Scouting4Ever

I recently received an e-mail from Geocaching HQ saying "This issue is now resolved. " (04/30/2021). I replied: Thanks for letting me know that the issue with displaying souvenirs has been solved. Unfortunately it still isn’t working on my phone. I logged out of the app and uninstalled the app from my phone. I reinstalled the app from the play store and logged in. Displaying souvenirs repeatedly tells me that “Souvenirs are virtual pieces of art…” Other “one time” features work, such as only telling me what an Earthcache is the first time I select one. Version Info Version 8.47.1 Android 10 Samsung SM-G96OU Am I running the correct (fixed) version? Is there something else I need to do to get it working again? Their response: Thank you for contacting Geocaching HQ. Have you reinstalled the geocaching app? Yeah, I think I answered that question in my reply (sigh). So... still doesn't seem to be fixed.

The "Swipe Left" option worked for getting rid of the private lab (at least it seems to work for now). I have no idea how one would figure that out when using the app (except by asking Max and 99 - Thanks!).

I was thrilled when the application provided the ability to hide completed Adventure Labs Now I'd like to see an option to hide those "Private" ones. I helped to beta test a new adventure lab several months ago and it continues to show as the closest to home not completed. Well... you can't complete a private one (unless there has been an app change I'm not aware of)... and you can't hide it. I'd like to see an update to the app that either enables you to hide it or to mark it as completed.

Still trying things... but have been unable to get Safari (or any other browser) to be the default when opening geocaching links from e-mail (I'm using Outlook). Options available when using the long-press include: 1. Add to Reading List (then switch to Safari later to view) 2. Share... / select Firefox (note that Safari isn't an option) / then Open in Firefox (yes, it is a 2-step process) If opening in a browser (e.g., Firefox), the long-press also provides two more options that are not available when I'm in Outlook. They work as expected: 3. Open in New Tab 4. Open in New Private Tab Now here's another twist on my iPad. I do a google search for a geocache (using Firefox, but same behavior with Safari and Chrome). I click on the result and.... it opens the cache page in the browser's current tab. Now that's how it is supposed to work!

Sorry for jumping in at this late date but I have had problems with this "open in App instead of browser" problem for a while. Groundspeak fixed it last year (June 2020) but it is broken again. The "Open in browser" option in the App, described above, is somewhat annoying but it does work... as long as the App is willing to display the geocache. I get notified when geocaches in my area are archived and I like to see what they are. Well... the App just tells you that they are archived and will not display them. No option to scroll down and "Open in browser". There are a couple work-arounds (e.g., long press and add to reading list and then view it later in Safari; long press and Share..., select Firefox [Safari isn't offered at this point], then "Open in Firefox") but these work-arounds are not convenient. You should be able keep the default set to Safari and not have it co-opted by the Geocaching App. Just my opinion... it seems the application developers have a different view.

Well... this just keeps getting more interesting. Here's what I expected: delete Geocaching app, click on a link -> Safari (Apple's default browser) or long click on a link and select "open link" -> Safari. Here's what happened: delete Geocaching app, click on a link -> Firefox (?) or long click on a link and select "open link" -> Safari. Reinstall Geocaching app, click on a link -> Geocaching app (groan). I remember searching through all the Apple information for iPad last year when trying to fix this problem and never found a way to change the default browser. I seem to recall finding information saying you couldn't change the default browser.

Yes, I am currently running 14.4.1. It is a 5th generation iPad.

Pressing on the link opens it in the default app... the Geocaching app. Long pressing is slightly better. I'm given four options: Open Link (shows the Safari icon but opens in the Geocaching app.) Add to Reading List (this sort of works... then I have to switch to Safari and view it) Copy Link Share... I do view archived caches in web browsers... but have to get there first. I get the notifications in e-mail. The default "click and I'm in the app" is annoying when it tells me the cache is archived (yeah, I already know that) and then won't display anything. The app doesn't even give you the option to open it in a browser. It could do either (display details or offer to open it in a browser) but it doesn't. It is kind of a dead end. As I mentioned initially, the app used to have this behavior. Last year I contacted Groundspeak and something got fixed. It no longer defaulted to the app. Now it is doing it again. Oh well... FWIW- I'm a recently retired software developer. Simple programming issues with software kind of bothers me. I keep asking myself, why did the developer do that?

