Android App Review Source:

How did you get into developing apps?

Aart Bik:

As software engineer at Google, I participated in a pioneering program to develop applications for Android. The objectives were to test the SDK and to get an idea what kind of applications could be developed in a relatively short time. Later, I put my games on the Android Market in the hope that users would enjoy them. In fact, they were actually meant to bridge the gap until better professional programs would become available, but I have been pleasantly surprised with the popularity of the applications so far.

Android App Review Source:

What was your inspiration for developing this app?

Aart Bik:

I had been actively working on a chess engine for Windows and Linux, so my ultimate goal was to develop a chess application. However, I started with “Reversi for Android” as a first implementation to get familiar with programming for Android, mainly because the graphics for a reversi program are simpler. After that I developed “Chess for Android”, with an engine that is a simplified Java version derived from my C++ chess engine BikJump. By then, many users asked me if I would also develop a checkers program, which inspired me to write “Checkers for Android”. I wrote a Java bitboard checkers engine from scratch which to my surprise plays a decent game of checkers (I still need to improve the opening and endgame though; this applies to all my games actually).

Android App Review Source:

How long did it take to develop the app?

Aart Bik:

I don’t remember exactly, but the first reversi version took no more than a few evenings of programming. Since then, however, I have invested many more hours trying to address users requests.

Android App Review Source:

Are there any hidden features to the app?

Aart Bik:

No, although it sometimes surprises me that not all features are found. For example, some users did not like mandatory captures in checkers (which, in my opinion, exactly makes the game so interesting). But even after I added the choice of making captures optional, I still got emails requesting to do something about forced jumps.

Android App Review Source:

Do you have any future plans for this app?

Aart Bik:

I want to make the engines stronger and avoid always playing the same game. An opening book, in particular, will improve strength, playing speed, and variety of play for the beginning of the game. For chess, another long standing request is the ability to export the game in some format.

Android App Review Source:

Do you plan to develop any new apps? If so when can we expect to see them in the Market?

Aart Bik:

I would be interested in developing an action game as well, but until now I have not had any good idea for this. In any case, ongoing thoughts as well as information on new releases are posted on my website http://www.aartbik.com/ and blog http://aartbik.blogspot.com/.

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