[spiritguide]

 niraD, on Jul 29 2010, 01:45 PM, said:

 dneuwir, on Jul 29 2010, 01:58 PM, said:

Groundspeak has given me no alternative.

Why must Groundspeak be the one to give you an alternative to an app that violates their TOU by scraping their site?

There are several free apps already available that respect Groundspeak's TOU. Many find them very useful. The unauthorized application is hardly the only option.

And why only free apps? There are several inexpensive apps also that allow you to load GPX for premium members and LOC files for others.

[spiritguide]

 JustMike, on Jul 29 2010, 02:21 PM, said:

 niraD, on Jul 29 2010, 02:45 PM, said:

 dneuwir, on Jul 29 2010, 01:58 PM, said:

Groundspeak has given me no alternative.

Why must Groundspeak be the one to give you an alternative to an app that violates their TOU by scraping their site?

There are several free apps already available that respect Groundspeak's TOU. Many find them very useful. The unauthorized application is hardly the only option.

Choice is good. Well, choice is good for consumers and bad for providers. Some consumers/geocachers like to do live searches. Some prefer to use PQs. Choice. For those that like to depend on live searches one of the apps that Groundspeak feels violates the TOU are a possible choice. For those that prefer to use PQs there are more choices, none (I think) cause any tummy troubles for the Frog in Seattle.

Personally, I prefer to use PQs. Rarely do I ever just randomly show up at a location at start caching. Instead, I plan trips with a focus on a specific location or specific caches. It's nice that my preferred caching style allows me to avoid live searches -- since that bothers Groundspeak and because I frequently cache where there is no cell coverage -- but I do this because it's the way I like to cache.

Really, this is a silly issue. Pick the app you like and go caching! Get outside. Get some dirt on your shoes. Have fun!

Hear, hear! I prefer PQs also to plan my caching adventures. Why everyone is waiting for some glorious app from Groundspeak baffles me. I wonder with all the anticipation for the great GC app there will be an equal disappointment when it finally arrives.

[dneuwir]

 niraD, on Jul 29 2010, 02:45 PM, said:

 dneuwir, on Jul 29 2010, 01:58 PM, said:

Groundspeak has given me no alternative.

Why must Groundspeak be the one to give you an alternative to an app that violates their TOU by scraping their site?

There are several free apps already available that respect Groundspeak's TOU. Many find them very useful. The unauthorized application is hardly the only option.

What I meant was that Groundspeak has not provided me with THEIR alternative (as of yet, and now the site says "Q3"--great another 3 months).

From what I've used, none of the "several free apps" are even remotely as convenient to use as what I'm doing now. All of which require me to extensively plan exactly where I'll be in advance, download queries, and sometimes mess around with multiple apps to get things loaded and displaying correctly. As someone who is all over town, at random, occasionally I get 10 minutes to spare and it's REALLY nice to be able to pull into a parking lot, grab the Droid, click a button and pull up "caches near me right now", pick one, and go. I would probably stop geocaching altogether, or at least it would seriously impact the "pleasure versus hassle" ratio from my point of view, to have to mess around with GPXs and downloads every time I wanted to pull up a quick cache in the neighborhood. Totally removes spontaneity from the whole game. I hardly think I'm alone in this opinion...am I?

[JustMike]

 dneuwir, on Jul 29 2010, 06:57 PM, said:

 niraD, on Jul 29 2010, 02:45 PM, said:

 dneuwir, on Jul 29 2010, 01:58 PM, said:

Groundspeak has given me no alternative.

Why must Groundspeak be the one to give you an alternative to an app that violates their TOU by scraping their site?

There are several free apps already available that respect Groundspeak's TOU. Many find them very useful. The unauthorized application is hardly the only option.

What I meant was that Groundspeak has not provided me with THEIR alternative (as of yet, and now the site says "Q3"--great another 3 months).

From what I've used, none of the "several free apps" are even remotely as convenient to use as what I'm doing now. All of which require me to extensively plan exactly where I'll be in advance, download queries, and sometimes mess around with multiple apps to get things loaded and displaying correctly. As someone who is all over town, at random, occasionally I get 10 minutes to spare and it's REALLY nice to be able to pull into a parking lot, grab the Droid, click a button and pull up "caches near me right now", pick one, and go. I would probably stop geocaching altogether, or at least it would seriously impact the "pleasure versus hassle" ratio from my point of view, to have to mess around with GPXs and downloads every time I wanted to pull up a quick cache in the neighborhood. Totally removes spontaneity from the whole game. I hardly think I'm alone in this opinion...am I?

