Due to our group’s generosity, we’re happy to announce that we’ve employed a full-time cellular developer to work on the Lichess cellular purposes accessible on iOS and Android, ranging from 1 November 2022.
The variety of customers who entry Lichess by way of the cellular app has solely elevated yr on yr for a number of years, and we anticipate this quantity to proceed rising.
The unique Lichess cellular app was written as a pastime venture, and maintained on a voluntary foundation — however with the expansion of Lichess over the previous couple of years it requires extra time and dedication than the volunteer group (wonderful as it’s) can present alone.
Equally, for a number of years, enhancing the cellular app has been some of the frequent items of suggestions we obtain in emails, the boards, on reddit and different social media. Due to the generosity of our donors, we’re ready to start making {that a} actuality.
Plus, whereas not everybody might personal a PC or laptop computer, on a worldwide stage they normally will personal some form of smartphone as an alternative. In consequence, a lightweight cellular app which is technologically accessible will probably be key to Lichess’s charitable targets to advertise and encourage the play and examine of chess, and using free open supply software program, globally.
With the cellular app changing into so vital to Lichess and its customers, it was a no brainer (as soon as assets had been accessible) to rent a everlasting worker to concentrate on it, and we hope that is the primary of many. With out additional ado, meet veloce, and a few extra element within the plans for the cellular app beneath.
To start with, are you able to inform us a few of your plans for the cellular app?
The cellular app will probably be utterly rebuilt from the bottom. We’ll use Flutter, an UI toolkit that may permit us to realize a significantly better high quality than with the present software.
The primary focus would be the person expertise, I’d like the brand new app to be extra intuitive and simple to make use of.
[ed. the current mobile app, lichobile, will be maintained but receive no new features while the new mobile app is being built.]
That sounds superior – what do you assume your milestones for the cellular app will probably be, and the place will customers be capable to comply with your progress?
The primary function that I’ll implement are puzzles. They’re match on cellular and the present app doesn’t have the most recent model of puzzles. It additionally misses puzzle streak, puzzle storm and puzzle racer. Including this may deliver quite a lot of worth instantly to the brand new app.
The primary place the place issues will occur is on Github. You probably have a technical background you may comply with the progress there. We may also purpose to speak concerning the progress.
It’s too quickly to have a roadmap, however we will definitely have one sooner or later and provides an replace. It’s onerous to estimate a launch date, however I hope to have a primary launch of the brand new app out within the first half of 2023.
Are you able to share a little bit of your technical background with the group? How did you get into cellular app growing? Any attention-grabbing earlier shoppers?
I didn’t examine pc science. I taught myself construct web sites after I was working for the pinnacle of analysis on the Aeronautics college ISAE-SUPAERO in Toulouse.
Then I labored a bit as a PHP developer, however I spotted there have been higher languages. So I switched to Scala and Typescript.
I received into cellular app growth at my work in Paris after I was given a venture for a financial institution to deal with their factoring providers. Since then I’ve labored primarily as a non-mobile dev. Anyway, it’s after that exact venture that I made a decision to start out growing the primary Lichess cellular software, again in 2014!
You’ve had an account on Lichess since 2010 – that’s a very long time! Do you will have a very favorite Lichess reminiscence, or expertise?
I’ve witnessed Lichess steadily develop and enhance since that point and I’m nonetheless amazed by the development. If I’ve to call one reminiscence, that will be the primary time Magnus Carlsen joined the platform to play a match. What an achievement!
Essential query. 1. e4 or 1. d4?
1. e4 after all!
That’s lucky – 1. d4 would have made you a pariah throughout the staff. Outdoors of chess and coding, what different actions do you get pleasure from?
I get pleasure from touring by bike rather a lot. My longest journey was 7500 km in Norway, Denmark and Germany, it was wonderful! Extra lately I received into crusing, and I attempted land crusing too, this can be a actually enjoyable exercise! I get pleasure from singing too, in a contemporary choir.
Thanks for the chat!