Android Issues with Live Chess

Hello all,

I'm curious as to whether anyone else has problems with the live chess portion of the chess.com app on android.

I have two android phones one running an older version of the OS and one running the most recent. 

I have experienced many many lost games on the live server due to loss of time because my game board doesnt update and it will shows as my opponents move until I lose the game on time.  The issue is not connection issues on my end because of signal problems. I have tried to play on wifi and on the network.  Though the signal is not stellar at my house it is more than adequate to maintain a connection to a webserver. ( I can qualify this with a bunch of jargon if need be - I am an RF engineer and cellphone coverage are my occupation ) 

This mainly occurs on my older version of android but occaisonally occurs on the newer OS as well.

Sometimes the lack of an updated board can be addressed by exited the game and then returning to the current live game. Although, since the last update this no longer works. Another trick used to be to log out of my account and then sign back in; this remedy no longer works because now when I log back in it does not show that I have a current game. 

Is anyone else experiencing these problems? If the android market is any indication I would say yes.

These issue have caused me to cancel my Chess.com membership because I play primarly on my phone and these issues have taken all the fun out of any attempt to play the game.

What version of the app are you currently using?

Yes I have had the same problems and have canciled andriod app. But I still use my pc and have had no problems with that. If any one knowe a good free android live app. Please post. I have had alot of fun on pc but android sucks big time.

Hi Jac1yn. 

Sorry for the long delay. I actually canceled my premium account due to the android erors. I still play occasionally ( 98% on the phone ) but due to the frozen screen problems on the phone I felt as if I was paying for a broken product. I know the revenue should go to the improvement but felt that most of the improvement was being put towards the site ( not a bad thing ) and I was primarily a phone user.

That being said, How do I find what version I am using on the android phone?

You can go to your application settings, find the Chess.com app and it should tell you the version there.

Just so you know, we are currently working on a complete redesign of both of our apps (iOS & Android) as well as the site :)

Hi,

sometimes I hit this annoying issue too.
I'm using Samsung Galaxy S3 mini, Android 4.1.2, ChessCom 2.0.25. It's my main platform for playing of chess.

Yes, I have the same problem with my Galaxy S3. I even uninstalled my phone once but the problem is still there. I stopped play on my phone for a long time ago because of this. 

HI guys. Thanks for all the information. We're currently working to get this issue resolved. Sorry for the trouble!

Hi Jac1yn. 

This is a cross post but I am trying to include it on all the areas regarding the android app.

Moto X Android Kit Kat.

The good:

I like the way the game looks. I like that more of the sites features are accessible from the android app.

The bad:

Live games constantly hang. Be it on wifi or Network, at least once a game the board will freeze with my clock still counting down.  Sometimes this can be corrected by entering the chat menu and then backing out. 

There appear to be two states of the game occuring; one of the states being local and the other located on the server. It seems when a move is made on the user device it changes the game state and then pushes the update to the server. The server makes the same change and then pushes the update to the local version. This seems clunky. Why not have a modified web view of the board so that you are active on the server side. Or query the server on every click action of the screen. Pick piece ( click ) Query server. Move piece ( click ) query server. More packets are being sent but the data usage is minimal. 

I am not a fan of the full screen mode as I can't check my notification bar for Network strength, time, notifications etc.. Android Kit Kat offers a nice way in and out of this full state. Since you already have the "in" down I will include a code snippet at the bottom for the "out" state. 

The app does not handle interuptions well. Receiving a phone call will completely disconnect you from a live game with no hope of reconnecting, even if the call is ignored. The board is present and the clock is counting down but no inputs are accepted. Email and text messages will sometimes cause the same thing. 

I also do not like that the app launches into a live chess area even though that is what I use my phone for the most. I would prefer a splash screen with the different options to choose from like the previous version.

I do not like that the Live Chess persist after exiting the app. I know that it times out and closes but I believe the user should have action of the app state. A logout button would be nice. Better yet a back button handler would be preferred. 

I have been a paid member in the past but discontinued it when I was playing less. I would be willing to pay again just to have a usable version on my phone if that is what it takes. 

As mentioned previously here is a code snippet to handle the exit full view using two buttons to enter and exit.

MainActivity.java
package com.authorwjf.immersiveui;

import android.os.Bundle;
import android.view.View;
import android.view.View.OnClickListener;
import android.app.Activity;

public class MainActivity extends Activity implements OnClickListener {

	@Override
	protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
		super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
		setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);
		findViewById(R.id.on_button).setOnClickListener(this);
		findViewById(R.id.off_button).setOnClickListener(this);
	}

	@Override
	public void onClick(View v) {
		if (v.getId()==R.id.on_button) {
			getWindow().getDecorView().setSystemUiVisibility(
		            View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_STABLE
		            | View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_HIDE_NAVIGATION
		            | View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_FULLSCREEN
		            | View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_HIDE_NAVIGATION // hide nav bar
		            | View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_FULLSCREEN // hide status bar
		            | View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_IMMERSIVE_STICKY);
		} else {
			getWindow().getDecorView().setSystemUiVisibility(
		            View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_STABLE
		            | View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_HIDE_NAVIGATION
		            | View.SYSTEM_UI_FLAG_LAYOUT_FULLSCREEN);
		}
		
	}


}