As a test, I tried loading 15,000 caches into several of the Android gpx-processing apps. My thinking was that any app that could manage 15,000 caches would allow basically the same behavior as the live-search apps without the various problems with live search (like lack of cell coverage and heartburn from our friends in Seattle). I found that most apps fail badly with large gpx sets, but GeOrg handled 16,000 without too much pain on a Droid and easily handled several gpx sets of 5000. GeOrg can not only process large data sets, but allows search and sort on large data sets and allows full navigation to any of those caches. So, I'm able to load all the caches in the state of Washington into my Droid and easily do a "what's nearby" search. How's that for 'around town?'

Granted to make this work, you need to have a planned PQ schedule and manage the results with a tool like Gsak. But there are many others doing this -- I certainly didn't think it up -- and it provides some other useful planning advantages, especially if you like to do state-wide challenges. The housekeeping takes about 10 minutes a couple times each week, which is acceptable to me as I can do that housekeeping while doing other computer tasks (like writing forum posts).

If you like to just grab whatever cache happens to be nearby then live search is the way to go. But you'll be missing most of what makes geocaching fun.

[insx]

 JustMike, on Jul 29 2010, 07:46 PM, said:

Granted to make this work, you need to have a planned PQ schedule and manage the results with a tool like Gsak.

Why do I need Gsak? I'm loading my PQ GPX files into Georg and updating them regularly without it. Please explain.

[nicolo]

 insx, on Jul 29 2010, 10:20 PM, said:

 JustMike, on Jul 29 2010, 07:46 PM, said:

Granted to make this work, you need to have a planned PQ schedule and manage the results with a tool like Gsak.

Why do I need Gsak? I'm loading my PQ GPX files into Georg and updating them regularly without it. Please explain.

Here you go ...

[LDove]

I am not very phone savy or computer savy, but I just bought a Droid and came on here to find out about an app to use with it. I see that there is not one out yet for Droid. If I use cachemate, does that have the compass and show me the nearest caches? I currently use it on my Palm Pilot, but was wondering how it worked for geocaching.

If it does that, then is Cachemate or Geobeagle better? THANKS for any help or information.

[JustMike]

 nicolo, on Jul 30 2010, 04:37 AM, said:

 insx, on Jul 29 2010, 10:20 PM, said:

 JustMike, on Jul 29 2010, 07:46 PM, said:

Granted to make this work, you need to have a planned PQ schedule and manage the results with a tool like Gsak.

Why do I need Gsak? I'm loading my PQ GPX files into Georg and updating them regularly without it. Please explain.

Here you go ...

In the example I described, I was using multiple PQs, about 30 in this case, to download all of the cache data for a large region. I then merged that data using GSAK and then selected a smaller area to load into GeOrg. Granted you could simply take all of the cache data from all those PQs and load it directly into GeOrg (I did basically that to stress test GeOrg and other Android apps), but by first placing all that data into Gsak I can do various searches -- for various state-wide challenges, for example -- and load a smaller data set into GeOrg.

So, no, you do not need Gsak to load 30 PQs into GeOrg.

To make use of all the cache data for a large region I think you do need Gsak or something like it.

[insx]

There are a bunch of applications available that do what you need. It is just that the official GC.com app is not available yet.

Yes, cachemate will take you to the cache and show you the nearest caches. Features here: http://www.smittywar...roid/cachemate/

I've tried a few apps. My favourite so far is Georg.

 LDove, on Jul 31 2010, 03:49 PM, said:

I am not very phone savy or computer savy, but I just bought a Droid and came on here to find out about an app to use with it. I see that there is not one out yet for Droid. If I use cachemate, does that have the compass and show me the nearest caches? I currently use it on my Palm Pilot, but was wondering how it worked for geocaching.

If it does that, then is Cachemate or Geobeagle better? THANKS for any help or information.

This post has been edited by insx: 02 August 2010 - 05:15 AM

[insx]

 nicolo, on Jul 30 2010, 03:37 AM, said:

Here you go ...

Very witty, in response:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=double+glazing

[haleyrebekah]

Became a premium member today and loaded local PQ to GeoBeagle through Bcaching. Seemed to work ok, kept up while driving, and took me right to the cache.

Attempted to load PQ for city 25 miles away (where I work) and will see if they pull up on Friday.

[John E Cache]

I just got a ATT Captivate. It is the Samsung Galaxy S 1 ghz phone. GeoBeagle processes a GPX much quicker than my old G1. Its is interesting to me that GeoBeagle can now search GC, but according to them scraping the coordinates is OK because they do not scrape the description like "another app". I guess because Ground Speak doesn't clarify the TOU, a site can make their own rules.

I really like GeoBeagle. I wonder if you could make a GPX with transit stops. That way when I am walking downtown I can find the closest stop. The link could be to trimet.org in my case.

This post has been edited by John E Cache: 05 August 2010 - 07:00 PM

[Stripes]

 dneuwir, on Jul 29 2010, 05:57 PM, said:

 niraD, on Jul 29 2010, 02:45 PM, said:

 dneuwir, on Jul 29 2010, 01:58 PM, said:

Groundspeak has given me no alternative.

Why must Groundspeak be the one to give you an alternative to an app that violates their TOU by scraping their site?

There are several free apps already available that respect Groundspeak's TOU. Many find them very useful. The unauthorized application is hardly the only option.

What I meant was that Groundspeak has not provided me with THEIR alternative (as of yet, and now the site says "Q3"--great another 3 months).

From what I've used, none of the "several free apps" are even remotely as convenient to use as what I'm doing now. All of which require me to extensively plan exactly where I'll be in advance, download queries, and sometimes mess around with multiple apps to get things loaded and displaying correctly. As someone who is all over town, at random, occasionally I get 10 minutes to spare and it's REALLY nice to be able to pull into a parking lot, grab the Droid, click a button and pull up "caches near me right now", pick one, and go. I would probably stop geocaching altogether, or at least it would seriously impact the "pleasure versus hassle" ratio from my point of view, to have to mess around with GPXs and downloads every time I wanted to pull up a quick cache in the neighborhood. Totally removes spontaneity from the whole game. I hardly think I'm alone in this opinion...am I?

You are not alone in this opinion. I do lots of traveling. The idea that I can make last minute changes to my route and not have to plan every stop is what I want in an app. I have an iPad and use the GC app on it, but, I don't live in an area where keeping the data plan makes sense. My data plan on the Droid is much less than the date plans for the iPad. With my Droid, I can use it in places I can't use the iPad and I love the spontaneity of caching. I want something that is easy to use and not have to go through all the steps that are mentioned in this thread.

I also load caches into my Garmin Venture when I know I am going to be in an area for a time and am able to connect to my laptop.

[jschallenberg]

In reply to the original question of this 9-page thread, here is my vote for the "Best Android geocaching app":

BackCountry Navigator , by Nathan Mellor (http://www.backcountrynavigator.com/) has been around for a few years as a Pocket PC/Windows Mobile program. Now it has re-emerged as a completely redesigned Android program.

It allows you to download topographic maps onto your Android device (mine is not a phone, it's an Archos 5 Internet Tablet, downloading is over WiFi). It will import gpx files, including Pocket Queries, directly from the SD card. The waypoints from the gpx file are displayed over the topo map, and the waypoint information - description and logs - is displayed on another screen.

I am new to Geocaching, so I have not used the other tools mentioned in this thread. But from my limited experience, BackCountry Navigator is a winner!

- Jeff Schallenberg

[ronnijean]

I'm brand new to geocaching, and a week ago or so looked through the Android market to see if there were any geocache apps. I found one for free (which I now suspect is the "not named" one mentioned here) and played around with it, but hadn't actually gone looking for any caches yet.

This morning I went geocaching for the first time at a CITO event, and was loaned a GPS unit. Since I had a great time (and the Magellan eXplorist GPS I got to borrow was pretty cool), I decided to see if there was a better app I could download for my G1 and was willing to pay a reasonable price.

So I did a google search and found this thread, skimmed through a lot of it, and was sad to see that there was no official GS app for Android yet...HOWEVER, I just now did a Market search on my phone anyways, and GUESS WHAT SHOWED UP?? Apparently the official app is out now. Must have been released super recently, like in the past couple days or something. It's $9.99, for anyone interested. I just searched for "Groundspeak" into the Marketplace and it popped up.

Here's the link: http://www.geocaching.com/android/

[dneuwir]

Yeah... Ummm... $10 makes it an exhorbitantly expensive Android app (with most quality App prices in the $.99 to $3.99 range). Where's the 10- or 30-day trial edition? The 24 hours that Google gives you to either fully test it out or return it is fine for a cheesy game or utility, but not NEARLY enough time on an app of this magnitude--it takes most part-time cachers a week to learn the ins and outs of a good app. I'd need at least enough time for 2-3 good days of caching to determine whether I'm willing to pony up that kind of money.

Secondly, with a ton of lousy reviews thus far I'm thinking I'm going to stick with alternative applications until version 2.0 fixes all the issues (crashes, inability to navigate, etc.). I don't have the time or patience to deal with overpriced apps that are not flawless or near flawless--and for that price I'd expect at least near-flawlessness.

[JustMike]

 ronnijean, on Aug 21 2010, 04:32 PM, said:

I'm brand new to geocaching, and a week ago or so looked through the Android market to see if there were any geocache apps. I found one for free (which I now suspect is the "not named" one mentioned here) and played around with it, but hadn't actually gone looking for any caches yet.

This morning I went geocaching for the first time at a CITO event, and was loaned a GPS unit. Since I had a great time (and the Magellan eXplorist GPS I got to borrow was pretty cool), I decided to see if there was a better app I could download for my G1 and was willing to pay a reasonable price.

So I did a google search and found this thread, skimmed through a lot of it, and was sad to see that there was no official GS app for Android yet...HOWEVER, I just now did a Market search on my phone anyways, and GUESS WHAT SHOWED UP?? Apparently the official app is out now. Must have been released super recently, like in the past couple days or something. It's $9.99, for anyone interested. I just searched for "Groundspeak" into the Marketplace and it popped up.

Here's the link: http://www.geocaching.com/android/

Uh..... the link you provided is for the official Groundspeak geocaching app. Works nicely, although it's still a little buggy. Worth $10.

There are several great apps for the Android that manage gpx files. GeOrg, GeoHunter, CacheMate, GeoBeagle, etc, etc. etc. For these, you'll need to use pocket queries to be useful, which is a premium member service. Actually, now that I think about it, you must need to be a premium member to use Groundspeak's geocaching app too. Regardless..... premium membership is a good value too.

An important point, that you may not realize since you're new to geocaching and perhaps new to using a smart phone, a geocaching app that depends on cell service, like the unnamed app and Groundspeak's app, will not work without cell service unless you download cache data before loosing service.

Groundspeak doesn't allow us to discuss the un-named app in their forums. Feel free to send me a private note if you'd like feedback.

Regards, Mike

[markstang]

I use Free Censored Application on an HTC EVO for my GEOCACHING fun.

This post has been edited by markstang: 22 August 2010 - 11:31 AM

[BlueRajah]

 markstang, on Aug 22 2010, 10:39 AM, said:

I use Free Censored App on an HTC EVO for my GEOCACHING fun.

I love the Geocaching app as get use it more, I am enjoying it more. As to the One markstang recommends it breaks the TOU and I would recommend finding another.

[b] Moderator edited quote to reflect OP's edit.

This post has been edited by robertlipe: 22 August 2010 - 12:12 PM

[markstang]

I just found out from a moderator that the app I mentioned is nor allowed. So please disregard , I do not condone breaking rules. Apologize.

I am very confused though. I thought this was a hobby.

Could someone please explain so that I do nor feel (as I feel right now) like some kind of criminal for enjoying my new found hobby. An explanation would be considerate.

[robertlipe]

It's been explained many times in this thread and elsewhere that Groundspeak feels that the app markstang is promoting violates the Terms Of Use of this site that you (and the app's developer) agreed to. Easily a third of the posts in this thread are disagreeing with Groundspeak's interpretation of their own rules or are fussing that they don't care.

But this group isn't the place to protest a speeding ticket because you feel the speed limit is too low.

Hobbies are still bound by rules. Those word that you clicked "I agree" to when you joined the site do have meaning.

[insx]

Is it significant that the name c:geo has not been filtered out lately?

[BlueRajah]

Not between Geocaching and the creator of the app. Filtering it creating more interest, and actually prevented us from telling people is was against the TOU, and having them understand what program we were talking about.

This post has been edited by BlueRajah: 23 August 2010 - 06:04 AM

[markstang]

 robertlipe, on Aug 22 2010, 12:11 PM, said:

It's been explained many times in this thread and elsewhere that Groundspeak feels that the app markstang is promoting violates the Terms Of Use of this site that you (and the app's developer) agreed to. Easily a third of the posts in this thread are disagreeing with Groundspeak's interpretation of their own rules or are fussing that they don't care.

But this group isn't the place to protest a speeding ticket because you feel the speed limit is too low.

Hobbies are still bound by rules. Those word that you clicked "I agree" to when you joined the site do have meaning.

I did not and am not "promoting anything" Rude

Let me walk you folks through the Android experience so you do not offend anyone else like me that is new and quite innocent to the prosecution judgement. From what I read I can conclude that if you do not have a Droid based phone...your accusations are falsely presumptuous. The following is an exact account of what we "new" players experience.

So...you have a new state of the art HTC EVO. Most people do not know what this is and it is not too relevant here to explain it. Basically like most droid phones it plays TV, records Movies, plays movies, takes pictures , plays music from free Pandora Satalite radio or loaded mptypes, metal detector, GPS, note taking, texting and many many more...oh It is a phone too but most of its use is far exceeds that because it is a 1 Gig computer. So does the iphone except the iphone uses only approved apps from apple and they work flawless.

The subject...My twin brother asks me if I know what GeoCaching is (he just got a Droid from Motorola).
I say I have heard of it and he says"go to your "market" and look for an App. I looked it up and saw some free ones (at the time there was no Groundspeak one, it just came out). I decided that a free app fit my budget, it was listed as Beta so I knew it might not work.

There they are... free Apps or pay for Apps. A pay for App is always much better but I pick up pennies when I can and thought I could deal with a chincy free App to see what it was about.

It Loaded/promts you to make a user name/password and install. Simple.

In 30 seconds I had a list of nearby caches and could menu drop to map/radar/compass/step by step
Simple , wow works great. Click on a cache and find it...FUN, hey...there is a tab to log it as found. Cool!

I found a Chache that had a travel bug in my first week, just a couple of days ago.I google Travel bug and go through the rigamarow to find a site that has info about it. eventually I find Groundspeak. Wow cool...a web sight about GeoCaching. I start sharing my experience and BAM!!!.

I get hit up about having a Non approved App.

WTH...um...duno. Innocent. How could I have possibly known? The App works.

So I search the sight left and right up and down NOTHING about it.
No tab that says the mysterious acronym "TOU" letters that represents some rules.I had to do a google search just to find out it means Terms Of Use, well slap me silly...how about if we just use the words "Terms Of Use" when we are talking about terms of Use.

Humor me and try to find this info on this sight.
I tried a search for TOU or Terms of Use...nothing.
Clicked on every page and searched high and low. I have certainly missed it somewhere. The point is I am "Trying" to find it and can not. How can a person Possible be found guilty of something they have no idea is wrong?
Keep in mind, I would NEVER have found this sight had I not found a Travel Bug (pretty Cool find by the way)
I would have just kept on having fun.
But no, no sooner than I started I get a sour feeling in my stomach. I feel like a criminal or something.

This is all Brand new stuff and we are living the first moments of MANY new members. So please let my little story be informative that many many many people might freshly be using an App. and they have no possible way to know they doing anything but joining in a GREAT family fun activity. Be mindful that new people here are good people. GeoCaching itself does draw on a segment of society that is pretty much nice nature type hiking family types.

I would like to see a simple Banner for donating to the sight at the bottom like many other free/fee ralated sights.

Let me end this by saying I found the approved App for 10 bucks. I do NOT condone using an App that is allegedly not supposed to be used.

I will miss the Live Caching, that was pretty cool tied to my talking GPS program hands free while driving.

124,000 views on this thread kinda gives a window into what is on the current minds of Geocachers

This post has been edited by markstang: 23 August 2010 - 08:31 AM

[markstang]

Edited donation query.

This post has been edited by markstang: 23 August 2010 - 09:15 AM

[BlueRajah]

Sorry about being caught blindsided. We often get caught up and assume everyone knows what TOU means(Terms of Use). I will make a note and try and spell it out in the future, and perhaps a link in response to new posters would be appropriate as well.

On the website the link to the Terms of Use are on every page (or I believe so) at the very bottom.

On our end as moderators we watch for new posters that suddenly start posting about a non Groundspeak product. Most of the time (though not all) they are a sock account used to advertise a product, or promote an agenda. Obviously no one wants forums full of ads that compete with the company sponsoring the forum (except the competitor)

[JustMike]

 BlueRajah, on Aug 23 2010, 12:07 PM, said:

On our end as moderators we watch for new posters that suddenly start posting about a non Groundspeak product. Most of the time (though not all) they are a sock account used to advertise a product, or promote an agenda. Obviously no one wants forums full of ads that compete with the company sponsoring the forum (except the competitor)

You don't actually believe that, do you? You actually think that most people who comment about non-Groundspeak products are phonies promoting their own product or agendas? Really? You're sounding just a wee bit paranoid. I can assure you I'm real and have no agenda other than enjoying geocaching using whatever tools work best. I'm not connected with any competing product/service and derive zero income from geocaching. I do, however, send money to Groundspeak. I've had many email conversations with many of the very people you are maligning and none appeared to be phony. All seemed to be people just trying to enjoy geocaching. Really, I think an apology is in order.

[BlueRajah]

 JustMike, on Aug 23 2010, 01:22 PM, said:

You don't actually believe that, do you? You actually think that most people who comment about non-Groundspeak products are phonies promoting their own product or agendas?

No i do not. I would not have thought you were trying to promote a product. You have been online since 2004 and have a number of forum posts. You are sharing your opinion. Most commercial posts are starting to post to forums and have a new accounts.

