I guess it’s due to caching these details. And I suppose it didn’t really happen often enough to bother many people. I suppose if you started a new game with the person then their new name would show then.
Annoying I suppose but not critical to game play really!
Hi,
I discovered go recently and really love your app!
The focus on a minimalist and beautiful UX is really great compared to the tons of other apps (and I’m not surprised there are so many comments about UX in this thread).
As a newcomer, I was mainly looking for an app with an AI, a tutorial section, and wich was visually appealing.
So I get that I’m not the main target of the app, but here is what I personnally would like to see as improvements:
- an app name that doesn’t imply that you can only play online
- make it more visible that it is open source (key differentiating factor for me), it’s not in the Play Store description and not even in the “About” of the app
- Play Store also says that the app has “in app purchases”, which didn’t help me choose the app, until I realized it was only for donations => you could clarify that in the Play Store description (cf LiChess first line of description: “Built for the love of chess, this app is open source and free for all.”)
- “play locally with a friend” section that I hope may be comming? (I saw that in a Figma mockup!)
- have a weaker KataGo, but I saw you’re already working on this
- add OGS puzzles in the learn section, that would add new tutorials “for free” (I saw someone in the thread who forked the app and added this?)
- I don’t really get the “apple on a book” metaphor for the “Learn” section icon…
And some small bugs/improvements I saw:
- AI games UX is not on par with online games UX: old tabbar (different icons and without text) and broken landscape layout
- switching between portrait and landscape seems to kill KataGo
- on the last page of tutorial (“Cutting stones”), the “Next” button is visible yet disabled
I also really like LiChess mobile app (which is more a bundled web app), and it successfully targets newcomers as well as advanced players (and offline / online).
So it’s a proof that they are not incompatible and I hope your app can become the LiChess of go!! (LiGo? ;))
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Great feedback. I’ll let @MrAlex reply properly but a couple of thoughts from me
Do you have any ideas? (That are not confusable with other Go apps)
Apple for teacher?
The donation page in the app is also somewhat confusing, it really looks like it would be a donation to OGS, but from what I read in this very thread it turns out to be a donation to MrAlex instead?
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Well I saw there is already a discussion about this on GitHub.
As I said, I think (and many may disagree) that adding anything related to “OGS” or “online” could be harmfull for app adoption.
Choosing a name is a very personal matter and I wouldn’t like other people naming my projects! Anyway, how about “Pocket Go” or “Pocket Goban”?
OK! Doesn’t ring a bell here in France 
I want to understand this. I would like to donate to OGS(as well as the OGS App/Mr. Alex).
Ps: Translate google.
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To support OGS
Support for MrAlex’s app is via the app in play store (Online GO (early access) - I can’t immediately see how to link to it, sorry)
If possible use this link to support the app financially, as the in-app support is subject to taxes and fees:
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This is very frustrating (but not uncommon) as I don’t understand what part of the text on that page talks about OGS. You’re not the only one that’s confused though, as anoek mentioned to me he got at least one complaint from somebody that donated through the app and was expecting the supporter features of OGS.
Not sure how to improve this, maybe just changing the name of the app would help. My personal favourite is “Sente - Online GO”.
Ps: thank you guys for the very detailed feedback above. I will answer it later when I can give it the proper time.
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I think it’s not so much what it says, but what it doesn’t say.
Your app is a client to connect to the Online Go Server.
So when we use your app, we use both your app and OGS. And the donation page doesn’t mention that at all. It just says “Support the Online Go project” without mentioning that the support would go to you and not to OGS or even that there is a difference between the two. There is nothing on the donation page to explain or even hint that “the Online Go project” only includes the client, and not the server.
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Fair enough. I added a new paragraph stating that I am not associated with OGS, and also removed the potentially confusing Online GO name (I will replace it again when I think of a good one). Does that make it clearer?
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Thank you, I’m glad you like it!
There are maybe 10 apps that allow you to play against an AI. The differentiating factor for the app IS that you can play online. But I do agree it needs a better name… how about "Sente - Online GO?
It is in the support section, but maybe you’re right, I should make it more clear in the app’s description. Please note the app is not de-Google-ified though if that’s what you’re looking for.
Technically I am committing a violation of Google’s term of services by not giving anything to the users in exchange for their money. I can’t advertise it as “donation” because then I’d have to register a Not-for-profit organization (incidentally like Lichess does). Lichess though makes in excess of $500.000 per year, whereas I make enough to take my wife out for a fancy dinner every month (in Central London). It’s worth it for THEM but not for me.
yes, but spare time is hard to come by with a 1-year old. It has to be done at some point though.
