# Chess with Friends: Online — user reviews > 20 indexed App Store user reviews of Chess with Friends by DxT LLC, rated 4.50/5 from 678 ratings. - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chess-with-friends-online/id1640608619/reviews - App overview in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chess-with-friends-online/id1640608619.md - Rating breakdown: 5★ 529 · 4★ 67 · 3★ 32 · 2★ 17 · 1★ 33 ## What do users think of Chess with Friends? Overall sentiment: negative **Pros** - 👍 Good for practicing chess - 👍 Endless possibilities in chess - 👍 Local 2-player mode available - 👍 Stated privacy policy is good - 👍 Straightforward and easy to use - 👍 Fun to play with friends - 👍 Customization aspect is liked **Cons** - 👎 Older figures/shapes disliked - 👎 Losing to bots is frustrating - 👎 App updates removed features - 👎 Generic feel after updates - 👎 Unable to connect for games - 👎 Cannot get into the game - 👎 App kills music while playing - 👎 Cannot play friends without payment - 👎 Malicious ads encountered - 👎 Bots make solo matches unfun - 👎 Too many ads shown - 👎 Difficult to keep games going - 👎 No reward system for winning - 👎 Subscription errors - 👎 Opponent bots play too slow - 👎 Stuck with no opponent response - 👎 Clunky interface **Commonly reported bugs** - Unable to connect on search for games - Cannot get into the game - App kills music while playing - Malicious ads encountered - Subscription errors - Stuck with no response from opponents - Matchmaking feature is a slow bot **Most requested features** - Option for different style boards and pieces - Option for untimed matches - Restore personal stats vs. individual players - Restore general population rating system - Acknowledge practice puzzle completion - Improve matchmaking for online play - Fix the issue of the app killing music ## Newest reviews (1 of 20) ### 3/5 — Robots make it unfun *2025-06-02, version 2.3.3* The fact that chess with friends uses bots to make the best moves during solo matches or the daily challenge makes it unfun because they always do the best move and constantly beat you. They would not make the normal mistakes in a game of chess because they are robots. ## Most critical reviews (10 lowest-rated) ### 1/5 — Cheesy App *2026-03-21, version 2.3.3* Not pleased at all with the update !! I was playing for more than 10 years. I developed friendships all over the world because we were all able to chat as we play!! I had more than 30 regular chess rivals that were so competitive that everyone kept coming back for more!! Every person I played had a name, not some ridiculous AI generated ID. There was also an option for different style boards and pieces. There were options for untimed as well as timed matches Your so-called updates Eliminated my personal stats verses individual players and the general population!! There was a rating system too! You took something that was fantastic and completely gutted it out…. Totally generic!!! I’m not going to keep wasting my time with this ridiculous app!!!! Goodbye!!!! ### 1/5 — Game sucked *2025-11-18, version 2.3.3* Because me and my mom can’t get in the game and she use to play all the time ### 1/5 — Stop killing my music *2025-10-16* This is yet another app that demands control of other apps. I cannot listen to my own music while playing this game. If with the sound toggled off, your app still kills my music app. One app should not be allowed to SHUT DOWN another app that’s in use. It’s the worst thing an app can do. Fix it. ### 1/5 — Use to be good *2025-07-19, version 2.3.3* This used to be a really great app and now you can’t even play a friend without giving them money. How does this make sense??? ### 1/5 — App is terrible! *2024-12-28, version 2.3.0* Tried to subscribe 5 times but just kept getting errors. Don’t install this app. ### 1/5 — stupid and so easy *2024-12-17, version 2.3.0* 1 ### 1/5 — A New Player *2024-09-21, version 2.2.1* Used it for a week, have several games open. Stuck with no response from opponents, for days , not the 48 hours stated for auto forfeit. Find it very clunky, not a patch on its namesake. ### 1/5 — Matchmaking?! *2024-04-28, version 2.2.1* This app does not allow you to play other people online. It pretends it does but the “matchmaking” feature is just a bot that plays way to slow for you to ever win by checkmate, opponent just times out every time. Pathetic app. ### 2/5 — Game sharing issues *2025-02-02, version 2.3.3* My partner and I got this game solely to play each other, and it has been difficult to keep the game going. I also found that when you win the challenge if the day, it just stops - there is no “you won, return to menu”. You click back, and it says you’ve ended the game. I prefer games with a reward system. ### 3/5 — Liked older figures better *2026-06-21, version 3.0.0* Don’t care for the shapes of the w fingers. ## Most praised reviews (9 highest-rated) ### 5/5 — 🙄👍🏼 *2026-06-06, version 2.3.3* Keeps kicking my butt. So not like a bad review, I’m getting better. It just hurts how much you can lose to a bot 💔👉🏼👈🏼🥺 ### 5/5 — What a practice for chess *2026-04-14, version 2.3.3* This is a good way to teach my cousin how to play, pretty soon my cousin will beat me! ### 5/5 — Awesome *2026-02-10, version 2.3.3* Blossom ### 5/5 — coop-da-lac,since being introduced to the game i loved it. *2025-10-29, version 2.3.3* i just love the chess,because the possibilities are endless and with three levels board you will work you’re brain. ### 5/5 — Nice, simple implementation *2023-12-21, version 2.1.0* Straightforward and easy to use. ### 5/5 — Fun game *2022-08-21, version 1.0* It’s a pretty fun game to play with friends. I like the customization aspect this game has ### 4/5 — Unable to connect on search for games *2026-03-20, version 2.3.3* No connection when game searching ### 4/5 — Too many adds *2025-02-16, version 2.3.3* I absolutely love the game there are so many adds! With just logging in and starting to play (around 5 minutes) I had already seen three adds, even with all the adds I recommended the app to my friends. ### 3/5 — Great privacy policy but BEWARE of malicious ads! *2025-07-03, version 2.3.3* I chose to download this chess app in particular, because the company’s privacy policy claims to not track or collect/access personally identifying information, beyond log-in info used just to connect players so that they can play over the internet. I was excited about that, because I thought it would make it a safe option for playing chess remotely with an elderly family member and my younger nieces and nephews. Yet, the first ad I received immediately after setting up an account to play remotely was a malicious ad for phone cleaning software claiming my phone would shut down in 30 sec if I didn’t hit the download button. I’ve now received this malicious ad multiple times, despite only having played a few games… In general, I don’t mind ads because I understand that is how apps can be free. But app developers can control which ad networks can advertise through their apps, and this type of ad is notoriously used to trick people into downloading malware. The fact that I received this phishing ad immediately upon logging in (and multiple other times now) really bothers me; while I know not to click, some of those I previously planned to invite to use the app with me might not. To the developers: I commend your stated privacy policy, but please be more selective about your allowed ad networks, or it’s purpose is defeated! Other than that, I like the app so far for the most part, with a couple notes. I love that there’s a local 2-player mode that doesn’t require logging in. Also, contrary to another review, I like the fact that the opponent bot for single player mode is set up to make the best move; I’ve been using a different chess app that’s artificially designed to make errors that match the user’s skill level, and I feel like this app might be better than that one for improving my skill level as a result (I’m more interested in improving than winning when playing alone)… As for cons, mainly, I agree with another reviewer who pointed out that when one completes a practice puzzle, there’s no acknowledgement of that fact, rather, one needs to exit the game manually without an indicator that the solution was correct/incorrect, which is mildly annoying, and there’s the malicious ad issue. If it weren’t for the latter, I might’ve given a higher rating, but due to those particular ads, I won’t be using the app to play remotely with family members, which was my original goal. --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-06.*