[markstang]

 BlueRajah, on Aug 23 2010, 11:07 AM, said:

Sorry about being caught blindsided. We often get caught up and assume everyone knows what TOU means(Terms of Use). I will make a note and try and spell it out in the future, and perhaps a link in response to new posters would be appropriate as well.

On the website the link to the Terms of Use are on every page (or I believe so) at the very bottom.

On our end as moderators we watch for new posters that suddenly start posting about a non Groundspeak product. Most of the time (though not all) they are a sock account used to advertise a product, or promote an agenda. Obviously no one wants forums full of ads that compete with the company sponsoring the forum (except the competitor)

listen...it was not you and actually it does not mater. I Am learning and want to be compliant. I like this sight and Luuuvvv this new hobby. It may be hard to imagine but 8 days ago I knew Nothing about GeoCaching.

I have over 20 finds lolol nothing in this world of seekers. I can not say in words just how much I like this activity. I found the "Groundspeak Terms of Use" finally at the bottom of the page of "Geocaching.com" for payment membership. LOL go figure...a different site. The moderator that used the acronym with me Private messaged me and was the kindest person helping me find the sight to pay membership because I wanted to donate. I still feel it would be nice to have a PayPal tab to donate "just Because" at the bottom of this .Com site.

The passion for android is astonishing and truly Star Trek if you have no clue and "really really" have no idea about these phones.

In 30 seconds from down load you can be GeoCaching with coordinates.

Let me repeat....it is that true and fast from a moment of idea in a cafe "hmmm I wonder what this is?...30 seconds later you are looking at -nearest Cache- list. Stunning.

I wish I had the time and location (equalling envy and need ) for a rugged GPS in a mountain or valley terrain. That would mean my dream would have come true with nature. But...I live in Central Florida and enjoy AC in a car and tramp around parking lots and city parks or country roads for GeoCaching fun. The Smart phone works fine and is the best option for the situation. That is what really maters. Matching the equipment for the need.

[lkcade]

c-geo is the best!

 Patuxent, on Feb 24 2009, 02:37 PM, said:

I've been a Win Mobile Cachemate user for quite a while and was a happy customer. Now that I'm on the T-Mobile G1, I see that there are two potential replacements on the Android platform: Geocacher ($15) and Geodroid ($9.99, but free demo available).

I've used GeoBeagle, but it just doesn't provide the database capabilities that Cachemate did. Geocacher and Geodroid do but not in quite the elegant fashion as Cachemate. Until an Android Cachemate is published, do you have an opinion on Geocacher vs. Geodroid? I've tried out both and haven't made up my mind yet.

[piper28]

So far I've been using geobeagle, and while I have to admit there's a couple of minor quirks that I'm not real fond of (I'm especially not a big fan of the icons), for the way I do things it's working out really well. So well that I don't think I'd even consider the "official" geocaching app.

Now, that said, I still use a regular gps when caching, and use the phone basically for just looking things up and making note of find/not find status. I've been real impressed with it's abilities to handle having the entire state of michigan loaded into the program at once. (OK, sure, it takes a while to do that initial import, but after that, I'm actually incredibly impressed at how quickly it comes up with the closest caches to you.)

[TeamVilkku]

I have use Columbus. Nice software.

[MaxiP]

I've tried pretty much all of them (including the official GS app) and my favourite by far is Georg. It does the same as all the others but with a few extras thrown in - multiple PQ databases, offline maps, live / local maps, etc.

This (IMHO) is the only app you will need and well worth the €4.99

[John E Cache]

I came across an interesting app because my Captivate GPS is poor.

Bluetooth GPS Provider lets you use a Bluetooth GPS with an Andoid phone.

I wonder if this app works with the official Geocaching app.

[1337killer]

do i seriously have to pay for a subscription to Groundspeak and pay for their app on android? thats bogus.

[baloo&bd]

 1337killer, on Oct 1 2010, 11:17 PM, said:

do i seriously have to pay for a subscription to Groundspeak and pay for their app on android? thats bogus.

No, it is not required. Many PMs simply use a GPSr.

[vds]

Just found a cache with my Verizon Fascinate (Samsung Galaxy S) with the free app that shall not be named :-) as a quick test and it was pretty amazing. Downloaded the cache for offline use. Clicked navigate and Google Navigation came up. Clicked turn-by-turn and it gave me voice prompted navigation to 30 meters from the location. Builtin compass was great once I figured the display out. Reached the cache with the location showing 0.87m from the coordinates. Logged via cell from the app (c:geo). Nice well-integrated experience.

That said, I was terrified the whole time that I'd drop the phone, get it rained on, scratch it, etc. given I'm stuck with it for 23 more months, as well as the quick 2-mile jaunt eating battery life. I'll stick with the Nuvi 1300 car unit and Oregon 200 and then upload field notes when I get around to it.

