diff --git a/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/RelayService.java b/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/RelayService.java
index ec7961238..ecd37e431 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/RelayService.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/app/src/main/java/org/eehouse/android/xw4/RelayService.java
@@ -392,6 +392,7 @@ public class RelayService extends JobIntentService
     }
 
     // NetStateCache.StateChangedIf interface
+    @Override
     public void onNetAvail( boolean nowAvailable )
     {
         startService( this ); // bad name: will *stop* threads too
@@ -759,9 +760,9 @@ public class RelayService extends JobIntentService
 
                 out.writeShort( BuildConfig.CLIENT_VERS_RELAY );
                 writeVLIString( out, BuildConfig.GIT_REV );
-                // writeVLIString( out, String.format( "€%s", Build.MODEL) );
                 writeVLIString( out, Build.MODEL );
                 writeVLIString( out, Build.VERSION.RELEASE );
+                writeVLIString( out, BuildConfig.VARIANT_NAME );
 
                 postPacket( bas, XWRelayReg.XWPDEV_REG );
                 s_regStartTime = now;
diff --git a/xwords4/linux/relaycon.c b/xwords4/linux/relaycon.c
index a1cdfb179..995ccbd38 100644
--- a/xwords4/linux/relaycon.c
+++ b/xwords4/linux/relaycon.c
@@ -305,6 +305,7 @@ relaycon_reg( LaunchParams* params, const XP_UCHAR* rDevID,
     indx += addVLIStr( &tmpbuf[indx], sizeof(tmpbuf) - indx, SVN_REV );
     indx += addVLIStr( &tmpbuf[indx], sizeof(tmpbuf) - indx, "linux box" );
     indx += addVLIStr( &tmpbuf[indx], sizeof(tmpbuf) - indx, "linux version" );
+    indx += addVLIStr( &tmpbuf[indx], sizeof(tmpbuf) - indx, "linux variant" );
 
     sendIt( storage, tmpbuf, indx, 0.5 );
 }
diff --git a/xwords4/relay/dbmgr.cpp b/xwords4/relay/dbmgr.cpp
index aecdb29ec..c269bd638 100644
--- a/xwords4/relay/dbmgr.cpp
+++ b/xwords4/relay/dbmgr.cpp
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ DBMgr::FindRelayIDFor( const char* connName, HostID hid,
     if ( found ) {
         devID = (DevIDRelay)strtoul( PQgetvalue( result, 0, 0 ), NULL, 10 );
         *devIDP = devID;
-        ReregisterDevice( devID, host, NULL, 0, NULL, NULL );
+        ReregisterDevice( devID, host, NULL, 0, NULL, NULL, NULL );
     }
     PQclear( result );
     if ( !found ) {
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ DBMgr::AllDevsAckd( const char* const connName )
 DevIDRelay
 DBMgr::RegisterDevice( const DevID* host, int clientVersion, 
                        const char* const desc, const char* const model,
-                       const char* const osVers )
+                       const char* const osVers, const char* const variant )
 {
     DevIDRelay devID;
     assert( host->m_devIDType != ID_TYPE_NONE );
@@ -418,8 +418,8 @@ DBMgr::RegisterDevice( const DevID* host, int clientVersion,
 
             QueryBuilder qb;
             qb.appendQueryf( "INSERT INTO " DEVICES_TABLE " (id, devTypes[1],"
-                             " devids[1], clntVers, versdesc, model, osvers)"
-                             " VALUES($$, $$, $$, $$, $$, $$, $$)" )
+                             " devids[1], clntVers, versdesc, model, osvers, variant)"
+                             " VALUES($$, $$, $$, $$, $$, $$, $$, $$)" )
 
