a*****g
发帖数: 19398 | 1 Android Go Programs (zz)
-Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor
Wednesday July 25, 2012
It has been a while since the E-J reviewed go programs available on the
Android platform, and given that not all of us have iPhones, I thought it
was time to do an update. I should note first that I love Apple, and have
three Apple computers in my home. However, I hate the iPhone and iPod touch
for go. Why? One simple reason: the screens are so tiny it makes me go
cross-eyed; as for the iPad, it is too big to fit in my pocket. I have had
several Android devices, and my current one is a Samsung Galaxy player with
a 5″ screen. It is small enough to carry easily, but big enough to see
what I am doing. Another advantage Android offers is that it is open-source
, which means people can develop and change apps very quickly. On the whole
, I have found Android developers incredibly responsive, and three
programmers actually changed their application based on user comments, in
some cases overnight! I also have no need for a cell phone contract, or
expensive data plans, what I wanted was a wireless only device, and I got
mine specifically to record go games. There are a ton of apps out there, so
I thought letting our readers know which ones I found most helpful would be
useful. A tip for searching, don’t bother with “go”, search for “baduk
” or “weiqi” on the Google Play Store. I will review three game recording
apps this week, and then review apps for Go Problems next week. I am not
reviewing KGS for Android as it requires a data connection, so I can’t use
it to record games if I don’t have internet access. People who play on KGS
, and want to do so on their phone, or watch games, will love the app though
– it is beautiful and functions very well.
Gobandroid is a fully featured game recording program that comes in two
versions, Tiny and HD. Both come with a ghastly pale default skin that makes
the board and the stones an eyesore, the black lines are highlighted to
boot, which makes it hard to tell what is going on. Download the free Sente
skinstaller from the market though, and you can make the program look
beautiful. The great merit of Gobandroid Tiny is that you click on the
board, and it zooms in to the area you are looking at. From there, you can
choose where your stone goes precisely, and then it zooms back out to the
full board. This means you have to click twice to place a stone, but it
makes it easy to see what is going on. Gobandroid HD has an awkward
interface that enlarges part of the screen and keeps the full board visible
as well. Although this feature is well developed in other programs, in HD
it looks awful and is just confusing visually. Gobandroid Tiny is my
version of choice. I often find that I have mis-recorded a stone while
playing. No problem if it was a few moves back, but what if it was 50 moves
back? With Tiny, just rewind to that spot and click on the stone. It will
turn transparent. Then click where you want it to be, confirm it, and you
can then fast forward to where you are in the game, with all other moves
intact! It is worth noting that this program did not come with this feature
at first. But a reader posted about it on Life in 19×19, and the
developers added the feature. You can also load games and problems from
online sources, through helpful links in the program itself, and can install
the gnugo AI if you want to play against a computer. Don’t expect a
strong engine obviously, but it is fine for beginners on small board sizes.
WegoIgo is my current favorite, and the new version is a huge improvement
that takes the program to a new level. I originally got the program because
it loads Kogo’s Joseki Dictionary, the only program on Android that does
so successfully. I didn’t use it for anything else though, as it was
hampered by a weird glowing stone effect that made it hard to see, and it
was not very useful for recording games or doing problems. A few months ago
, updates started coming from the developer Daniel Leong. The new version
seamlessly integrates a floating circle with a detail of the area you are
playing in. As you drag, the circle floats above your finger, and you can
move your stone wherever you want to. As a plus, the stone actually goes
directly under your finger, making placement both easy and accurate. The
merit of this system is that it only takes one touch (with or without a drag
) to place a stone. After recording with Gobandroid for months, I found I
was happier with one touch recording, and could record both faster and more
accurately with WegoIgo. Unfortunately, it didn’t offer the feature for mis
-recorded stones, When I e-mailed Leong about that, he added the feature
almost immediately. He also changed the graphics on the program when I told
him the background was distracting, and has been great about any
suggestions users have made. WegoIgo also loads problems and professional
games, cleanly and easily, and you can download the AI if you want to play
against gnugo. It offers advanced SGF editing features to boot, and you can
comment and mark games up for study. Although the free version includes
all of the features, I upgraded to the paid version so I could get faster
updates. Also, the price is ridiculously cheap ($2.49), and I think it is
important to support people who are writing go apps (trust me, none of them
are getting rich on them).
anDGS is another great program, and all the more so if you play on the
Dragon Go Server. Originally designed as an interface for Dragon, it has
evolved into a full featured recording program as well. Like the other
developers, Michael Dobbins is quick to respond to user suggestions. Post
on the Life in 19×9 thread on the program, and he will respond almost
immediately, and often create an update within a few days. The program is
full of user customizations, so you can make it display the way you want it
to. Like Gobandroid, it features a click once to enlarge, click again to
place functionality. You can adjust how big you want the zoom to be, and
whether you want portrait or landscape. You can also set it to one touch
mode, which would be useful on a full size tablet. You can move through
games with the arrow keys, explore variations, and of course fix mis-
recorded stones. If you are playing on Dragon, you can load games, chat,
and even set notifications so you know when your opponent moves. The only
thing I don’t like about anDGS are the graphics. The board is just plain
orange, with no wood grain, and when you zoom in, the stones are bitmapped
and grainy. Compared to the visual elegance of Gobandroid with Sente, it
leaves something to be desired. Dobbins says he plans to upgrade the
graphics in a future version though. -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor | p***c
发帖数: 5202 | | s*i
发帖数: 5025 | 3 我用这个：
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.aifactory.go&feature=
related_apps#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEwOSwidWsuY28uYWlmYWN0b3J5LmdvIl0.
touch
had
with
[发表自未名空间手机版 - m.mitbbs.com]
【在 a*****g 的大作中提到】
: Android Go Programs (zz)
: -Paul Barchilon, E-J Youth Editor
: Wednesday July 25, 2012
: It has been a while since the E-J reviewed go programs available on the
: Android platform, and given that not all of us have iPhones, I thought it
: was time to do an update. I should note first that I love Apple, and have
: three Apple computers in my home. However, I hate the iPhone and iPod touch
: for go. Why? One simple reason: the screens are so tiny it makes me go
: cross-eyed; as for the iPad, it is too big to fit in my pocket. I have had
: several Android devices, and my current one is a Samsung Galaxy player with
| p***c
发帖数: 5202 | 4 Thanks
【在 s*i 的大作中提到】
: 我用这个：
: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.aifactory.go&feature=
: related_apps#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEwOSwidWsuY28uYWlmYWN0b3J5LmdvIl0.
:
: touch
: had
: with
: [发表自未名空间手机版 - m.mitbbs.com]
|
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