But the Fascinate did a great job as one way to do it.

[UtChaz & Family]

Can anyone tell me if there is an instruction manual for the new GC Android app?
Sure I can see the caches online but I have not been able to find anything allowing me to login so I don't see what I've already found or better yet what I've already placed.
Why would GC hide the !@#$ instructions?

[baloo&bd]

 UtChaz & Family, on Oct 6 2010, 09:24 PM, said:

Can anyone tell me if there is an instruction manual for the new GC Android app?
Sure I can see the caches online but I have not been able to find anything allowing me to login so I don't see what I've already found or better yet what I've already placed.
Why would GC hide the !@#$ instructions?

Since it is pretty straight forward to use, it was decided to follow Android app standards and not do a manual.

The login is under settings.

This post has been edited by baloo&bd: 06 October 2010 - 07:05 PM

[Tron2010]

I just change to the DroidX from an I phone, I used the Groundspeak software. The Droid version seems lacking, I cant even put my info so I only see caches I have not done, Am I missing something? Is there a better app that wil acomplish this task? I must be slow, I can not even find the settings....

This post has been edited by Tron2010: 07 October 2010 - 11:50 AM

[vds]

 Tron2010, on Oct 7 2010, 12:46 PM, said:

I just change to the DroidX from an I phone, I used the Groundspeak software. The Droid version seems lacking, I cant even put my info so I only see caches I have not done, Am I missing something? Is there a better app that wil acomplish this task? I must be slow, I can not even find the settings....

Go to settings and put in your user/pass info and when it searches you'll see only the ones that you haven't found.

The app is quite less than expected (by me at least). No help. No FAQ. No screenshots. Nothing. Pointers go to the forum that doesn't really permit open discussion (it's more of a ranking system request site). Pretty disappointed in my initial use vs. at least one free (C:GEO) alternative, which seems to have usability much more figured out.

[UtChaz & Family]

 vds, on Oct 9 2010, 03:21 PM, said:

 Tron2010, on Oct 7 2010, 12:46 PM, said:

I just change to the DroidX from an I phone, I used the Groundspeak software. The Droid version seems lacking, I cant even put my info so I only see caches I have not done, Am I missing something? Is there a better app that wil acomplish this task? I must be slow, I can not even find the settings....

Go to settings and put in your user/pass info and when it searches you'll see only the ones that you haven't found.

The app is quite less than expected (by me at least). No help. No FAQ. No screenshots. Nothing. Pointers go to the forum that doesn't really permit open discussion (it's more of a ranking system request site). Pretty disappointed in my initial use vs. at least one free (C:GEO) alternative, which seems to have usability much more figured out.

I wish it was only that easy.
I must have a serious lack of eye sight; when the app loads up it gives me 4 things (Find Nearby Geocaches, Search by Location, Search by Code, and Trackables) Absolutely no settings.
Are you meaning setting somewhere outside the app?

Help...

[JustMike]

 UtChaz & Family, on Oct 13 2010, 07:11 PM, said:

 vds, on Oct 9 2010, 03:21 PM, said:

 Tron2010, on Oct 7 2010, 12:46 PM, said:

I just change to the DroidX from an I phone, I used the Groundspeak software. The Droid version seems lacking, I cant even put my info so I only see caches I have not done, Am I missing something? Is there a better app that wil acomplish this task? I must be slow, I can not even find the settings....

Go to settings and put in your user/pass info and when it searches you'll see only the ones that you haven't found.

The app is quite less than expected (by me at least). No help. No FAQ. No screenshots. Nothing. Pointers go to the forum that doesn't really permit open discussion (it's more of a ranking system request site). Pretty disappointed in my initial use vs. at least one free (C:GEO) alternative, which seems to have usability much more figured out.

I wish it was only that easy.
I must have a serious lack of eye sight; when the app loads up it gives me 4 things (Find Nearby Geocaches, Search by Location, Search by Code, and Trackables) Absolutely no settings.
Are you meaning setting somewhere outside the app?

Help...

Press the menu key.

[darius_darius]

You guys never heard about C:GEO ?? It's the best Android app for geocaching!

Just try it, it's free and way better than the paying ones

[dneuwir]

 darius_darius, on Oct 15 2010, 05:14 AM, said:

You guys never heard about C:GEO ?? It's the best Android app for geocaching!

Just try it, it's free and way better than the paying ones

I know you're new here, so I'll cut you some slack, but the problem is that c:geo is against Groundspeak's Terms of Use---you're not "permitted" to use it per Groundspeak's policy because it breaks their rules with regard to how it obtains the data from Groundspeak.

