iPhone vs. website?

[classicalmichele]

Hi everyone,

 

My children and I are brand new to geocaching. We found our first cache this afternoon and loved it! Is there a difference between paying for the iPhone app vs. getting the Premium membership on the website? Also, we are on a budget and are wondering if the upgrade makes finding caches easier?

 

Thanks so much for any help you can offer!

[+T.D.M.22]

Yes there is. The app and website are differen, buying one does not include the other, and you don't need one to effecient use the other. But I'd say it's better to buy the app and have a basic membership than to have a premium membership and the free app. (Unless you are using a GPS)

 

The free app only allows limited use, including choosing which caches you can see (cache suitable for beginners.) It's an intro app, designed to give you a taste of geocaching, not a tool for people who want to do more (though some use it as such)

 

The website membership is a yearly cost of $30. It really isn't a lot - people spend more than that a week smoking, or starbucks. Refardless of the cost, the perks of the membership really won't help that much if you just use the intro app, though.

Edited April 21, 2015 by T.D.M.22

[+cerberus1]

I don't believe an app or premium membership would make finding caches easier, that part's on you.

- You'll just naturally get better at finding 'em the more you look.

I think of the two (especially on a budget), the paid app (ten bucks) is good for as long as you have the same operating system on your phone (currently iOS), and much cheaper than thirty bucks a year for premium membership.

[+thebruce0]

Yes, they are completely different. The full app provides more freedom and features for use while you're mobile and geocaching. The premium membership is for your overall geocaching account and profile, which gives you a few more general geocaching features (primarily via the website).

 

You can enjoy geocaching almost to its fullest extent with the basic free account. But the free app is very limited. I'd recommend buying the full app and geocaching for a while, then looking at what benefits you receive from upgrading your geocaching account to a premium membership, and decide if you'd like to do that.

 

It's true, the official geocaching app doesn't really make crystal clear the difference between the full/paid app and the premium membership.

 

Another way to look at it - there are a number of other geocaching apps out there as well, some free and some paid. What they're allowed to do for you is also dependent on your membership level (basic or premium).

Edited April 21, 2015 by thebruce0

[+geodarts]

 

The website membership is a yearly cost of $30. It really isn't a lot - people spend more than that a week smoking, or starbucks. Refardless of the cost, the perks of the membership really won't help that much if you just use the intro app, though.

 

Although the free app will give you a lot with premium membership . . .

 

All the features of Basic membership, plus

All Premium member caches

All caches types will be visible and interactive (Traditional (green), Multi (orange), Mystery (blue), Earth (blue), Virtual (blue), Letterbox (blue), Event (red), CITO (red), etc.

List views of all caches on your map

Filters for difficulty, terrain, cache size, hiding previously found caches, distance, and favorite points

Plus the ability to search for landmarks, neighborhood, GC codes, cache names, etc.

 

2.1. What Geocaches am I Able to Find with Geocaching's Free App for iPhone?

 

But on a budget, I would recommend the paid app since it gives access to most everything you need.

Edited April 22, 2015 by geodarts

[+and_Janine]

I personally just upgraded to the paid app. I use my phone for all my geocaching needs and I was starting to find the intro app restricting. I'm planning to go out this weekend and I was spending a lot of time saving all the coordinates for the geocaches I was interested in on my phone so I could then search for them with my googlemaps app and I just didn't want to keep doing that. I'm only 5 geocaches in but I think buying to paid app with just a basic membership would do just fine. I'm pretty sure there's things I can do on the paid app that I can't access on the website as a basic member, ie custom searches. I know that there's a couple things that need the premium account but I have yet to click on anything that tells me I can't access it without the premium membership. If you plan to use your phone a lot when you geocache I would say the paid app is the way to go. Plus the app is a one time payment when the premium membership is not.

[+T.D.M.22]

 

The website membership is a yearly cost of $30. It really isn't a lot - people spend more than that a week smoking, or starbucks. Refardless of the cost, the perks of the membership really won't help that much if you just use the intro app, though.

 

Although the free app will give you a lot with premium membership . . .

 

All the features of Basic membership, plus

All Premium member caches

All caches types will be visible and interactive (Traditional (green), Multi (orange), Mystery (blue), Earth (blue), Virtual (blue), Letterbox (blue), Event (red), CITO (red), etc.

List views of all caches on your map

Filters for difficulty, terrain, cache size, hiding previously found caches, distance, and favorite points

Plus the ability to search for landmarks, neighborhood, GC codes, cache names, etc.

 

2.1. What Geocaches am I Able to Find with Geocaching's Free App for iPhone?

 

But on a budget, I would recommend the paid app since it gives access to most everything you need.

 

Oops. Forgot about that.

[+No_Tomorrow]

I introduced my friend and her children to Geocaching recently and she downloaded the app of iPhone. It wouldn't allow her access to nearly any basic membership caches in our town. And of the few I knew that were great for beginners and for children to enjoy, only a couple of these were shown. It makes it a little frustrating for newbies, and less worth trying again when you can't find a geocache, especially if you have no idea what to expect a "camo" or "nano" cache to look like. The app says the inaccessible geocaches are only available to premium members. I am a premium member and I know which geocaches are and are not premium ones.

 

Why is this?

Please tell me it is not just so Groundspeak can make more money off people wanting to go outdoors and have some fun by lying about what is or isn't premium access.

[+thebruce0]

If you downloaded the free INTRO app, then cache selection is very very limited. To get you to buy the full official Geocaching app.

 

If you downloaded the full official Geocaching app, then all non-premium geocaches will be visible.

 

If you purchase a premium account and use the full official Geocaching app, then all available geocaches will be visible.

[+cerberus1]

I introduced my friend and her children to Geocaching recently and she downloaded the app of iPhone. It wouldn't allow her access to nearly any basic membership caches in our town. And of the few I knew that were great for beginners and for children to enjoy, only a couple of these were shown. It makes it a little frustrating for newbies, and less worth trying again when you can't find a geocache, especially if you have no idea what to expect a "camo" or "nano" cache to look like. The app says the inaccessible geocaches are only available to premium members. I am a premium member and I know which geocaches are and are not premium ones.

 

Why is this?

Please tell me it is not just so Groundspeak can make more money off people wanting to go outdoors and have some fun by lying about what is or isn't premium access.

Sounds (to me) like a wording issue/mistake again in the app.

Kinda like "basic membership caches" a few folks have said now. Love to know where that comes from.

A while ago, some were getting confused with the paid app and premium membership, coughing up 30 bucks (don't know why...) instead of 10, and receiving a PM instead of the full app which was all they really wanted.

 

You should only be able to see traditional caches with the intro app as a basic member.

If the app's calling "other" cache types premium, maybe Groundspeak should get a mail asking why.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

I introduced my friend and her children to Geocaching recently and she downloaded the app of iPhone. It wouldn't allow her access to nearly any basic membership caches in our town. And of the few I knew that were great for beginners and for children to enjoy, only a couple of these were shown. It makes it a little frustrating for newbies, and less worth trying again when you can't find a geocache, especially if you have no idea what to expect a "camo" or "nano" cache to look like. The app says the inaccessible geocaches are only available to premium members. I am a premium member and I know which geocaches are and are not premium ones.

 

Why is this?

Please tell me it is not just so Groundspeak can make more money off people wanting to go outdoors and have some fun by lying about what is or isn't premium access.

This is in Dubbo?

I find this rather odd. I looked at the map and noted that your town has but 21 caches within the town limits. None of them are shown as PMO caches. There is one PMO to the northwest, well outside of town.

 

Were you with your friend when she tried finding the caches? -or- Is this just what she told you? If the latter, then I would attribute the problem to user mistakes/not understanding the app functions.

[+thebruce0]

As I mentioned, it would be good to know if the app is the INTRO app or the PAID app. The intro app won't show all caches, even if they're not premium caches, which seems to be the case. The PAID app will show all non-premium caches, unless the user has paid for a Premium Membership.

[lostsoul]

Hi,

I consider myself one of the first members but dropped out when I moved to the Bay Area but I moved back to the desert now and want to pick up geocaching again. What's wrong with using Google map and Iphone as my GPS by putting the decimal coordinates in the search window.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Hi,

I consider myself one of the first members but dropped out when I moved to the Bay Area but I moved back to the desert now and want to pick up geocaching again. What's wrong with using Google map and Iphone as my GPS by putting the decimal coordinates in the search window.

That will work... but I must ask, what would be wrong with downloading the Intro-app to your iPhone? It's free, and it will provide all the cache information besides? Sure would be easier than inputting coordinates, as the app provides and uses them (with mapping to boot), you even get to log directly from the phone app.

Check it out here: http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=102

 

Things are a wee bit different (a couple of changes, here and there) since your last activity in 2002.

[lostsoul]

Thank you for your suggestion. Yes quite different than when I had to put in coordinates on my old GPS with a short battery life. Also I did not know that you still have free apps on this site.

[lostsoul]

Where do I find the free app.

[+Bear and Ragged]

Where do I find the free app.

 

In the Apple Store. Link from here > https://www.geocaching.com/mobile/default.aspx

[+ejsuthe]

I have a question about the free vs paid app. My friend has an iPhone 6 and can see "Inventory" and much more on his phone. I have an iPhone 5s and cannot. Is it because I have the free app (and premium member) and he has the paid app? I thought the premium member would let me see that .........very poor explanation of membership, paid, free app on the part of Groundspeak.

[+Bear and Ragged]

I have a question about the free vs paid app. My friend has an iPhone 6 and can see "Inventory" and much more on his phone. I have an iPhone 5s and cannot. Is it because I have the free app (and premium member) and he has the paid app? I thought the premium member would let me see that .........very poor explanation of membership, paid, free app on the part of Groundspeak.

 

Yes (see bolded part) The basic/free/trial app does not do Trackables.

[+cerberus1]

I have a question about the free vs paid app. My friend has an iPhone 6 and can see "Inventory" and much more on his phone. I have an iPhone 5s and cannot. Is it because I have the free app (and premium member) and he has the paid app? I thought the premium member would let me see that .........very poor explanation of membership, paid, free app on the part of Groundspeak.

Premium membership has nothing to do with iOS apps (so far).

Your pm is for pqs, stats, notifications, blahblahblah...and the few pmo caches in your area.

 

It seems to be that the apps are ready for change though.

Your pm should already be coming in handy otherwise, isn't it?

[+cerberus1]

Apple recently launched a new product

Which geocaching-related product is that?

[+The A-Team]

Apple recently launched a new product

...and the award for most-vague post of the year goes to...

[also]

I have a question about the free vs paid app. My friend has an iPhone 6 and can see "Inventory" and much more on his phone. I have an iPhone 5s and cannot. Is it because I have the free app (and premium member) and he has the paid app? I thought the premium member would let me see that .........very poor explanation of membership, paid, free app on the part of Groundspeak.

 

Yes (see bolded part) The basic/free/trial app does not do Trackables.

 

Trackables live in your profile on the free app. Go to profile (bottom left in the menu bar), see: "My Trackable Inventory". Happy caching!