                 .appendParam( devID )
                 .appendParam( host->m_devIDType )
@@ -428,6 +428,7 @@ DBMgr::RegisterDevice( const DevID* host, int clientVersion,
                 .appendParam( desc )
                 .appendParam( model )
                 .appendParam( osVers )
+                .appendParam( variant )
                 .finish();
 
             success = execParams( qb );
@@ -439,13 +440,14 @@ DBMgr::RegisterDevice( const DevID* host, int clientVersion,
 DevIDRelay 
 DBMgr::RegisterDevice( const DevID* host )
 {
-    return RegisterDevice( host, 0, NULL, NULL, NULL );
+    return RegisterDevice( host, 0, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL );
 }
 
 void
 DBMgr::ReregisterDevice( DevIDRelay relayID, const DevID* host, 
                          const char* const desc, int clientVersion, 
-                         const char* const model, const char* const osVers )
+                         const char* const model, const char* const osVers,
+                         const char* const variant )
 {
     QueryBuilder qb;
     qb.appendQueryf( "UPDATE " DEVICES_TABLE " SET "
@@ -455,7 +457,7 @@ DBMgr::ReregisterDevice( DevIDRelay relayID, const DevID* host,
         .appendParam( host->m_devIDType )
         .appendParam( host->m_devIDString.c_str() );
 
-    formatUpdate( qb, true, desc, clientVersion, model, osVers, relayID );
+    formatUpdate( qb, true, desc, clientVersion, model, osVers, variant, relayID );
     qb.finish();
     execParams( qb );
 }
@@ -464,7 +466,8 @@ DBMgr::ReregisterDevice( DevIDRelay relayID, const DevID* host,
 bool
 DBMgr::UpdateDevice( DevIDRelay relayID, const char* const desc, 
                      int clientVersion, const char* const model,
-                     const char* const osVers, bool check )
+                     const char* const osVers, const char* const variant,
+                     bool check )
 {
     bool exists = !check;
     if ( !exists ) {
@@ -476,7 +479,8 @@ DBMgr::UpdateDevice( DevIDRelay relayID, const char* const desc,
     if ( exists ) {
         QueryBuilder qb;
         qb.appendQueryf( "UPDATE " DEVICES_TABLE " SET " );
-        formatUpdate( qb, false, desc, clientVersion, model, osVers, relayID );
+        formatUpdate( qb, false, desc, clientVersion, model, osVers,
+                      variant, relayID );
         qb.finish();
         execParams( qb );
     }
@@ -486,14 +490,15 @@ DBMgr::UpdateDevice( DevIDRelay relayID, const char* const desc,
 bool
 DBMgr::UpdateDevice( DevIDRelay relayID )
 {
-    return UpdateDevice( relayID, NULL, 0, NULL, NULL, false );
+    return UpdateDevice( relayID, NULL, 0, NULL, NULL, NULL, false );
 }
 
 void
 DBMgr::formatUpdate( QueryBuilder& qb,
                      bool append, const char* const desc, 
                      int clientVersion, const char* const model, 
-                     const char* const osVers, DevIDRelay relayID )
+                     const char* const osVers, const char* const variant,
+                     DevIDRelay relayID )
 {
     if ( append ) {
         qb.appendQueryf( "mtimes=array_prepend('now', mtimes)" ); // FIXME: too many
@@ -515,6 +520,10 @@ DBMgr::formatUpdate( QueryBuilder& qb,
         qb.appendQueryf( ", osvers=$$" )
             .appendParam( osVers );
     }
+    if ( NULL != variant && '\0' != variant[0] ) {
+        qb.appendQueryf( ", variant=$$" )
+            .appendParam( variant );
+    }
     qb.appendQueryf( " WHERE id = $$" )
         .appendParam( relayID );
 }
diff --git a/xwords4/relay/dbmgr.h b/xwords4/relay/dbmgr.h
index 026d06851..74aa347bc 100644
--- a/xwords4/relay/dbmgr.h
+++ b/xwords4/relay/dbmgr.h
@@ -101,13 +101,15 @@ class DBMgr {
     DevIDRelay RegisterDevice( const DevID* host );
     DevIDRelay RegisterDevice( const DevID* host, int clientVersion, 
                                const char* const desc, const char* const model,
-                               const char* const osVers );
+                               const char* const osVers, const char* const variant );
     void ReregisterDevice( DevIDRelay relayID, const DevID* host, 
                            const char* const desc, int clientVersion, 
-                           const char* const model, const char* const osVers );
+                           const char* const model, const char* const osVers,
+                           const char* const variant );
     bool UpdateDevice( DevIDRelay relayID, const char* const desc, 
                        int clientVersion, const char* const model, 
-                       const char* const osVers, bool check );
+                       const char* const osVers, const char* const variant,
+                       bool check );
 
