diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardDims.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardDims.java
index f4e6539a3..e2176ef5a 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardDims.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardDims.java
@@ -28,5 +28,5 @@ public class BoardDims {
     public int scoreHt;
     public int boardHt;
     public int trayTop, trayHt;
-    public int cellSize;
+    public int cellSize, maxCellSize;
 }
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardView.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardView.java
index e975323e6..c4588852f 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardView.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/BoardView.java
@@ -239,14 +239,16 @@ public class BoardView extends View implements DrawCtx, BoardHandler,
 
         int nCells = gi.boardSize;
         int cellSize = width / nCells;
-        int maxHt = 3 * m_defaultFontHt;
-        if ( cellSize > maxHt ) {
-            cellSize = maxHt;
+        int maxCellSize = 3 * m_defaultFontHt;
+        if ( cellSize > maxCellSize ) {
+            cellSize = maxCellSize;
 
             int boardWidth = nCells * cellSize;
             result.left = (width - boardWidth) / 2;
             result.width = boardWidth;
         }
+        result.maxCellSize = maxCellSize;
+
         result.trayHt = cellSize * 3;
         result.scoreHt = 2 * m_defaultFontHt;
         int wantHt = result.trayHt + result.scoreHt + (cellSize * nCells);
diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/JNIThread.java b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/JNIThread.java
index 8b4b74e95..30b13f3ff 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/JNIThread.java
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/src/org/eehouse/android/xw4/jni/JNIThread.java
@@ -169,7 +169,8 @@ public class JNIThread extends Thread {
                                       dims.scoreHt, true );
 
         XwJNI.board_setPos( m_jniGamePtr, 0, dims.scoreHt, 
-                            dims.width-1, dims.boardHt, false );
+                            dims.width-1, dims.boardHt, dims.maxCellSize, 
+                            false );
 
         XwJNI.board_setTrayLoc( m_jniGamePtr, 0, dims.trayTop,
                                 dims.width-1, dims.trayHt, kMinDivWidth );
@@ -264,6 +265,8 @@ public class JNIThread extends Thread {
             case CMD_LAYOUT:
                 doLayout( (BoardDims)args[0] );
                 draw = true;
+                // check and disable zoom button at limit
+                handle( JNICmd.CMD_ZOOM, 0 );
                 break;
 
             case CMD_START: