Keeping An Eye On Bridge Apps
By Alex J. Coyne © Great Bridge Links 2021
The world of free bridge apps available for download is huge – and for most card players, still uncharted territory. Thanks to the efforts of developers, programmers, and bridge enthusiasts everywhere, we’re entering a golden age of card software.
On the look-out for new apps? Almost every need is covered, from flash card apps for bridge players to a virtual dealer app for face-to-face playing.
Make your smartphone even better for bridge with these bridge apps, just a few of what are on the market today. Most of these apps are ‘puzzle’ apps, but we’ve added a few tools at the end. You can find a big list that includes Play Bridge apps on our Bridge Apps page – click here ->
Bridge Bee
BridgeBee is a vast library of bridge puzzles, with more added continually. Some are free, while some are available for sale through the in-app store as packs. It’s meant to be used for teaching bridge, but ranges in difficulty to include (very) advanced puzzles for even professional players.
As a bonus, users can also contribute to the puzzles on the app by submitting them to the team.
https://greatbridgelinks.com/bridgebee-an-interactive-beehive-of-bridge-hands/
Bridge Doddle
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.dicendum.bridgedoddle
Bridge Doddle was released in 2020, and developed with Bridgeclub Berlin. It is a flash card system – answer the question on the front of the card, turn it over and compare your answer to the solution.
With 12 available languages, the app receives regular updates with more flash card quizzes. Various difficulty levels are offered, and Bridge Doddle might be one of the best quiz-based apps out there for bridge right now.
Kida Puzzles
These are Card Puzzles to be played by a single player. Their inspiration is ‘bridge’ but can be enjoyed whether or not the player knows how to play.
bid72
Bid72 is a bidding puzzle app that is meant to challenge, teach, and share boards to the server. Created by Dutch software developers, bid72 allows participants 72 hours to solve each fresh bid. New boards can be generated by the system, or created and uploaded by users.
If you love bidding puzzles or just want to improve your bidding aptitude, this is one of the best apps for it.
BriAn Bridge (& BriAnMAS)
According to the in-app description, briAn is “an electronic scoring system for the game of contract bridge.” If you are hosting a club, home, or tournament game, use this app as a central system to keep score. Players use their individual devices to enter their score, and it’s all uploaded to briAn for later review.
The same developers also offer BriAnMAS: An interactive Member Accounts System for bridge clubs, allowing for easy account administration in one place.
https://www.brianbridge.net/brian/main.html
YouHold
Frequent readers of the BridgeWinners website might already have heard of YouHold. If you haven’t, now is a great time to check into it. It’s another bidding app that allows for the creation and sharing of online bidding puzzles.
Love solving or creating card conundrums?
Make sure you’ve got YouHold on your smartphone.
Bridge Timer for Wearable Devices
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kojiishi.bridgetimer
BridgeTimer is a super-simple bridge app, but can also be a very useful one for club players.
Simply, the app functions as a stopwatch for bridge players. Tapping the screen resets the time, and BridgeTimer vibrates at two-minute intervals to remind the player.
Just in case it wasn’t obvious, BridgeTimer is meant to be linked up to a wearable device.
BridgeDealer
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.jgoacher.iDealer
The BridgeDealer app serves as a virtual dealer for your bridge games.
Released in 2020, BridgeDealer allows for hands imported (or exported) as PBN, DLM, or LIN files. These are hand files for electronic bridge games, supported by most platforms including BBO, Funbridge, Bridge Baron, and others.
What makes the app even cooler is card recognition via the phone’s camera. As long as you’re using a standard deck, all you have to do is point the camera at the cards.
More Apps
You can find a growing list of apps on our Bridge Apps page – click here ->
Photo Credit: Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash