Android, it's your move. Language-learning app Duolingo announced Tuesday that it is launching its chess instruction to Android phones, three months after introducing the game to iOS devices. The company also said that it will be bringing a player-versus-player mode to iOS in the coming weeks.
Duolingo announced the news Tuesday at its flagship conference Duocon, which is being held virtually on the Duolingo website.
The company said a "very small percentage" of Duolingo customers had early access to chess on Android before Tuesday's launch.
"Our goal has always been to make the best education in the world available to everyone. With these updates, we're taking another big step in that direction," Duolingo CEO and co-founder Luis von Ahn said in a news release. "Whether you're adding your Duolingo Score to your LinkedIn profile or battling a real person in a chess match coached by Oscar, we're showing that education can be useful, credible and actually fun."
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Read more: What You Need to Know About Chess on Duolingo
Oscar is the mustached Duolingo character who's the face of the chess element of the app, which is best known for teaching languages but also teaches chess, music and math.
The Android version of chess will be available in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Portuguese.
The player-vs.-player mode for iOS will enable players to challenge other Duolingo chess players in real-time matches. According to Duolingo, Android will also receive the player-versus-player option sometime after iOS.
Duolingo will be launching player-vs.-player mode in its chess game for iOS devices. Duolingo
Duolingo Chess is mainly for beginners and uses puzzles and bite-sized lessons to teach. The company refers to the format as "bingeable," meaning players can take several lessons consecutively rather than just be involved in a long chess match.
Players can also get tips and tricks — and maybe a bit of fun sarcasm — from Oscar, Duolingo's chess tutor avatar. The company says several million customers have been playing chess already on iOS and expect that number to expand significantly with the rollout on Android.
'Curious' about multiplayer mode
CNET senior writer Mike Sorrentino likes Duolingo's chess so far. He played on his iPhone over the summer and has now tested it out on Android.
"I'm very much a chess beginner, so it's been useful for learning how to convert pawns into queens or to create a fork that requires an opponent to give up a piece," Sorrentino said. "I'm curious about multiplayer, but I hope there's a matchmaking element because I don't want to play against people who are well beyond the beginner level."
Sorrentino says he'd like to see Duolingo add "strategy suggestions" when he's playing a full match, since those can last several minutes longer than chess puzzles.
"That way, I can learn during the match as opposed to having to rely on myself, as sometimes I really do want to just play something for two minutes and then get on with my day," he said.
Scores added to LinkedIn
Also on Tuesday, Duolingo announced that language learners can link their Duolingo scores to their LinkedIn profiles. A Duolingo score is a real-time gauge that shows how well the learner has picked up the language and could help with job-seeking and networking.
CNET has good things to say about Duolingo's language acquisition model. It's on our list of the best apps of 2025, and CNET writer Zachary McAuliffe had a positive experience boning up for his trip to Rome with his Italian Duolingo lessons.