[baloo&bd]

 dneuwir, on Oct 15 2010, 09:35 AM, said:

I know you're new here, so I'll cut you some slack, but the problem is that [edited by poster] is against Groundspeak's Terms of Use---you're not "permitted" to use it per Groundspeak's policy because it breaks their rules with regard to how it obtains the data from Groundspeak.

The use of "is" is misleading. As pointed out elsewhere, there currently is nothing in the ToU that prohibits use of the mentioned program. It is GS position/contention that it does.

That said, GS has requested it not be discussed in their forums.

[akfuzzydice]

 baloo&bd, on Oct 15 2010, 04:43 PM, said:

 dneuwir, on Oct 15 2010, 09:35 AM, said:

I know you're new here, so I'll cut you some slack, but the problem is that [edited by poster] is against Groundspeak's Terms of Use---you're not "permitted" to use it per Groundspeak's policy because it breaks their rules with regard to how it obtains the data from Groundspeak.

The use of "is" is misleading. As pointed out elsewhere, there currently is nothing in the ToU that prohibits use of the mentioned program. It is GS position/contention that it does.

That said, GS has requested it not be discussed in their forums.

Interesting. What happens if GS finds out someone's using the app who shall not be named?

[UtChaz & Family]

 UtChaz & Family, on Oct 13 2010, 07:11 PM, said:

 vds, on Oct 9 2010, 03:21 PM, said:

 Tron2010, on Oct 7 2010, 12:46 PM, said:

I just change to the DroidX from an I phone, I used the Groundspeak software. The Droid version seems lacking, I cant even put my info so I only see caches I have not done, Am I missing something? Is there a better app that wil acomplish this task? I must be slow, I can not even find the settings....

Go to settings and put in your user/pass info and when it searches you'll see only the ones that you haven't found.

The app is quite less than expected (by me at least). No help. No FAQ. No screenshots. Nothing. Pointers go to the forum that doesn't really permit open discussion (it's more of a ranking system request site). Pretty disappointed in my initial use vs. at least one free (C:GEO) alternative, which seems to have usability much more figured out.

I wish it was only that easy.
I must have a serious lack of eye sight; when the app loads up it gives me 4 things (Find Nearby Geocaches, Search by Location, Search by Code, and Trackables) Absolutely no settings.
Are you meaning setting somewhere outside the app?

Help...

So where is this settings area?
I looked in the phone's setting but there isn't anything there for logging into GC.com
This whole thing is becoming quite lame.
The app doesn't have any settings tabs unless they're hidden, it doesn't have a simple instruction set or anything else.
I thought GPS's were meant to keep you from egtting lost; GC has efficiently erased that advantage down to nothingness...

[JustMike]

 UtChaz & Family, on Oct 19 2010, 03:27 PM, said:

 UtChaz & Family, on Oct 13 2010, 07:11 PM, said:

 vds, on Oct 9 2010, 03:21 PM, said:

 Tron2010, on Oct 7 2010, 12:46 PM, said:

I just change to the DroidX from an I phone, I used the Groundspeak software. The Droid version seems lacking, I cant even put my info so I only see caches I have not done, Am I missing something? Is there a better app that wil acomplish this task? I must be slow, I can not even find the settings....

Go to settings and put in your user/pass info and when it searches you'll see only the ones that you haven't found.

The app is quite less than expected (by me at least). No help. No FAQ. No screenshots. Nothing. Pointers go to the forum that doesn't really permit open discussion (it's more of a ranking system request site). Pretty disappointed in my initial use vs. at least one free (C:GEO) alternative, which seems to have usability much more figured out.

I wish it was only that easy.
I must have a serious lack of eye sight; when the app loads up it gives me 4 things (Find Nearby Geocaches, Search by Location, Search by Code, and Trackables) Absolutely no settings.
Are you meaning setting somewhere outside the app?

Help...

So where is this settings area?
I looked in the phone's setting but there isn't anything there for logging into GC.com
This whole thing is becoming quite lame.
The app doesn't have any settings tabs unless they're hidden, it doesn't have a simple instruction set or anything else.
I thought GPS's were meant to keep you from egtting lost; GC has efficiently erased that advantage down to nothingness...

A very common way for any Android app to be configured is to press the menu button while the app is running. Same for the GC app. Fire up the GC app, press menu, first item you'll see is 'username' and 'password.' Easy peasy. Enjoy!

[BeachBuddies]

Anyone know the best way to get support for the Geocaching.com Android app?

I bought it, but it doesn't run on my phone (HTC Incredible). The splash screen comes up, and then a message pops up and disappears too fast for me to read it, and the app exits.

That's the first app I've actually purchased. I seem to have a lot better luck with the free ones.