ChessView vs Whist
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ChessView
Scan chess positions from photos, books, or screenshots and instantly play them out on a digital board. Analyze PGN files, import your online games, and explore classic matches. Offers optional AI commentary for deeper insights.
- Scan positions from photos/screenshots
- Import PGN and FEN files
- Replay and branch off game moves
- Full move validation
- Import Chess.com games
- Built-in classic games
- Optional AI commentary
Read full descriptionHide full description
See a chess position anywhere — in a book, on another screen, on the table in front of you — and have it on a board you can play with, in seconds. ChessView is a study tool, not another place to play. Scan a position with the camera or from a screenshot, open a PGN file, or pull in your Chess.com games — then replay them, branch off, and work out what actually happened. Free, offline, no account, no ads, no tracking. SCAN A POSITION FROM A PHOTO Point the camera at a real board, or choose a screenshot from Chess.com, Lichess or a chess book. ChessView reads the position and puts it on your board. Anything it misreads, you fix in the position editor — then start playing it out. PLAY IT OUT ON A REAL BOARD Full move validation: legal moves, en passant, castling, promotion. Drag the pieces, step back and forth through the whole game, flip the board, and branch off wherever you want to see what would have happened. OPEN PGN AND FEN FROM ANYWHERE PGN files from Files, Mail, Messages or any app that can share them. Paste a FEN string and it loads. Export any position or game as PGN, FEN or a PNG image, and share it in one tap. YOUR CHESS.COM GAMES, OFFLINE Type your username, pick a month, and your games are in the library — ready to replay any time, with or without a connection. STUDY THE CLASSICS Famous games come built in — Byrne–Fischer, Morphy, Short–Timman, Lasker–Thomas — so there is always a position worth looking at. SEE THE EVALUATION Evaluations and main lines come from the Lichess cloud database: free, fast, no account needed. For positions the database doesn't know, ChessView offers a sensible continuation of its own. OPTIONAL: COMMENTARY IN PLAIN WORDS Add your own OpenAI API key and ChessView will explain a position or a whole game in sentences — the plan, the key ideas, the moment it turned. Entirely optional: everything above works without it. Your key is stored in the iOS Keychain, used only from your device, and never sent to us. PRIVACY, ACTUALLY No account. No ads. No analytics. No tracking. Your games and your settings stay on your iPhone and iPad. WHY I BUILT IT Getting a chess position onto my phone used to be absurdly hard. A diagram in a book, a screenshot from a game, a FEN string someone sent me — none of it could just be opened and played through on an iPhone. PGN files were worse. So I built the app I wanted: open anything, put it on a real board, move the pieces. — Pavel, solo developer Designed for iPhone and iPad.
Whist
A modern digital adaptation of the classic trick-taking card game. Compete in real-time multiplayer matches, practice against bots, and track your progress on leaderboards. Offers various tournament formats and customizable game looks.
- Real-time multiplayer
- Play with friends
- Practice against bots
- Tournament formats
- Customizable game looks
- Profile and leaderboards
- Quick and long matches
Read full descriptionHide full description
Whist is a classic trick-taking, bidding-and-prediction card game, rebuilt for your phone with smooth play, real-time multiplayer, and a clean, modern table. Bid for your contract, call how many tricks you'll take, then play the hand — score by hitting your call exactly. Sharp, social, and quick to learn but deep to master. • Real-time multiplayer — sit at a table with friends or get matched with players around the world. • Play with friends — create a private table and invite anyone to join. • Practice anytime — fill empty seats with smart bots so you're never waiting. • Tournaments — Swiss, Knockout, and Round-Robin formats with live standings. • Two looks — classic playing cards or a Rummikub-style cube board. • Your profile — track your rating, game history, and climb the leaderboard. • Quick Match or longer matches — one-hand games for a fast round, or full matches when you've got time. No ads. No real-money gambling — just the game. Whist is a bidding-and-prediction card game for four players. Each player predicts the exact number of tricks they'll win; nail it and you score big, miss and you pay. Whist brings the table, the scoring, and the rivalry to your pocket. Sign in with email, Google, or Apple and pick up where you left off on any device.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Whist at 16.0 against ChessView's 26.0. On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for ChessView against 5.0 for Whist. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.
ChessView ships an update every 2 weeks, Whist every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ChessView | Whist |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 21 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Pavel Gnatyuk | PABLO SRABSTEIN |
Customer experience
ChessView
Whist
In-app purchases
ChessView
No in-app purchases
Whist
No in-app purchases









