diff --git a/xwords4/android/XWords4/assets/.gitignore b/xwords4/android/XWords4/assets/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..122521cd8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xwords4/android/XWords4/assets/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/gitvers.txt
diff --git a/xwords4/android/scripts/common_targets.xml b/xwords4/android/scripts/common_targets.xml
index 53a102761..8c1158558 100644
--- a/xwords4/android/scripts/common_targets.xml
+++ b/xwords4/android/scripts/common_targets.xml
@@ -69,9 +69,14 @@
         <exec dir="." executable="../scripts/genvers.sh" output="/dev/null" 
               failonerror="true">
           <arg value="${VARIANT_NAME}"/>
+          <arg value="--client-vers"/>
           <arg value="${INITIAL_CLIENT_VERS}" />
+          <arg value="--chat-enabled"/>
           <arg value="${CHAT_ENABLED}" />
+          <arg value="--thumbnail-enabled"/>
           <arg value="${THUMBNAIL_ENABLED}" />
+          <arg value="--vers-outfile" />
+          <arg value="./assets/gitvers.txt" />
         </exec>
     </target>
 
diff --git a/xwords4/android/scripts/genvers.sh b/xwords4/android/scripts/genvers.sh
index 6a7ab7cb5..161335ac8 100755
--- a/xwords4/android/scripts/genvers.sh
+++ b/xwords4/android/scripts/genvers.sh
@@ -3,24 +3,60 @@
 set -e -u
 
 STRINGS_HASH=""
+OUT_PATH=""
+VARIANT=""
+CLIENT_VERS_RELAY=""
+CHAT_SUPPORTED=""
+THUMBNAIL_SUPPORTED=""
 
 usage() {
-    echo "usage: $0 <variant> <relay_vers> <chatSupported> <thumbSupported>"
+    echo "usage: $0 --variant <variant> --client-vers <relay_vers> \\"
+	echo "   --chat-enabled <trueOrFalse> --thumbnail-enabled <trueOrFalse> \\"
+	echo "   [--vers-outfile path/to/versout.txt]"
     exit 1
 }
 
-[ $# -eq 4 ] || usage
+while [ $# -gt 0 ]; do
+	echo $1
+	case $1 in
+		--variant)
+			VARIANT=$2
+			shift
+			;;
+		--client-vers)
+			CLIENT_VERS_RELAY=$2
+			shift
+			;;
+		--chat-enabled)
+			CHAT_SUPPORTED=$2
+			shift
+			;;
+		--thumbnail-enabled)
+			THUMBNAIL_SUPPORTED=$2
+			shift
+			;;
+		--vers-outfile)
+			OUT_PATH=$2
+			shift
+			;;
+		*)
+			usage
+			;;
+	esac
+	shift
+done
 
-VARIANT=$1
-CLIENT_VERS_RELAY=$2
-CHAT_SUPPORTED=$3
-THUMBNAIL_SUPPORTED=$4
+[ -n "$VARIANT" -a -n "$CLIENT_VERS_RELAY" -a -n "$CHAT_SUPPORTED" -a -n "$THUMBNAIL_SUPPORTED" ] || usage
 
 BUILD_DIR=$(basename $(pwd))
 cd $(dirname $0)
 cd ../
 
 GITVERSION=$(../scripts/gitversion.sh)
+if [ -n "$OUT_PATH" ]; then
+	echo $GITVERSION > $BUILD_DIR/$OUT_PATH
+	git describe >> $BUILD_DIR/$OUT_PATH
+fi
 
 case $VARIANT in
 	xw4)