GTPlanet Android App

  • Thread starter strtgng
  • 162 comments
  • 17,603 views
I downloaded this app a few months ago and it just felt weird to me so I deleted it, last week I decided give it another try. I got used to it and now use it more than my computer.
I have a few ideas that could improve it.
1. Add symmbols to the thread to show if it's locked, you have posted in it ect.
2. Show the location of the poster like on the desktop site (one of the coolest things about this site is talking with people from all around the world, and seeing what countries people are from is fun for me).
3. The option to exit out. Too many apps keep running even after not using them, using valuable memory and bogging down the phone.

I have no background in programming application and have no idea if any of these ideas are even plausible. Regardless this is a great thing to have on my phone and the price can't be beat!
 
I'm glad you're enjoying the app, Sniper. :) GTPlanet's app runs on a third-party platform called Forum Runner. Hopefully some of that will be coming to the platform so we can take advantage of them here in the future.

As for your third point, however, don't be concerned. It's a common misconception (with pretty much all mobile platforms today) that "background" apps are consuming memory or "bog down" devices, but that's not really how Android (or iOS) work. Without going into the details, Android will manage the processes dynamically and will kill them off as needed - it's not something the user ever really needs to think about.
 
Good to know, I always assumed that these phones were like computers, and once something was dedicated to a chunk of memory it would hold all of it until being terminated. You learn something new everyday!
I look forward to seeing what new features will be added with the third party software.
 
Just got this for my HTC sensation. I had trouble logging in at first because you have to be viewing the main forum to login, you can't login whilst viewing a thread.

That aside, the app is great 👍 can't see any other faults with it.
 
Last edited:
I have the Android app for this on my Wildfire, and it is certainly very useful, sometimes my only resource of getting to GTPlanet :D I do find that it is a little bad that you can only reply to posts through quotes, or so I've noticed :indiff: Is there actually a way to post normally that snuck under my nose through an update or something? :confused:
 
I have the Android app for this on my Wildfire, and it is certainly very useful, sometimes my only resource of getting to GTPlanet :D I do find that it is a little bad that you can only reply to posts through quotes, or so I've noticed :indiff: Is there actually a way to post normally that snuck under my nose through an update or something? :confused:

Make sure you're logged in first and then when viewing a thread, press the menu button and reply should be an option that appears at the bottom of the screen, rather than having to press the drop down box on an existing post. The Wildfire is quite similar to a desire, so it should be the one to the left of the centre/camera button.
 
Make sure you're logged in first and then when viewing a thread, press the menu button and reply should be an option that appears at the bottom of the screen, rather than having to press the drop down box on an existing post. The Wildfire is quite similar to a desire, so it should be the one to the left of the centre/camera button.

Ah, of course! That would make sense. It's how I learnt to refresh the pages as well :D It's just I don't use it enough to remember it's there. :lol:
 
Just remember guys and this is to no one in particular.
If you are new to android, remember that the options/menu button (normally bottom left) is your friend. Most functions you think you don't have can be found here. This isn't just for the GTPlanet app but for the phone in general.

Cheers Shaun.
 
I use the Android app alot (brilliant app Jordan:tup: ) and I have found recently that sometimes when I load a sub forum page or main forum it opens up a blank page with no threads/sub forums appearing on it. I've found I then have to just open the menu to get it to show up or refresh the page. I've also recently had a new problem not being able to open a thread or sub forum when clicked on also it does not stop scrolling when I tell it to. Just wondering what may be causing this or if anyone else has encountered this? Otherwise though the app is great 👍

(using a HTC Desire running Android 2.2.2)
 
Last edited:
Just reporting the App crashed lastnight at 10:40pm MST. Its working today, and this is the first time it has ever crashed on me. Just thought I would let you know Jordan.

Edit:

Phone: LG Optimus V Android 2.2
 
Just updated to the latest version (1.3.3), as it became available in Market.

Must report back, that even it is proclaimed to be a new feature, it is not possible to add a forum as favorite, as there is no 'favorite'-button in the menu-bar...

But otherwise, I do feel that the app responds quicker than before. Also the new 'current'-functions I think will become handy 👍

Keep it up :)

Device: HTC Desire v2.2
 
New update is running great on my HTC Desire. None of the issues I have mentioned before hand but I've not checked the new features yet.

:yup: good work Jordan
 
Noticed another 'issue' with the updated version...

While reading thru the news-section, browsing a news-post with a lot of replies, makes scroll in that thread VERY slow the further down you scroll...

Maybe memory-bug/issue?
 
