Iphone app - uk opinion

[+The_Street_Searchers]

Good morning Cachers

 

I have been caching for the last 6 months with an Oregon 300 and have been very impressed with the use of PQs for paperless caching - a vast improvement on my etrex days which lasted me for the first couple of years of caching.

 

I have recently become the owner of an iphone 3G which does not include the compass available with the latest 3GS.

 

I have had a look at the Groundspeak app for the iPhone but would like some UK opinion on whether it is worth purchasing or not. Barring in mind that I can access the geocaching.com website fairly easily from my phones web browser.

 

I have had a look through the iPhone forum on here but would really like the opinion of some UK users on any pros and cons.

 

Thanks in Advance

 

Chris

 

The_Street_Searchers

[jamesamor]

I can't comment on the 3G, but I've just got the 3GS and found the iPhone app to be excellent at what it does, but somewhat limited. I tend to rely quite heavily on the compass though, and wouldn't like to try it without... I would imagine its like trying to find a cache with your eTrex using only the map page. Overall, well worth it and very slick.

 

Top 5 Likes:

- I've not seen it crash.... ever!

- Constant read-out of accuracy, so you know when you're getting duff reception and likely to be in the wrong place.

- "Find caches near my current location" is a fantastic feature if you didn't plan on going caching, and find yourself with 20mins to kill.

- You can save caches to the phone, so you can still find the cache, even out of network reception.

- £5.99 is nothing, considering the quality of the app that you get!

 

Top 5 Dislikes:

- Best accuracy I've seen is +/- 30metres

- You can add logs using the app, but you can't add/remove TBs... so you end up doing it on your PC anyway.

- If you accidentally go back to the main menu of the iPhone, the app doesn't remember the cache you were last looking for, so you have to go back through the search process to find it again.

- Although you are 'logged in', you can't access your profile / history.

- Very limited in features....but as I said before, what it does, it does well.

Edited January 20, 2010 by jamesamor

[+Stokesy]

I've also got an Oregon 300, and have had an iPhone since they were released.

 

I've got the GC app installed, but have used it only a couple of times, it works, and I found the tupperware, but I prefer the Oregon. On the occasions I have used it, it's been for urban caching.

 

If you can afford to pay for the app on the premise that you might not use it, go for it.

[+currykev]

I too have both.

I use the iphone for logging caches on the hop. It's a great feature.

And occasionally to use the mapping to get me to the next cache on my list.

Thats all.

[+The HERB5]

It's better than the WinMo version

[+Morton]

This is really a "me too", but in threads like this I guess that's still helpful. The iPhone app is frustratingly limited, but still good enough to be worth buying.

 

Forget any thought of using it for multis, or anything else even remotely complicated like that. It doesn't understand additional waypoints and you can't change the coordinates it has stored for a cache (except by a baroque arrangement involving uploading a modified GPX file to gc.com).

 

Also, don't expect your iPhone's GPS to be as accurate as a dedicated device. Some people swear that it is, but that certainly hasn't been my experience. I've got a 3G.

 

What it *is* good for: If you unexpectedly have a few minutes waiting for a train or something, and just want to have a quick look to see whether there's an easy cache nearby. Before I had the app, it had never struck me to want to do this, but now that I can I've found it's good fun.

 

Also, it's brilliant for logging. Basically you can submit a draft log called a "field note" from your iPhone, which is private to you so you don't have to worry about any typos etc. Then they all show up in your account on the website, where you can easily tidy them up and submit them properly. I like to write "proper" logs but I always found it a bit of a chore if I'd been on a big trip - now that I can do them in bits and pieces during the day, it's enjoyable again.

 

The £5.99 price tag is a bit steep for an iPhone app, but not very much in the overall scheme of things. So I say go for it.

[+The_Street_Searchers]

Well based on the feedback I am going to give it a punt - whats the worse that can happen :-) It might help me find a few more caches as well!

 

Thanks everyone for your advice

Edited January 21, 2010 by The_Street_Searchers