Translations Available (click a flag to view):
KGS Client for Android™
This is a page about the KGS Client for Android phones: this client is not running on all smartphones, it is only for the phones using the Android system. There is no client planned for other phones (windows mobile, iphone, etc).
Scan this image with an Android bar code scanner to take your phone straight to the Android Market page for KGS.
A KGS Client is now available for Android phones! To download it, start the android marketplace on your phone and search for "KGS." The client costs $14.99 to install on your phone. If you are uncertain about the price, feel free to test it first. The Android marketplace has a 24 hour full refund policy, so you are welcome to download, play or watch a game or two, then decide if you want to keep it. Also note that the client is still under development. At the bottom of this page you'll see a list of features that I plan on adding in the future.
Please submit any bug reports to wms@igoweb.org.
To use the Android client, you can log in, then either set up an automatch or watch a game (switch between these with the "menu" button). Any time you want more information about what you are doing, press your "menu" button and tap the "help" option.
To place a move when playing, touch the board and drag your finger. As you drag you'll see a mark above your finger, following your drag. When the mark is where you want to move, lift your finger and tap the "Confirm" button at the bottom of the screen. If you want, you can also use your direction keys, trackball, or trackpad to adjust the mark before you press "Confirm."
What is Android? Android is an operating system designed for smartphones. For details, see its Wikipedia page.
Is my smartphone an Android phone? See the list of Android devices.
I bought the Android KGS client, how can I get my 2 months of KGS+ membership? You have to email wms. Don't forget to provide both your real name and your KGS username.
I have an android phone but can't see the app in the marketplace. Why not? First, your phone must be android version 1.5 or later. Second, you must be in a country where Google lets you pay for apps. If both should be OK for you, then you should be able to see (and buy) the client.
v3.4.6 - Not released yet
- Ability to record a game as a demo game. This includes a way to load and continue demo games, and a way to tag them and see their tags. As of now (Mar. 7), this works, but could be improved a lot; in particular, you can't navigate variations, and going back and forth through the file is difficult.
- Improved appearance of game screen, with tatami mat background. I'm getting ready to finish this with a more attractive layout showing clocks, captures, and avatars.
- Added avatar widgets showing mini-sized avatars. Touching them pops up a dialog with the full sized avatar. An "X" appears over the avatar if the player has left the game.
- Dialogs for users coming/going replaced by toast now that you can see who is there on the screen.
- Added "game info" dialog to see what kind of game, the rules, etc.
v3.4.5 - Released 2010-03-01
- Fixed board display on Tattoo.
v3.4.4 - Released 2010-02-26
- Fixed bug that broke game setup for some users.
v3.4.3 - Released 2010-02-24
- Fixed the "stuck with a nonresponsive client I can't log out of" bug.
- Took out the "<<" and ">>" buttons completely. Five buttons across the bottom was too much, too easy to mis-press. Now you press and hold on the "<" and ">" buttons to move all the way to the start or end - this makes more sense anyway, it isn't something you do often, PLUS it is an enhancement of the regular buttons, so a long press is a good way to provide these commands.
- Added a "stylus mode" preference that puts the stone where you touch, instead of next to where you drag.
- Fixed "no warning for joining private or KGS Plus games" bugs.
v3.4.2 - Released 2010-02-04
Release 3.4.2 will erase all your stored preferences. Sorry about that; I'd been managing my preferences in a way that didn't quite fit with standard android, and figured out how to do it "right" but not how to transfer them to the new system. From here on out they should not change.
- If you are watching or playing in a game and switch to another activity with your phone (e.g., answer a phone call or an SMS message), then you no longer log out of the server. Instead an icon appears in the status bar of your phone, clicking it returns to the game. This still isn't perfect, because sometimes I can't be sure whether you meant to log out or not, but it is better than before I think.
- Moved game titles to the task bar.
- Active games list is now presented in full, not chopped at 100 games.
- Phones with "small" (320x200) screens will be able to see KGS in the market as soon as this release is out. I think that only the Tattoo is affected by this problem right now.
- Internal rework. I'm still learning how best to use the Android system, and some of my early choices weren't so good; for this release I did a big cleanup that shouldn't be too visible to users, but improves the system and will make later changes easier.
- All chats from all games are now visible, not just chats with your opponent when you are playing.
- BUG: You no longer get the warnings when you try to open a KGS Plus-only game and you don't have KGS Plus. Private games probably have the same problem. I'll fix this in the next release.
- BUG: It is possible to get the app "stuck" with a nonresponsive client that you can't close. The only fix is to kill the KGS app with an android process killer app.
v3.4.1 - Released 2010-01-19
- Hide suggestions when entering password on android 2.0 phones.
- Added "fan games" option when looking at a list of games.
- GUI now responds properly when phone is tilted.
- Removed requirement for direction buttons, trackpad, or trackball.
- Improved performance of the ticking clocks.
v3.4.0 - Released 2010-01-17
- Minor changes to help files from beta 10.
These probably won't be there by the time the beta period ends, but they are planned soon.
- Private chat.
- Prettier GUI screens.
- Fix score display as a game you are watching is being scored.
- Allow participation in game reviews.
- Ability to see all marks from reviews.
- Ability to enter games live and have them saved (and maybe tagged?)
- Support for languages other than English.
- Grey out games that have ended in fan lists.
- Add move numbers to game view and chats.
- Show chat from before you joined the game when you do join.
You can also check the page with the announcements during the client development.
Android is a trademark of Google Inc. Use of this trademark is subject to Google Permissions.
The tatami mat background (visible in the upcoming 3.5.6 release) is by Paul Kotta of Mellow Monk's green teas. Thanks Paul for letting me use the image!
Edit this page (requires admin or translator privilege)