I want to but it’s actually very hard to dumb down a neural network AI.
it’s planned, I think also started a few times, but never found the time.
I am not very happy with it either to be honest, but I am a software developer that has to do also marketing and, UI and UX for the app. If you can find a free icon (monochrome and SVG) in packages such as Stylistica - 65 - Dryicons do let me know
I agree, needs improvement
errr… no… not on all the phones I’ve tried, although that katago is a bit of a monster with the resources, perhaps on some phone it does? What phone are you trying it on?
Yeah, never got to finish the tutorial
This is not incidental, as I took heavy inspiration from LiChess in all things, including layouts and UX. The supporter page in particular is a result of adapting their support page to the look and feel of a mobile app (they have much better marketing). You are comparing a very lucrative enterprise with a hobby project, as you can see from the above link the main developer is taking some $52.000 per year from Lichess and several other people are taking twice as much for other services. There’s no way I can compete with that.
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New version on the way:
· Added ability to change the board background (thanks to MathieuDreano for the contribution).
· Player with provisional ranks have a ? displayed instead of their rank (thanks to Chosenundead15 for the contribution).
· Starting from next version, the status of the messages will not reset when updating the app.
· Implemented an offline icon on the main page (work in progress).
· Fixed a bug in which the last analysis position was shown when the game was over.
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Well, as a beginner who wanted to discover Go, I tested the 10 others and discarded your app at first, because it thought it was only for online players.
“Sente” is very distinctive and “feels like” Go!! (even if I did have to Google it first :))
“Sente - Online GO” is similar to “Surround - Online Go client” but I understand that, unlike your app, Surround is only an OGS client.
Plus, “Sente GO” would fit on all screens whereas “Sente - Online GO” doesn’t fit on mine
That made me realize that the OGS login is mandatory in the app, which could be a blocking point for people only wanting to play offline or do the tutorials.
Right! It’s even in the first time dialog, sorry for missing that!
Yes I’m aware of that, but just knowing in the Play Store that the app is open source would make me confident that it is not crapware
Wow, I didn’t know. For sure that makes comparisons difficult!
Yes I have seen the related discussions in KataGo GitHub (and not understood half of them…). I hope you can find something!
I found this and this. What do you think?
I opened a GitHub issue to follow it more easily.
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I understand. It’s definitely a marketing problem, one which I am not very good at solving. I still feel the online aspect of the app is important, as as you said, the app is even locked behind an OGS login-wall.
I’ll update the marketing text on Play Store
I’m not kidding, here is their official costs breakdown that they voluntarily make public. lichess costs.xlsx - Google Drive
mmm… maybe…
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I found something to suggest you: play with people of your level. That’s most of the time an amazing experience!
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This is good. I might suggest that it be a bit smaller as it seems weirdly large compared to the other icons or normal notification type alerts. And also that there is a delay of say, a second or two before it appears when you open the app. At the moment it flashes up every time for a split second, I guess while the app is connecting or something, even when phone is well connected to a network.
I’ll let you know how it looks on the train later!
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I’ll make it a bit more subdued and smaller in the next version. Also gave it a short animation so it’s not so visible when you go out of the app. But it’s showing the actual connection to the server, not if you are connected to the internet. While the app is in the background the connection is closed so that we save on battery life. When you bring it back from background it takes a few milliseconds to connect so the icon flashes.
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I keep getting emails from newbies trying to make sense of the scoring system and failing miserably. I think a bit more handholding is needed through the process. I’m thinking of something like the following:
The process goes like this:
- Initially you do NOT see what the opponent is doing, even if he submits first. You just mark your desired state and press done (first mock-up)
- If you submit first, you see the second mock-up
- If both submitted and there is a disagreement, you see the stones marked with a
. There is more guidance on screen and you can keep editing the board to match what the opponent is suggesting, or press disagree (3rd mock-up). - If disagree is pressed you are presented with a dialog allowing you to open chat, resume the game or call a moderator (4th mock-up).
This will take a lot of coding to make happen, so I wanted to ask you guys about it first, what do you guys think?
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Recently there are lot and long discussion on this in the forum you can check.
The problem in the pic 3 is that much more stones should be marked as ? because many places are not yet solved. Note that disagreement are not only about dead stones but other things, like closing boundaries.
One more option could be “let the AI finish the game and count for me.” (Still no guarantee to be right but offering a definitive way to close discussion and the game)