graphics weren't so nice, and after the game it said I had won by claiming that two clearly dead AI groups were actually alive.

[oren]

I knew of godroid. It's OK, but not as pretty as Go Free.

Just tried gobandroid. The input was awkward again, the graphics weren't so nice, and after the game it said I had won by claiming that two clearly dead AI groups were actually alive.

I don't tend to use goDroid, so I can't comment. One of my goals for gobandroid was to get the "kgs" style of input going, so that I can see where I'm placing stones. That's my biggest problem with it as well. The graphics with the "sente" board and stones look find to me. Ligi when writing it separated out the skins so the default look is unfortunately awful. It should just probably come installed with one or both skins. That game against gnugo does sound amusing. I can't comment too much on the gnugo aspects, since I use that feature rarely. You can post the game to https://github.com/ligi/gobandroid/issues , and we can take a look at it.

[wms]

I knew of godroid. It's OK, but not as pretty as Go Free.

Just tried gobandroid. The input was awkward again, the graphics weren't so nice, and after the game it said I had won by claiming that two clearly dead AI groups were actually alive.

I don't tend to use goDroid, so I can't comment. One of my goals for gobandroid was to get the "kgs" style of input going, so that I can see where I'm placing stones. That's my biggest problem with it as well. The graphics with the "sente" board and stones look find to me. Ligi when writing it separated out the skins so the default look is unfortunately awful. It should just probably come installed with one or both skins. That game against gnugo does sound amusing. I can't comment too much on the gnugo aspects, since I use that feature rarely. You can post the game to https://github.com/ligi/gobandroid/issues , and we can take a look at it.

Ah! Right, with the "sente" skin it looks much nicer. You should package the skin with the app, usually I don't bother with skins, I just want a good looking UI without having to screw around. Plus it bothers me that the skin installer is gone, with the skins still there, so I assume if I uninstall gobandroid I'll still have the skin images sitting around on my SD card. Yuck.

But on the good side, I found out that by tapping stones you can change which groups are alive and dead. That's really nice. So my second game vs. gnugo went better, in the end I was able to correctly tell it that all the gnugo stones were dead and get my win!

[shimari]

I just bought a mobile device I can play go on. I wanted an ipod touch, but wasn't willing to pay $229 for it. I don't need or want a cell phone, and didn't want an expensive contract. So I found an Archos 5 on clearance for $150. It is basically a 5 inch tablet, slightly bigger than an ipod touch. It runs google's android operating system, but has a really old version of it, Donut 1.6. Nonetheless, it seems to do everything I want it too. I downloaded Gobandroid for recording games, which seems pretty good if you install the skins. Hopefully I can try it out at club today. I also bought Magic Baduk for $3, which gives you 1,350 Go problems in four different skill levels. I figure that should do me for airplanes, and any time I am stuck waiting somewhere. One drawback is that I can't access any of the new apps that come out, because they are all running on Android 2.2, Froyo, and will soon be going to Honeycomb. There is a hack to install Froyo on the Archos, but it looks pretty complicated. So I am thinking I will just stick with the current operating system.

I had originally wanted Android so I could install the KGS client, but it doesn't appear to offer a way to record games, unless you are online. The Archos is not a phone, and is hence dependent on local wireless networks. I need to be able to record games when it is not online, so I haven't gotten KGS yet. Anyone else out there have an Android device, and which programs are you using if so? Should I try hack to Froyo, or are there not that many new programs for Go that I am missing out on?

[oren]

I had originally wanted Android so I could install the KGS client, but it doesn't appear to offer a way to record games, unless you are online. The Archos is not a phone, and is hence dependent on local wireless networks. I need to be able to record games when it is not online, so I haven't gotten KGS yet. Anyone else out there have an Android device, and which programs are you using if so? Should I try hack to Froyo, or are there not that many new programs for Go that I am missing out on?

Try gobandroid. There are still some fixes I'd like to do, but the more users, the better.

[Redbeard]

Anyone else out there have an Android device, and which programs are you using if so? Should I try hack to Froyo, or are there not that many new programs for Go that I am missing out on?

I have been using anDGS to record games. The "replace move" function is invaluable for recording during a match and I like the way it handles variations.
(sorry Oren ).
I'm not sure about compatibility, but it's a free program so it won't hurt to try.

