diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/xwjni.c b/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/xwjni.c
index ff2b28d3c..09033fd47 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/xwjni.c
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/jni/xwjni.c
@@ -1185,6 +1185,17 @@ Java_org_eehouse_android_xw4_jni_XwJNI_comms_1transportFailed
     XWJNI_END();
 }
 
+JNIEXPORT jboolean JNICALL
+Java_org_eehouse_android_xw4_jni_XwJNI_comms_1isConnected
+( JNIEnv* env, jclass C, jint gamePtr )
+{
+    jboolean result;
+    XWJNI_START();
+    result = NULL != state->game.comms && comms_isConnected( state->game.comms );
+    XWJNI_END();
+    return result;
+}
+
 JNIEXPORT void JNICALL
 Java_org_eehouse_android_xw4_jni_XwJNI_server_1endGame
 ( JNIEnv* env, jclass C, jint gamePtr )
@@ -1206,3 +1217,4 @@ Java_org_eehouse_android_xw4_jni_XwJNI_server_1sendChat
     (*env)->ReleaseStringUTFChars( env, jmsg, msg );
     XWJNI_END();
 }
+
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/res/layout/player_edit.xml b/xwords4/android/XWords4/res/layout/player_edit.xml
index f36718914..e3899d32e 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/res/layout/player_edit.xml
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/res/layout/player_edit.xml
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@
                 android:autoText="false"
                 android:capitalize="none"
                 android:gravity="fill_horizontal"
+                android:singleLine="true"
                 android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium" 
                 />
 
@@ -88,6 +89,7 @@
                   android:capitalize="none"
                   android:gravity="fill_horizontal"
                   android:password="true"
+                  android:singleLine="true"
                   android:textAppearance="?android:attr/textAppearanceMedium"
                   />
       </LinearLayout>
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/XwJNI.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/XwJNI.java
index 3f81a8a5a..ecf0b09ce 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/XwJNI.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/XwJNI.java
@@ -204,6 +204,7 @@ public class XwJNI {
     public static native void comms_resendAll( int gamePtr );
     public static native void comms_transportFailed( int gamePtr );
     public static native boolean comms_canChat( int gamePtr );
+    public static native boolean comms_isConnected( int gamePtr );
 
     // Dicts
     public static native boolean dict_tilesAreSame( int dictPtr1, int dictPtr2 );
diff --git a/xwords4/common/comms.c b/xwords4/common/comms.c
index 0a8ddf9b8..62c9f7ba9 100644
--- a/xwords4/common/comms.c
+++ b/xwords4/common/comms.c
@@ -796,7 +796,6 @@ comms_getInitialAddr( CommsAddrRec* addr
     }
     addr->u.ip_relay.seeksPublicRoom = XP_FALSE;
     addr->u.ip_relay.advertiseRoom = XP_FALSE;
-
 #elif defined PLATFORM_PALM
     /* default values; default is still IR where there's a choice, at least on
        Palm... */
@@ -1660,6 +1659,20 @@ comms_canChat( const CommsCtxt* const comms )
     return canChat;
 }
 
+XP_Bool
+comms_isConnected( const CommsCtxt* const comms )
+{
+    XP_Bool result = XP_FALSE;
+    switch ( comms->addr.conType ) {
+    case COMMS_CONN_RELAY:
+        result = 0 != comms->r.connName[0];
+        break;
+    default:
+        break;
+    }
+    return result;
+}
+
 #ifdef COMMS_HEARTBEAT
 static void
 sendEmptyMsg( CommsCtxt* comms, AddressRecord* rec )
diff --git a/xwords4/common/comms.h b/xwords4/common/comms.h
index e664734be..d67bf5620 100644
--- a/xwords4/common/comms.h
+++ b/xwords4/common/comms.h
@@ -186,6 +186,7 @@ XP_Bool comms_checkIncomingStream( CommsCtxt* comms, XWStreamCtxt* stream,
 XP_Bool comms_checkComplete( const CommsAddrRec* const addr );
 
 XP_Bool comms_canChat( const CommsCtxt* comms );
+XP_Bool comms_isConnected( const CommsCtxt* const comms );
 
 # ifdef DEBUG
 void comms_getStats( CommsCtxt* comms, XWStreamCtxt* stream );
diff --git a/xwords4/linux/gtkchat.c b/xwords4/linux/gtkchat.c
index 47348935b..b8b09940e 100644
--- a/xwords4/linux/gtkchat.c
+++ b/xwords4/linux/gtkchat.c
@@ -24,13 +24,29 @@
 gchar*
 gtkGetChatMessage( GtkAppGlobals* XP_UNUSED(globals) )
 {
-    /* GtkWidget* dlg = gtk_message_dialog_new( NULL, /\* parent *\/ */
-    /*                                          GTK_MESSAGE_QUESTION, */
-    /*                                          GTK_DIALOG_MODAL, */
-    /*                                          buttons, "%s", message ); */
+    gchar* result = NULL;
+    GtkWidget* dialog = gtk_dialog_new_with_buttons( "message text", NULL, //GtkWindow *parent,
+                                                     GTK_DIALOG_MODAL | GTK_DIALOG_DESTROY_WITH_PARENT,
+                                                     GTK_STOCK_OK,
+                                                     GTK_RESPONSE_ACCEPT,
+                                                     NULL );
 
-    gchar* msg = g_strdup( "Hello world" );
-    return msg;
+    GtkWidget* entry = gtk_entry_new();
+
+    gtk_container_add( GTK_CONTAINER(gtk_dialog_get_content_area(GTK_DIALOG (dialog))),
+                       entry );
+    gtk_widget_show_all( dialog );
+    gtk_dialog_run( GTK_DIALOG (dialog) );
+
+    const char* text = gtk_entry_get_text( GTK_ENTRY(entry) );
+
+    if ( 0 != text[0] ) {
+        result = g_strdup( text );
+    }
+    gtk_widget_destroy (dialog); 
+
+    LOG_RETURNF( "%s", result );
+    return result;
 }
 
 #endif