Premium Membership / Paid App?

[CryptikFox]

I've been considering purchasing premium membership but have a couple of questions with how that works with the iPhone application.

_______

As a college student, I am tight on money and can't just dump over a hundred dollars on a good GPS (that I'd use for hiking and backpacking as well, not just geocaching).

In other words: don't rant about me being a "smartphone cacher" because it's the only GPS I have available at the time. That's not what I'm here to talk about or ask.

_______

 

If you purchase premium, whether it's the $10 or $30, would you get the full app as well? Or would you have to pay an additional $10?

 

If you bought the $10 app without purchasing membership, what would that do?

[+ADKer]

The $10 dollar app and the $30/year membership are completely separate things. One does not give you the other. Unfortunately, I don't use the full app, so I can't comment on that.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

I've been considering purchasing premium membership but have a couple of questions with how that works with the iPhone application.

_______

As a college student, I am tight on money and can't just dump over a hundred dollars on a good GPS (that I'd use for hiking and backpacking as well, not just geocaching).

In other words: don't rant about me being a "smartphone cacher" because it's the only GPS I have available at the time. That's not what I'm here to talk about or ask.

_______

 

If you purchase premium, whether it's the $10 or $30, would you get the full app as well? Or would you have to pay an additional $10?

 

If you bought the $10 app without purchasing membership, what would that do?

 

Buying Premium does not get you the phone app., you would need to pay the additional $10.

 

I have the app. but am also premium so I don't know what the app. can do without being premium.

[+popokiiti]

The app is an additional $10, but you could get that and try premium for three months for another $10 if you wished. I started with just the basic membership for a couple of years, and if I had a smartphone, I would go with the app first. Bear in mind that the app isn't transferable to another platform such as Android. I would do a bit more research, and see how many caches you can download in a 24 hour period first. There may or may not be limits. I seem to recall that the trial (free) app allows only 3 in that amount of time. In a nutshell, and being thrifty, I'd go with the app first and go for premium if I stayed with the game as there are a lot of benefits.

I have the app on my iPad mini, it has no GPS, but I managed to navigate to a cache with it as a trial, leaving my GPS back at the motel. It shows nearby caches, and you can select an area too. I seem to remember saving the cache offline??? Just be careful of data charges on your iPhone!

All the best, and welcome to the forums.

[+popokiiti]

Some of the links in this thread may help you out.

[+Manville Possum]

I'm a premium member and I use a free Android app.

[+Chief301]

I agree with popokiiti....Buy the $10 "Pro" app (that's what they're calling it now ) and hold off on the Premium membership for now. If you're currently using the free Intro app you'll find that the Pro version is a completely different thing. It looks and operates completely different, but in a good way. The Pro version gives you no limits on how many caches you can look up per day (I think the Intro version limits you to 3 per day). It also shows all the caches (except Premium Member Only caches...a small percentage in most areas), and doesn't limit you to only traditionals and "easy" beginner caches like the Intro app.

 

If you decide to purchase the app, DO NOT attempt to "upgrade" from within the app! This is not an upgrade of the app, it is an upgrade to Premium membership, and you'd still be stuck with the Intro app. A lot of people have been confused by this, not understanding the difference between Premium membership and the Pro app. They are two separate purchases. Go to the App Store and make your purchase there.

 

The Pro app works fine without Premium membership. It will do everything you need except show Premium Member Only caches. Conversely, Premium membership is useless if you still have the Intro app.

 

My recommendation is purchase the app, get out there and find Geocaches, and in the meantime read up on the benefits of Premium membership. After you've been caching awhile you'll know if you also want to go Premium.

[Pup Patrol]

I've been considering purchasing premium membership but have a couple of questions with how that works with the iPhone application.

_______

As a college student, I am tight on money and can't just dump over a hundred dollars on a good GPS (that I'd use for hiking and backpacking as well, not just geocaching).

In other words: don't rant about me being a "smartphone cacher" because it's the only GPS I have available at the time. That's not what I'm here to talk about or ask.

_______

 

If you purchase premium, whether it's the $10 or $30, would you get the full app as well? Or would you have to pay an additional $10?

 

If you bought the $10 app without purchasing membership, what would that do?

 

The Premium Membership and the paid app are two completely different, unrelated items. That should be pretty obvious by the price difference.

 

As for apps, there is the free, intro app and a paid app. They are different animals, too.

 

A Basic Membership is free. Lots of folks find lots of caches with the Basic Membership.

 

A Premium Membership is $30/year, but comes with added perks. (No, there is no app included in the Premium Membership.)

 

Premium Membership Benefits:

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=5

 

Check out this section of the Help Center:

 

Apps

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=12

 

and this comparison chart:

 

1.15. iPhone app Feature Comparison

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=442

 

 

B.