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Android go tools
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:45 pm
by pel
Hi,
I'd be interested to hear what applications you are using with your Androids.
Personally I've so far felt that the applications I've tried were lacking a bit in usability when it comes to
- Recording games
- Studying games
when compared to - for example -
Go Suite for PocketPc.
I'm hoping that I've missed something good

Re: Android go tools
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:52 pm
by oren
gobandroid is the one I'm using the most right now, since the source code is out there to make changes on.
You should give it a try and just mention what you'd like to see worked on. I don't know if the author ligi is here, but we can add it to an issue tracker. He's already modified a few things that I've asked for.
I know the next feature I want on it is a tsumego mode.
Re: Android go tools
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 4:13 pm
by pel
Oh, I was so sure I had tested this app, obviously I haven't and it seems to behave

Thank you for the tip - I'll see what/if I can do something to help with the app!
Re: Android go tools
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 4:38 pm
by wms
There's a go clock out there that's pretty cool, but of course that's for playing and not for studying.
Re: Android go tools
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:01 pm
by fwiffo
Gobandroid seems to be about the best for recording games on the phone. The KGS client is also quite nice, though you can only record games on the server, not on the phone. Which means you need to have an Internet connection the whole time.
The biggest problem I have is that capacitive touch screens are just not very accurate, which can make recording games hard, compared to e.g. using the stylus on my GameBoy DS.
Re: Android go tools
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:34 pm
by oren
fwiffo wrote:Gobandroid seems to be about the best for recording games on the phone. The KGS client is also quite nice, though you can only record games on the server, not on the phone. Which means you need to have an Internet connection the whole time.
The biggest problem I have is that capacitive touch screens are just not very accurate, which can make recording games hard, compared to e.g. using the stylus on my GameBoy DS.
I like the KGS interface for placing stones. I'm trying to get something similar on gobandroid. I don't like the current setup of placing under the finger. It's too hard to see what intersection you're trying to get on and KGS's confirm is useful.
On windows mobile with a stylus, I had igoenchi. It was a lot easier to record games.
Re: Android go tools
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:47 pm
by mdobbins
oren wrote:fwiffo wrote:Gobandroid seems to be about the best for recording games on the phone. The KGS client is also quite nice, though you can only record games on the server, not on the phone. Which means you need to have an Internet connection the whole time.
The biggest problem I have is that capacitive touch screens are just not very accurate, which can make recording games hard, compared to e.g. using the stylus on my GameBoy DS.
I like the KGS interface for placing stones. I'm trying to get something similar on gobandroid. I don't like the current setup of placing under the finger. It's too hard to see what intersection you're trying to get on and KGS's confirm is useful.
On windows mobile with a stylus, I had igoenchi. It was a lot easier to record games.
Try the interface in my program anDGS for placing stones. I know it needs a couple of features like annotations on the board to be a complete review tool (I do have plans to add more features like this), but for game recording I find it very easy, but then I programmed it for what I like (and use it every day to play on DGS)

Re: Android go tools
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 5:51 pm
by oren
mdobbins wrote:Try the interface in my program anDGS for placing stones. I know it needs a couple of features like annotations on the board to be a complete review tool (I do have plans to add more features like this), but for game recording I find it very easy, but then I programmed it for what I like (and use it every day to play on DGS)

I actually don't like the zoom-in. I prefer seeing whole board when placing. I like the ghosted out stone to find right location and then either have an anti-slip system or a confirm button for placing. I think for interfaces like this, a lot of people are just going to have different opinions.
Re: Android go tools
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 7:02 pm
by mdobbins
oren wrote:mdobbins wrote:Try the interface in my program anDGS for placing stones. I know it needs a couple of features like annotations on the board to be a complete review tool (I do have plans to add more features like this), but for game recording I find it very easy, but then I programmed it for what I like (and use it every day to play on DGS)

I actually don't like the zoom-in. I prefer seeing whole board when placing. I like the ghosted out stone to find right location and then either have an anti-slip system or a confirm button for placing. I think for interfaces like this, a lot of people are just going to have different opinions.
That is cool. For myself, I can't stand the ghosted stones, etc. Good thing we have several choices in tools. I could never get any developers to do what I wanted on an iPhone, that is why I ended up doing what I wanted on Android. Open tools make it so much easier to do it yourself without having to spend a lot of time learning how to jump through the hoops in Apples one off interface.
Re: Android go tools
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 2:14 am
by pel
wms wrote:There's a go clock out there that's pretty cool, but of course that's for playing and not for studying.
Yes! I really liked that one

Simple - yet so well done.
Re: Android go tools
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 2:17 am
by pel
oren wrote:I like the KGS interface for placing stones. I'm trying to get something similar on gobandroid. I don't like the current setup of placing under the finger. It's too hard to see what intersection you're trying to get on and KGS's confirm is useful.
On windows mobile with a stylus, I had igoenchi. It was a lot easier to record games.
Gobandroids "fat finger"-mode worked quite well for me. The only gripe I have is that the blue crosshair lines should be a lot wider. If the cross hair was easier to see my guess is that I would not even need "fat finger"-mode.
Re: Android go tools
Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2010 2:24 am
by pel
An alternative input mode could be
- Tap goban area - magnifying window appears 'out of the way'
- While keeping finger on the screen - move the stone around in the magnifying window
I'm not so sure of how this would turn out - but it seems like a good idea. You could also add coordinates to the lines in the magnyfying window.
Or you could do it the other way around.
Zoom in and create an overview window 'out of the way'.
Re: Android go tools
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 3:26 am
by GLPunzi
Re: Android go tools
Posted: Mon May 03, 2010 8:30 am
by oren
It doesn't work on Android 1.5 devices for some reason, so I've never been able to try it. Maybe if Samsung sends out an upgrade for the Moment, I can see if it's any good.
Re: Android go tools
Posted: Sat May 22, 2010 6:17 am
by alejo
On January I made a small
video review on several Android Go apps. For some reason (actually, it's my reluctance to spam people), the post went somewhat unnoticed through Godiscussions and other forums...
In fact, I created a full
category on Android Go apps in my blog, but decided to give it up due to lack of collaboration. Even then, I'd like to mention the existence of Gnugo for android cell phones.