Hi everyone! It's been a while since our last big update post back in June, so here's a catch-up on everything that has landed in Spare Squares over the summer and fall. Most of it went out quietly, a little at a time, so you may have noticed some of it already.
🔐 Signing in just works
- Google Sign-In was rebuilt on Android's newer sign-in system, so it's faster and more reliable
- Signing out now actually keeps you signed out, even after you restart the game
- New accounts start with a fun random username, and Change Username now shows your current name so you can tweak it
- If you tap something that needs an account while playing as a guest, you'll get a friendly prompt to sign in instead of a dead button
👥 Better with friends
- You'll get a notification when a friend sets a new high score, clears a perfect board, reaches the top of Ranked, or earns an achievement
- Too chatty? Mute any single friend right from your friends list, instead of turning all friend notifications off
- Invite links are much more dependable: they work even if your friend has to install the game first, or signs in after tapping the link
- Friend nicknames can now use letters from any language
- On Android 13 and newer, the game asks for notification permission so friend alerts actually reach you
🎨 A fresh coat of paint
- A new splash screen greets you when the game starts
- The Settings screen was rebuilt: it scrolls properly, fits every phone (notches included), and its icons match your theme
- Lots of fixes to the Animals theme, so text and icons are easy to read everywhere
- Pop-up messages no longer get in the way: you can tap right through them, and the Back button closes pop-ups like you'd expect
🏆 A fairer leaderboard
- Ratings used to give a big boost to players with only a game or two. Now everyone is measured against the real average score, so the top of the board belongs to players who keep playing well
🛠️ Steadier than ever
- We fixed a long list of crashes, including a few at launch, one after deleting your account, and one when changing your username
- Ranked games no longer hang when your connection drops
- If a translation is ever missing, you'll see English instead of a blank
🤔 One we tried and dropped
We spent part of the summer trying out a landscape (sideways) mode. In the end it made the game more complicated without making it more fun, so we took it out. Spare Squares stays a portrait game, and we think that's the right call.
👀 Behind the scenes
A lot of this year's work you'll never see directly: we reorganized the game's insides so it's easier to keep it stable, and so that someday more games can share your account and your friends list.
Thank you for playing, for sending in bug reports, and for sticking with us through all the little updates. See you on the board!