Chess for mobile devices doesn't work properly

I would like to remind Chess.com staff that the mobile device Live client does not work. It switches permanently to the "Reconnecting" screen after about two minutes of play every game on average.

Note that if I forcibly kill the app and restart it, it works fine again, indicating this is a flaw in your software, not in my connection. This doesn't change whether using full-signal WiFi in my home or full-signal 4G from my wireless carrier. It also doesn't change whether I'm on any of my various model tablets, nor any of my past three phones through various updates. If anything, it's become less stable.

However, it does crash in this way much more frequently (than every two minutes) when I'm on an unreliable or slow connection, such as from any coffee shop where I'd ideally like to be able to relax and play.

The courtesy of a response from staff would be appreciated.

I should also note that most of my devices are Android devices, but one is an iOS device.

I play all the time on an I Pad connecting by wi fi at home in France and in the UK/US etc with no problems.

Thank you Forgeron. It's nice to know it works for someone :). I'd love to hear the same from some Android users.

Wish I knew why so I could help, but I don!t.

@ArtfulTheory- I'm really sorry you're having connection troubles w/ the Android app. Can you please let me know what verison of the app, Android, and which devices you're using?

Sure, my Android devices are currently a Nexus S, Galaxy S4, and Galaxy Tab 10.1. There was also a "Note" that did the same that I no longer have.

The most current of those devices is the Galaxy S4, a.k.a. Samsung-SGH-I337, android version 4.2.2. It is factory original OS.

My Chess.com app says it is up to date, last updated Dec. 18th with version notes that say v.2.0.29.

However, I'd guess I've seen this issue through about 10-20 total app and OS upgrades, since I subscribed about 2 years ago, so I wouldn't suggest looking for it in a recent code change.

My best guess would be that it would be easily reproduced on an emulator by causing a series of minor network disruptions, such as dropping a small percentage of packets.

The typical failure mode is to flash the reconncting screen (the one that is mostly vignette obscuring the chess board) briefly, then display it for a few seconds, then display it permanently, with perhaps one more quick flash of the board. There it will remain indefinitely, although I can still close the app.

If I simply close and reopen the app, it will always immediately fail in some way after tapping "Live". Usually then it will reopen to the same reconnecting window. Sometimes it would abort and claim login issues at that point, although I think I may not be seeing that exact failure mode in the current version. Or occasionally if I was making a move at the moment of failure it will show it is the other player's move, although it is mine. This is more common that you might expect, because it seems the crash often isn't precipitated until I actually go to move, at which point this (possibly network related) crash is triggered.

I think, of the many many times I've seen the "Reconnecting" screen, it's actually recovered under 10, and only once on this newest phone in two months. So in other words, the "Reconnecting" process may be a good place to investigate, if not the reason for poor network interaction, the reason for poor application stability as a result.

However, if I close the app, go to my Android settings, find the app in my device application manager, "Force Stop" the app, accept the Force Close warnings, exit and restart the app, invariably it starts again and enters Live mode, resuming the previous game (unless the clock has run out) without a hitch.

As a side note, it would be really nice if the app actually closed when I closed it. If I don't force kill it when I'm done then my battery life is very diminished.

Thanks for listening!

Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that the new version of the app works great. All of the network and application stability defects that kept me from reliably playing a full game are resolved, and most of the annoyances (especially the continuous battery drain and radio/network usage even when not playing) are also addressed. Great work on this release. Not only did it allow me to use at least one Android device, it allows me to use all of them (although I can't comment on iOS, since I got rid of those since my last post).

In case your team is still engaged, I'd like to mention a few remaining issues.
 - There's still an annoying/counter-intuitive "layering" of games as they are dplayed that prevents me from using my back button (and probably constitutes a small memory leak of sorts).
 - There are still some cases where I end up seeing the "Connecting..." screen that should be differentiated between "communications functioning, searching for a game" and "unable to reach the server"
 - It isn't entirely clear, because of the previous issue, but I think it could perform a lot better in response to dropping and regaining network connectivity, or when operating on diminished networks. Note this is different than my report last year (resolved, thank you), where games would disconnect even with excellent network connectivity.
 - If I had my choice, I'd still like to see more real-time indication of current network status in-game. This also goes for your web client. It's very frustrating to be waiting a couple minutes for my opponent to move, only to discover my network quality has been poor as my clock suddenly drops two minutes and my opponent gains two. By implementing a "3rd state" in your clients, the "switching active player" state, and driving this with a server acknowledgement, the game clock could convey this extended uncertainty back to the player.

Again, thank you for the update! I use the app all the time now!

Thanks so much for the feedback and for the update. I'm glad to hear that the new app is working better for you.

I'll absolutely pass your feedback regarding some of the things that we can work on still, on to our Android team so they can take a look.

In regards to the first issue that you mentioned, the layering of games, could I please get some more information on what you're referring to? Is your back button not taking you to the screen you feel it should?

Thanks as usual for your help :)

in Samsung galaxy core. .. Mobile app... all is well but videos are not playing. .. saying can't play this video. .. can anyone help me. ...