Phone Model: Samsung Galaxy S 3 (T999) Stock ICS 4.0.4
Full review
Pros: The fact there is finally an Android app for GaiaOnline! I love that I have access to the Marketplace and the Cash Shop. This will make it very handy when I'm auction hunting for a good price and I know the item is on a down slope. Actually, everything that is included is great. Being able to change my avatar on the go, access forums, check the new announcements, and send and receive PMs are all great. The forum set up is pretty nice, and easy to navigate. The Mail looks clean and reminds me of a stand-alone mail app. (Which is a plus in my mind.) Overall the interface is decent, but I do have a few complaints.
Cons: First off, my biggest issue with the app so far is that it has no landscape mode. With the S3 the charging port is on the bottom, and when I have it plugged into the charger, I either have to hold it, or tilt my head sideways to use the app. Next it the amount of wasted screen space. There is about a 1/2" to 1" of empty space on the home screen and Dress Up. When I'm in the Cash Shop, I run into a glitch where the items being sold are vertical and in a single row, causing me having to scroll down quite a ways to see them all. On the Notifications tab, I have a constant 1 in the top right, no matter how many times I go into it, or check everything, which is a bit annoying (I hate leaving notices unchecked). I have also encountered the "Web page not found" glitch a few times, but not enough to keep me from using the app effectively. While I love the ability to change my avatar anywhere now, I don't love how clunky and difficult it is. Refreshing the entire screen for a page change takes longer than needed, and some things are a bit small to click on. Also, the item icon layout is 4x7, but the bottom row only has 3 items in it (going back to more wasted space). I'm taking a guess and going to say this was made for a smaller than 4.8" screen. Also, I'm not a huge fan of the color scheme. Maybe some sort of customization there? A couple other things are the inability to scroll the page up when the keyboard comes up, and the inability to use the hardware back key to simply go back a screen (which I know branches from it being an iOS port). *edit* I just noticed that when I attempt to equip an item that has multiple poses, like a sword, it would not let me equip.
Conclusion: *edit* I liked the app thus far. The overall execution is pretty good, but definitely a lot of room for improvement. I would really love to see it become it's own application and separated from the iOS version. After hearing it's only going to be and always will be a port from iOS, I don't think I will continue to use the app or recommend it to any other person using Android. I feel like the Android Gaia users are simply a second thought that the devs thought they would simply try and appease by releasing an app made for a phone that we, as Android users, avoided for a reason.