I've had this problem previously and contacted geocaching.com to get it fixed. I have a watch set for nearby geocaches that get archived; like to go look to see what they were. Here are the issues: 1. When the geocaching app is installed on an iPad (don't know about iPhone, but probably the same) it becomes the default app for displaying geocaches. So... I get an email about a geocache (new, archived, owned, ...) and I click on the link. According to Apple, the default app should be the Safari browser (and you can't change that) but somehow it now opens the geocaching app instead. This is an annoyance for me if I wanted it to open in the browser so I could view everything I'd normally see on the website. 2. When the link is for an archived geocache, it is redirected to the app (see issue #1) and I am informed that the geocache is archived (yeah, I knew that) and it will not display anything else. This may be a "feature", but I find it annoying. I've uninstalled and reinstalled the app (that's what Groundspeak eventually told me to do last year) but this time the behavior has not changed.

This problem was fixed after I contacted Groundspeak. They eventually had me uninstall and reinstall the geocaching app on my Galaxy S9. Things seemed to work. Then I noticed that no new souvenirs were being displayed... last one was in June 2020. Today I tried again to uninstall and reinstall the app. Now I'm stuck with the "Souvenirs are virtual..." message. It no longer displays any of them. Sad that a "fixed" problem has resurfaced.

There are serious issues with synchronizing between the App and the Geocaching database (web). I recently created 129 drafts in the app. Currently I can see 5 of them on the web. Not good. I still don't see a response from anyone who might be able to address the issue (Groundspeak or a programmer) so I have no confidence this issue is being addressed.

I've now earned all of the "Memory Lane" but the Android Geocaching App still shows nothing except the explanation of what Souvenirs are. Is anyone at Groundspeak looking into this issue?

Does anyone from Groundspeak monitor these forums and respond to issues? I see lots of user interaction, but no solutions from Groundspeak. We sent a message to the Groundspeak help desk yesterday. Out of 22 geocaches found, my wife used the app to draft the first four (no cell signal) and then log the remaining 18 from the field since we had cell service. She also published the four drafts from the field. When we returned home and checked the website, only the last four geocaches had published - all the rest were gone! The website and app both showed she had no drafts. The website showed she had only logged 4 caches. The app showed smiley found icons for all 22 of the caches. When she brought up details on the app, they did not show that she had logged anything (but the smiley found icons are still on her app map today). It seems there is a serious issue with the app actually publishing logs. Response from the help desk said that it is probably an issue with poor cell service and that she should write drafts when service is poor. Yeah, that's what she did. Didn't work. Not helpful. She felt like they were telling her that it was her problem and not a programming bug. It seems to me (as a very experienced software engineer) that it is a rookie programming error where a database transaction is posted but there is no check for a valid response before deleting the action. Since Groundspeak says to post issues on this form, I would expect them to respond.

Is anyone looking into this issue first posted 5 months ago? Is there a fix for it? I ask because I have the geocaching app on multiple devices (Android Galaxy S8, Android Galaxy S9, iPad). Both of my Androids are current, up to date, running the latest Geocaching App. The S8 shows my souvenirs. The S9 does not and has not for a very long time - it just explains what they are - "Souvenirs are virtual pieces...". It does not show my Souvenirs. I really don't want to know "what they are", I want to know which ones I have earned.

Same problem, but upgrading to the latest version of Garmin Express fixed it. Now, as to what happened... since we were all running the same version of GE that worked previously, one must assume that Groundspeak changed the way their API works, and that broke GE. Of course it could also be that GE made changes that required the API modifications. Either way, there was no notification to the users other than the error message when we tried to use it. This has happened before and will likely happen again. I wish that GE would notify me when they have an update, especially if it is critical to its continued use. I would also appreciate knowing of API changes that may impact GE and other applications.