     HostID AddToGame( const char* const connName, HostID curID, int clientVersion,
                       int nToAdd, unsigned short seed, const AddrInfo* addr,
@@ -174,7 +176,8 @@ class DBMgr {
     bool UpdateDevice( DevIDRelay relayID );
     void formatUpdate( QueryBuilder& qb, bool append, const char* const desc, 
                        int clientVersion, const char* const model, 
-                       const char* const osVers, DevIDRelay relayID );
+                       const char* const osVers, const char* const variant,
+                       DevIDRelay relayID );
 
 
     PGconn* getThreadConn( void );
diff --git a/xwords4/relay/xwrelay.cpp b/xwords4/relay/xwrelay.cpp
index 6ec028328..556bbe183 100644
--- a/xwords4/relay/xwrelay.cpp
+++ b/xwords4/relay/xwrelay.cpp
@@ -1598,7 +1598,8 @@ addRegID( uint8_t* ptr, DevIDRelay relayID )
 static void 
 registerDevice( const string& relayIDStr, const DevID* devID, 
                 const AddrInfo* addr, int clientVers, const string& devDesc, 
-                const string& model, const string& osVers )
+                const string& model, const string& osVers,
+                const string& variant )
 {
     DevIDRelay relayID = DBMgr::DEVID_NONE;
     DBMgr* dbMgr = DBMgr::Get();
@@ -1610,15 +1611,16 @@ registerDevice( const string& relayIDStr, const DevID* devID,
 
     if ( DBMgr::DEVID_NONE == relayID ) { // new device
         relayID = dbMgr->RegisterDevice( devID, clientVers, devDesc.c_str(), 
-                                         model.c_str(), osVers.c_str() );
+                                         model.c_str(), osVers.c_str(), variant.c_str() );
     } else if ( ID_TYPE_RELAY < devID->m_devIDType ) { // re-registering
         dbMgr->ReregisterDevice( relayID, devID, devDesc.c_str(), clientVers, 
-                                 model.c_str(), osVers.c_str() );
+                                 model.c_str(), osVers.c_str(), variant.c_str() );
         checkMsgs = true;
     } else {
         // No new information; just update the time
         checkMsgs = dbMgr->UpdateDevice( relayID, devDesc.c_str(), clientVers, 
-                                         model.c_str(), osVers.c_str(), true );
+                                         model.c_str(), osVers.c_str(), variant.c_str(),
+                                         true );
         if ( !checkMsgs ) {
             uint8_t buf[32];
             int indx = addRegID( &buf[0], relayID );
@@ -1770,8 +1772,13 @@ handle_udp_packet( PacketThreadClosure* ptc )
                         if ( 3 >= clientVers ) {
                             checkAllAscii( model, "bad model" );
                         }
+                        string variant;
+                        if ( getVLIString( &ptr, end, variant ) ) {
+                            logf( XW_LOGINFO, "%s(): got variant %s", __func__, variant.c_str() );
+                        }
+
                         registerDevice( relayID, &devID, ptc->addr(),
-                                        clientVers, devDesc, model, osVers );
+                                        clientVers, devDesc, model, osVers, variant );
                     }
                 }
             }
diff --git a/xwords4/relay/xwrelay.sh b/xwords4/relay/xwrelay.sh
index 1665c603f..d5fc99679 100755
--- a/xwords4/relay/xwrelay.sh
+++ b/xwords4/relay/xwrelay.sh
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ id INTEGER UNIQUE PRIMARY KEY
 ,versDesc TEXT
 ,model TEXT
 ,osvers TEXT
+,variant TEXT
 ,ctime TIMESTAMP DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
 ,mtimes TIMESTAMP[]
 ,unreg BOOLEAN DEFAULT FALSE