Must report back, that even it is proclaimed to be a new feature, it is not possible to add a forum as favorite, as there is no 'favorite'-button in the menu-bar...
GTPlanet's app is built on the "Forum Runner" platform, which is a larger mobile forum app platform that is primarily designed to access a wide range of different forums that support it (look it up in the Android marketplace). I've purchased a customized, branded version, so you guys can use it to access GTPlanet for free.

I believe "Favorite Forums" is only a feature of the full platform, and does not apply when the app is employed on only one site as it is here. I guess the Forum Runner staff just copy and pasted the list of new features into GTP's app update information. Sorry for the confusion.

Still can't exit the app normally on my Xoom. Any chance that'll ever get fixed?
Not unless Android's implementation of the back button changes. You see, when you're viewing the News tab, you're actually viewing a little browser window within the app that shows you the mobile skin of the news blog. When a browser window is displayed, the OS connects the back button to the "back" button behavior of that browser window, and when there's no other pages to go back to, it isn't smart enough to know you want to exit the entire app.

All you have to do is press the "Home" button your device, though.

While reading thru the news-section, browsing a news-post with a lot of replies, makes scroll in that thread VERY slow the further down you scroll...
Yeah, but that has to do with the site's mobile theme and doesn't really apply to the app. No devices can really handle such a high volume of comments, so as suggested in the iOS thread on the subject, it's best to disable the mobile theme using the slider at the bottom of News pages if you want to view posts with hundreds of comments. That's really the only option until another solution becomes available.
 
Thank you for the info.

Just saw the notice about adding favorite forums, under 'news' for the update in the 'Market', and didn't realize it was from the full forum-platform.
So I just felt obligated to report the 'missing' functionality :sly:

And thank you for the tip about changing away from 'mobile-theme' when viewing the larger news-threads 👍
 
I updated to the latest version tonight and I found a problem. When I'm in the app and I get a new PM it will flag it at the bottom but when I click on it there is no new message. It only shows up after exiting the app and going back in. Not really that big of a deal but thought I would let you know, other than that everything seems to run smooth on my phone.
 
My life is now complete lol, the app is great! thank guys it's working great on my Nexus One. I found something a bit annoying though, I'm sure it's not only with this app but many others, when I press HOME on my phone, then I open the GTP app again, it launches from the beginning, it doesn't open the thread I was on, if anybody can confirm that this is for all phones, thank you
 
My life is now complete lol, the app is great! thank guys it's working great on my Nexus One. I found something a bit annoying though, I'm sure it's not only with this app but many others, when I press HOME on my phone, then I open the GTP app again, it launches from the beginning, it doesn't open the thread I was on, if anybody can confirm that this is for all phones, thank you
I have a Droid 2 and it only starts from the beginning if i press back from something other than the news page. If I press home when I go back to it I'm taken back to whatever page I was on. Hope this helps.
 
I am encountering a problem when trying to load my PM's on the Android app.

I get a pop up saying that the remote server sent an unknown response. And that it may be due to forum software plugins being out dated or having a conflict.

I have tried re-launching the all but still get the same issue.

I am now also getting this error after posting from my phone each time.
 
Last edited:
I've tried using the app again recently and have run into a few issues with images. You can't quote them for starters. Then there's the fact that they're insanely small unless you click them which takes you away from the thread and into a gallery of images from the thread!

Is that normal app behaviour or have I got some settings wrong?
 
It never quotes pics for me, either. It's a ForumRunner issue, not a GTP issue.
 
I like the fact that when you tap an image it takes you to that page's gallery... Any plans to be able to zoom in and out on them? That world be great!
 
Sorry, Jordan... It seems I was mistaken. I think I confused this issue with another seemingly real issue.

When browsing the main page (the news page) on a mobile browser, there is no link to access the other areas of the site, but most importantly the forums. I think this is because the Android app is designed to do the site navigation via the app itself and not via the regular links. You might have designed the mobile website around the app...?

So, if you browse to the mobile news portal there is no way to access the forums unless you know the actual URL (gtplanet.net/forum) which could represent a problem for members not using/unwilling to install the android app.

Jordan, just wanted to thank you for taking care of this. I see that the mobile page menu has links to other parts of the website now, whereas before you actually had to type the entire URL of the forums (www.gtplanet.net/forums) which was quite the pain in the ass on a cellphone.

biggrin.gif
👍
 
Any way to get this on the Amazon store so I can put it on my Kindle Fire? (Fairly sure it's based on the Android platform)
 
Back