Okay, working off some comments from the makers who ported this to android, I have figured out some basics for making UFOAI playable on an ANDROID. Note that this is all done on by Galaxy Note 8.0, and Android Tablet. I don't know how you would do this on something the size of a phone.
So, first, you have to hit the Change Device Configuration button at the loading screen.
Next, hit the button for Mouse Emulation and then go to Calibrate Touchscreen Pressure. The program is going to ask you to drag your finger across the screen at typical pressure.
DON'T DO THIS.
Instead, drag your finger across the screen at a firm pressure that you wouldn't normally use. This calibrates the game so it will interpret your regular touch as a VERY LIGHT pressure.
Now, after calibrating for a high pressure, go to Left Mouse Click. I have left mouse click set to "Touch Screen With Force". As the screen is calibrated to a high pressure, it will now only interpret your touch as "with force" when you very deliberately press on it. If your press isn't recognized for a click, then either recalibrate OR use a different type of touch. The screen actually doesn't read force as much as it reads the contact area of your finger. A tiny contact is light force, a large contact is heavy force. So, if you use a fingertip to press on the screen, when it's calibrated for high pressure, it will always read that as light force. But, if you use the flat pad of your finger, or a thumb, then it will read that large contact as HIGH force.
This means that you can move the mouse with your fingertip and then click distinctly with your finger pad or your thumb. It takes some finesse, but it works. Also, to SCROLL, lightly move the mouse cursor to the edge of the screen in the direction you want to go. Move the curse back when you get where you want to go.
For RIGHT CLICK (which is the click you need to CHANGE THE DIRECTION YOUR SOLDIERS ARE FACING, among other things) go to the RIGHT CLICK option in the Mouse Calibration menu.
Once there, set it to Touch Screen with Second Finger.
With this option set, you can now put the mouse cursor on something with the tip of your index finger, then lightly tap the screen with your middle finger and get a RIGHT CLICK. It works great once you figure it out. Note: it is not a two finger press. You move the mouse cursor with your main finger with a light touch, then with your main finger still on the screen you bring your other finger down onto the screen as well.
Now, back out of Mouse Emulation and go to Remap Physical Keys. On my pad there are two physical keys besides the power and home buttons: Up Volume and Down Volume. I set these to be Page Up and Page Down. That means I can zoom in and zoom out with my Volume buttons when I am playing the game.
Now, you already got this one Cantor, but for anyone else, exit the configuration menu and get into the game. Once in the main game menu, open OPTIONS and go to GAMEPLAY. In gameplay, under Battlescape Settings, set Confirm Actions to YES. This makes it a lot less likely that you will give your troops the wrong order while you are trying to finesse the controls.
Okay, that's all I've figured out so for. It's still not perfect, but those changes do take the game from impossible to playable.
