[1eyedjack]

I think that I am about to get egg on my face, but here goes.
I spend most of my BBO life now on Android. And I cannot discern any method to buy BB$.
I remember the utopian dream where everything was free.
But I am a pragmatist. Providing this level of service costs. I know that. It can be partly funded by advertising, but BB$ play a crucial part. Not to mention that from a consumer’s viewpoint it is distressing to be denied robots or tournament entry for want of the ability to pay (despite having the will to do so). I think that it cannot be right to place obstacles in the path of buying BB$, and having an entire interface that lacks that basic facility seems a glaring lack.
No doubt all y’all will now pile in with responses to the effect of don’t be such a prat just click on A, B or C and Robert is your mother’s brrother. To which I respond that if the facility is present but I find it so hard to find it that I feel compelled to post here then that remains indicative of a problem worthy of the devotion of resources.

[barmar]

We haven't put purchasing in the mobile app because Apple puts additional restrictions on apps that do commerce (and they want a cut). We've never really expected that the mobile version would be anyone's sole way to access BBO.

Anyway, you can go to this link in your browser: http://www.bridgebas...urchase/pay.php. That's all that happens when you click on the Purchase BB$ button in the regular applications.

[1eyedjack]

barmar, on 2013-June-28, 10:47, said:

We've never really expected that the mobile version would be anyone's sole way to access BBO.

And you would have been right before iPads and their clones came along. No-one would be playing much on phones, I agree.Anyway, not QUITE "sole way" for me, so no real prob. Thanks for info

[barmar]

Maybe it's easier on the larger tablets, but I've played a handful of times on my Kindle Fire. It's better than nothing, but I wouldn't want to do it all the time.

[1eyedjack]

I think I agree. The 7 inch models would not be a medium of choice. Looking to the future however I think that the writing is on the wall. But then my prediction hit rate in other areas is not that great. It will be interesting to see what the landscape looks like a year from now.

[42krunner]

barmar, on 2013-April-22, 10:02, said:

Login to your account instead of playing anonymously.

Seriously though, there has to be less obstrusive ad software.

[Phil352]

This may be deliberate but I can't set up or play at a vugraph table set up by my partner. Is there an obvious reason for this?

[1eyedjack]

I would appreciate a facility to report robot bug hands directly to BBO from the Android app as you can from the main app

[42krunner]

Will the GIB button make it's way to the mobile app?

[FM75]

I have a nice retina display iPad, retina mac book, and iMac with 2 displays.. But I would far prefer to play with real keyboard and a mouse on the browser version.

That said, I did predict at least a year ago on BBO forum (or maybe in email to Fred), and before there was a mobile BBO app of any kind, even demo, that it might very well be the wave of the future and that it was time to kill Flash.

Personal computer (including Mac) sales are declining, and phones and tablet sales are soaring. The trend is continuing.

But Flash is still alive. Old PC version is dramatically different from web version, which is dramatically different from mobile. Not only in appearance but in features! On top of that, the tablet market does not support the "hover" and right click popup menus.

We live in interesting times. Maybe the next versions of web and mobile will allow us to speak our bids, alerts, etc. and stop using our hands. Maybe our chat will be audio instead of text, though reading a foreign language IMO is easier than listening to one.

One interesting note. I have yet to see anyone complain that hands played are not stored on their mobile device! Or that their CCs are not there. Nobody seems to want to chat to lobby on mobile.


Should the web version look exactly like the mobile version, only bigger?

[1eyedjack]

I think that in the "mobile" version there should be a facility to vary the display layout (and possibly available features) depending on the screen dimensions. The current layout is arguably well suited to mobile phones and 7 inch tablets. But the larger tablets (iPads and their clones) are effectively desktops without keyboard (and some have attachable keyboards) They are also I understand a massively expanding market. Many web pages these days auto-detect whether you are on a mobile device when you access the page, but provide a link to allow you to view it in desktop mode, in recognition of that sector of the customer base.

My tablet's screensize is well capable of providing an enjoyable BBO experience using the main web version but for the fact that being an Android device it is not flash friendly.

I don't know whether BBO can detect the hardware specifications of the machines that log on, but I am not asking for it be automatic. A user choice would be enough for me.

[1eyedjack]

*Very* minor bug report on Android tablet.
If I complete a tourney while there remain other tables in play, I minimise BBO to check my emails, joke pages or whatever, intending to revisit BBO in about 10 mins to check on the results.
In the meantime the tourney finishes, all tables complete while BBO is minimised.
When I then open up the window, there is a popup display as expected which would normally display the tourney results, only in this case the popup is completely blank an unpopulated.
As I say, not a huge issue. MyHands is my friend.

[son go ku]

Dear Fred,

I would like to thank BBO for this app. I like to watch older match, but I can't do it with this app. Could you add a new feature so we can open the lin files and enjoy our saved files anytime we want?

Thanks a lot for BBO TEAM

[SRLECC]

Love BBO. Bought my iPad mini principally to play on it. I am a little disappointed it is hard to chat when playing. I could use Siri to dictate but keyboard and chat message fill the screen. Also, I wish trump suit would display at left and wish IMPs earned would show after hand (not having to switch screen to view with full results). Thanks.

[Antrax]

This is petty, but in iOS 7 there's a feature where the application icon grows to fill the screen when clicked. The current BBO mobile app icon is low resolution so it looks pretty awful.
(On the plus side, haven't noticed any serious issues in iOS 7 iPad 3)

[1eyedjack]

If I try to set up a table using the Android interface but with seats pre-reserved for players, then during the process of reserving the seats the virtual keyboard obscures the reservation form, in such a fashion that only the North seat is visible above the keyboard. There seems to be no way to move the form around within the screen so that you can see what you are typing into the South, East and West boxes.

[barrys]

SRLECC, on 2013-July-18, 11:04, said:

Love BBO. Bought my iPad mini principally to play on it. I am a little disappointed it is hard to chat when playing. I could use Siri to dictate but keyboard and chat message fill the screen. Also, I wish trump suit would display at left and wish IMPs earned would show after hand (not having to switch screen to view with full results). Thanks.

How is the mini for playing? Is it too small? It is my preference to have a mini, not a regular ipad, but I like to play on bbo and am afrain it will be too small. What do you think?