[shimari]

Yes, I have both Gobandroid and andgs. I like Gobandroid more, but that replace a move feature in andgs is really cool. I too used to use a palm pilot, redbeard, and that feature was quite handy. I think mis-recording a stone is quite common, at least I seem to do it often. Oren and Michael have both done good jobs with these programs. Are there updates for these programs that are not available on the 1.6 operating system?

[oren]

Are there updates for these programs that are not available on the 1.6 operating system?

gobandroid doesn't use any features past 1.6, and I'd be surprised if AnDGS did either.

[CnP]

Wegoigo is good for problems on Android phones

[shimari]

Are there updates for these programs that are not available on the 1.6 operating system?

gobandroid doesn't use any features past 1.6, and I'd be surprised if AnDGS did either.

That is good to know, thanks Oren! What I like about Gobandroid is that it will scale to the full size of my screen. I also really like the cross hairs, which are very helpful. Andgs stays smaller than the screen in either view. The buttons also really confuse me. They are all unlabeled, and then later in the game some of them are labeled and others aren't.

Wegoigo is not available on the Android 1.6 market, which is exactly the sort of thing I was worried about. Seems like I will be limited to older programs if I don't hack my device to get to Android 2.2. I was also interested in the program that can display the joseki dictionary (can't remember if that is wegoigo or not). It also is not available on the 1.6 marketplace.

[oren]

That is good to know, thanks Oren! What I like about Gobandroid is that it will scale to the full size of my screen. I also really like the cross hairs, which are very helpful. Andgs stays smaller than the screen in either view. The buttons also really confuse me. They are all unlabeled, and then later in the game some of them are labeled and others aren't.

I want to fix the gobandroid interface so the stone hovers above the finger like KGS uses. One of these days I'll get some free time. That should be an easy fix.

The buttons on the bottom are [To beginning, previous move, comment, next move, final move]

[mdobbins]

Are there updates for these programs that are not available on the 1.6 operating system?

gobandroid doesn't use any features past 1.6, and I'd be surprised if AnDGS did either.

Thanks, Oren. You are correct, I still develop anDGS at the Android 1.6 level. I expect to stay at this level for quite a few years as I don't foresee needing anything beyond that to provide a useful app for the most devices.

I am still adding features and fixes to anDGS, but I am slowing down the release rate a little bit, trying to target no more frequently than month between updates. Last year I had about 30 releases and looking back that seems a bit excessive, but anDGS is fairly stable now, thanks to user feedback and the new features I am planning next look like they could be a bit more time consuming.

Fixes already in the queue for the next release (1.31)
-Fix "bad information" in game info if Komi not set.
-Delete recovery file if a different file is loaded, to stop the annoying warning popup.
-Fix editor fault on >> (go to end) after a branch replace.
-Retry on network failures. In response to the timeouts by recent DGS network problems.

[mdobbins]

That is good to know, thanks Oren! What I like about Gobandroid is that it will scale to the full size of my screen. I also really like the cross hairs, which are very helpful. Andgs stays smaller than the screen in either view. The buttons also really confuse me. They are all unlabeled, and then later in the game some of them are labeled and others aren't.

I want to fix the gobandroid interface so the stone hovers above the finger like KGS uses. One of these days I'll get some free time. That should be an easy fix.

The buttons on the bottom are [To beginning, previous move, comment, next move, final move]

If you are referring to the buttons at the bottom of the anDGS game editor, they are:
[ << ] [ < ] [ V ] [ A ] [ > ] [ >> ]
The comment is the wide button below these.

These are pseudo-directional keys that display if in a context where they can be active. Someday, I may take the time to replace the characters with real graphics to make it prettier, but I always value good function over pretty

<< - go to beginning
< - go back 1 move
V - go to next variation at this move (down)
A - go to previous variation at this move (up)
> - go to next move
>> - go to last move on main branch
in Auto Play mode the far right button can be:
O - Start or continue auto play
X - Pause auto play (you can backup and move around while in auto play, it is useful to be paused )

All of this and more is explained in the menu help that is on every view and specific to that view.

For example, if you load a set of problem sgf files to your SDcard, guess mode can be interesting.