Hi Groundspeak team,
I know this is lengthy, but please read this contribution:
Although I have missed multiple features in the now depricated app, I have used it for all of my 3800 finds since 2010 in about 30 countries, 60 % of those in Germany - so I know what to do with it and so far did not see a need to try the intro app more than having an early look and then deleting it again. Today I saw myself forded to have al look again and I am shocked to see that it is planned to replace the old app so soon:
Some features are great, and the look and feel is much fresher. I am sure you know the strong points.
So here is the criticism (I do not mention the critical feature of offline lists):
1. There are parts of the world where open street maps are essential (I am travelling a lot, and even sometimes in the US, but more so in remote places, there are no alternatives)
2. I can't see the added waypoints in solved puzzle caches that I added in the old app - ok, I can tranfer them, but why? I know you suggest to use "corrected coords", but for some cache types that doesn't work, e. g. if preparing a multi where the waypoints are given in the text but not listed as waypoints.
3. I use PQs to generate offline lists along routes - e. g. travelling in foreign countries (Yes, there is a world outside the US). So far I can't import them to the app (not even live, not speaking of offline storing). Or are you relying on project-gc.com to do the clever filtering and filling the bookmark lists for you?
3. I can't see the "personal cache notes" that I have added to many caches
4. The valuable screen estate top right is used for the (i) button - why not use it for something people use a lot?
5. The details view of a cache is designed for "looking nice", not being practical. You are trying to target both startes and experienced users, and for the latter using more than one sceen size to tell them there are not trackables and who the owner is seems a wast of space requiring heavy scrolling (which nobody likes)
6. Speaking of scrolling: performance of scrolling on an iPhone5 (not too old device, although not very recent of course) is very slow.
7. I can not send a "needs maintenance" log from the app - I see that "needs archive" is not necessarily required to be possible from the app, but NA is something people should be encouraged to log.
8. When looking at a bookmark list (that I like, no need to generate a PQ and downloading it) I cannot display it on a map - I have solved mysteries all over the world and would like to see only the ones in an area I am going to visit. And even when I am home, sorting by distance is not the same as seeing them arranged on a map.
9. The list view of caches should show the most important rating: D/T! There is plenty os space in the list items.
10. Overall performance is poor - scrolling in lists is so slow that you often hit the wrong list item as the screen update is lagging. Again: an iPhone5 is not up to date, but no reason to not support it (or make it clear that you intend not to support it).
11. The compass is not showing accuracy any more - when being in the woods or a downtown area, this is crucial to judge how wide the search area should be.
I am glad Groundspeak is trying to be innovative again in the new app, but please don't forget the phone is not just a starters device to geocaching. On Android c:geo (despite being given no support from Groundspeak as far as I know) has become the standard, and I thought from time to time to get an android phone just for geocaching. If not most of these points are resolved, I see no chance in using the new app. Please keep the old one alive longer!
thanks for any feedback (also personal mail),
Thomas
