Hi, I'm Adam — an independent iOS developer based in the UK.
I built Goban3D because I couldn't find a Go app that satisfied me. Real Gobans are beautiful objects — old-growth wood, hand-cut stones, the soft clack as a stone meets the board — but they're expensive, increasingly rare, and they sold out worldwide during the AlphaGo era. I wanted a digital Goban that respected the game: photoreal 3D visuals, a design that gets out of the way, and — most importantly — accessibility that no other Go app on the App Store offers.
So I made one myself.
A first for Go
Goban3D appears to be the only Go app on the App Store that declares any accessibility features at all. It meets Apple's criteria for 7 Accessibility Nutrition Labels — VoiceOver, Voice Control, Larger Text, Dark Interface, Differentiate Without Colour Alone, Sufficient Contrast, and Reduced Motion. It announces moves using the NHK broadcast coordinate system used by Japanese radio Go commentary, and it speaks 14 Go terms aloud (アタリ, ハネ, ツケ, ノビ and more) — the first Go app in the world to do so. Blind Go has existed for decades through tactile boards in Japan, China, and Korea, but it has been completely excluded from the digital ecosystem. Goban3D is the first bridge.
I'm working closely with the Japanese Association for Blind Go, whose members have shaped the accessibility design directly. NHK is producing a programme on blind Go this October or November 2026 that will feature the app.
Built with care, on every Apple platform
Goban3D is a one-person project built with Swift, SwiftUI, and RealityKit. It runs on every iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro — from a 4" iPhone SE screen to a 13" iPad Pro to your living-room display. It includes KataGo, one of the strongest open-source Go AIs in the world, running entirely on-device thanks to Apple Silicon. No accounts, no servers, no tracking — just Go.
The mission
Making the ancient game of Go accessible to all.
"All" means all abilities, all languages, all locations, all aptitudes, all AI models, all aesthetics, all platforms, all topologies, and all rule-sets. It's a north star, and there's a long road ahead.
📱 https://apps.apple.com/app/goban3d/id6550923415
If you enjoy the app, a coffee goes a long way toward keeping it free, ad-supported only lightly, and growing. Thank you.
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