Jump to content

Windows Phone app driving me mad


haylbart

Recommended Posts

Hello

I wonder if you could advise. I have been caching since January this year and I have been using the geocache app on a windows phone to find my first 100.

Over the last couple of weekends the app has started to lose signal mid may through a search, take me off in random directions and has missed caches along a route. I thought that the data was struggling to I started to save caches offline and then attempt to use the phones GPS. This worked well for a day or so but now the GPS is failing to guide and has started to play up too. Has anyone else had trouble with the app recently?

After all the fun and games with the app I'm thinking of changing to a GPS tracker - I am a complete beginner with no knowledge of them so any advice/recommendations would be appreciated.

I'm hoping to find a solution before anymore trails are ruined/abandoned.

Thanks in advance :)

Link to comment

Could be a hardware issue, but I tend to follow the following advice:

 

When you get close to the geocache (within 300 feet, which is the length of a football field), check your GPS device's signal strength. Sometimes the signal will have an error between 25 - 200 feet. Concentrate more on the overall distance decreasing and less on the arrow as you get closer to the final location.

 

Link for reference:

 

Finding your first geocache

 

However, I can't argue with the advantages of a dedicated hand held GPSr over a phone. I tend to use both: my phone for urban hides, and my GPSr for rural settings where cell signals are sketchy or non existent.

 

Good luck!

Link to comment

Like you, Haylbart, I use the Windows Phone app (Lumia 920 w/Cyan firmware), but haven't had a chance to search for caches for the past couple of months.

 

One thing I have noticed is that HERE Drive + has begun lagging, sometimes taking 2-3 minutes to catch up with my location as I'm driving. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with Nokia spinning off HERE as a separate company, requiring WP owners to sign up for a HERE account. Until the recent lag, I found the GPS on the Lumia to be incredibly accurate; as good as my mom's $250 Garmin. LOL

 

The Geocaching app uses whatever Bing maps are downloaded on your phone... You might check for updates for those.

 

Lastly, when GPS behaves badly, you might try going to Settings > Location and turning GPS off/on to have it get real time info again.

Link to comment

Being new at this as well i can tell you that when i use the app i will get "close" to the cache and all of a sudden it will change direction and tell me i have 45 feet to go. So seeing as i work with a bunch if electrical engineers i reached out and ask "how is this happening"? the most common response i got back was:

 

(1)A cell phone is dependant on a cell tower therefore you must be in range of a tower for your cell phone GPS to work.

(2) the further you are away from a tower you cell phone will boost the power in order to connect to the tower and the closer you are it will reduce power.

(3) keep in mind that anything obstructing the siginal (IE: trees, buildings and even yourself) will throw off your GPS.

(4) the last bit of advice they gave me was "go buy a cheap GPS unit" So I did and have had no issues since.

 

Power Guy

Link to comment

I have to say that problems like that are usualy more closely related to hardware, and OS options/settings than what App you are using. I had a LG Windows Phone 7 a few years ago, and I had a lot of the same problems. I usualy just used my older Windows Mobile HTC for caching at that time.

 

I think, if you want some specific help, you need to give us more detials regarding phone model, sky view at the time of the problems, OS version etc.

 

If you are thinking of buying a handheld, you can really spend anything from $35 (used) to close to $1000. Pick your price point, and start looking. If you want to buy new, consider the eTrex20. Fairly cheep, and has reasonably full feature set.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...