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AnakinPt

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Hi

 

Sometimes I'm on the field and using my Mio A701 for GPS unit and web browser.

 

The geocahing.com webpage is too heavy for a GPRS connection and to messy when using IE. With opera is great, but ... it sucks all memory from my PDA.

 

My suggestion is Why don't you create a mobile version with no images, so we can access with PDA's simply and fast? And by the way, adapted to mobile screens.

 

We don't need many features, but some basics, like:

- Simple Search

- Download GPX

- Logging

 

Hugo Aka AnakinPt

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Groundspeak had already come out and said their mobile strategy is dedicated apps for iPhone and Android, and that they do not have the resources to develop a mobile friendly site to benefit those of us with Blackberry (Americans can use Trimble), Palm (PalmOS/WebOS), Windows Mobile (HTC/Sony/Toshiba/Acer/Dell/etc etc), Windows Phone, Nokia/Symbian.

 

If you want geocaching mobile, your best bet is to simply return your phone, take the extreme early cancellation fee and buy a supported phone. I wish I was being sarcastic but the fact remains that Groundspeak expects you to buy a phone that caters to them, not for them to develop a web presence that caters to you.

 

Later this year, Groundspeak is dropping support for IE6/IE7 and mobile browsers completely - so unless you get a phone that runs Firefox (Android can do this) or the full desktop version of Internet Explorer ....

 

You'll be much better off investing in a GPS that supports paperless caching with Pocket Queries.

 

Groundspeak has heard the call of the masses about a mobile site, and they don't [care about | have the resources to develop for | like brand xxxx of phone | think brand xxxxx is a worthwhile market | know how to support ] non specific mobile devices.

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Groundspeak had already come out and said their mobile strategy is dedicated apps for iPhone and Android, and that they do not have the resources to develop a mobile friendly site to benefit those of us with Blackberry (Americans can use Trimble), Palm (PalmOS/WebOS), Windows Mobile (HTC/Sony/Toshiba/Acer/Dell/etc etc), Windows Phone, Nokia/Symbian.

 

If you want geocaching mobile, your best bet is to simply return your phone, take the extreme early cancellation fee and buy a supported phone. I wish I was being sarcastic but the fact remains that Groundspeak expects you to buy a phone that caters to them, not for them to develop a web presence that caters to you.

 

Later this year, Groundspeak is dropping support for IE6/IE7 and mobile browsers completely - so unless you get a phone that runs Firefox (Android can do this) or the full desktop version of Internet Explorer ....

 

Groundspeak has heard the call of the masses about a mobile site, and they don't [care about | have the resources to develop for | like brand xxxx of phone | think brand xxxxx is a worthwhile market | know how to support ] non specific mobile devices.

And what's really sad is that it's more effort and cost to build & support dedicated applications for each mobile platform than it is to take advantage of the .NET Framework (which the site is already built upon) to deliver pages tailored appropriately for the platform the user is on.

 

I'd be surprised if Groundspeak recovers the costs of developing & supporting the iPhone app through those app sales; most anyone who buys the app already has/had a premium membership, and those who didn't probably would have bought it anyway, so the only additional revenue is the $10 (one time, AFAIK) for the app itself - not to mention the loss of ad revenue by users not coming to the site in a browser.

 

I hadn't heard about them dropping IE7 support, do you have a link? IE6 support is already dropping off and that announcement was made a few months ago.

Edited by dakboy
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I didn't know the wap version and it's almost perfect. The only thing that I would like to have is please ... Download GPX.

 

I use Beeline GPS for caching and logging, and its very good. But when I go to some place not programmed, I would like to search caches and download the gpx to import it in Beeline.

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I'd be surprised if Groundspeak recovers the costs of developing & supporting the iPhone app through those app sales; most anyone who buys the app already has/had a premium membership, and those who didn't probably would have bought it anyway, so the only additional revenue is the $10 (one time, AFAIK) for the app itself - not to mention the loss of ad revenue by users not coming to the site in a browser.

I think it's the opposite. An universal mobile version of the site only yields satisfied users. The iPhone app and soon the Android counterpart leave a real margin. The iPhone app currently is #3 in the navigation category in the US AppStore.

 

So you could try this web app that works in many mobile browsers ... uh ohh .. it violates the TOU :) Sorry.

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...but the fact remains that Groundspeak expects you to buy a phone that caters to them...

Depends on what you want to do. Wherigo is best with a PPC-based device while iPhone is best for geocaching. I'm waiting for the Android app for Waymarking. :)

Sounds like Wherigo is possible on Android too (one of these days I'll have to borrow my brother's Droid & see if it works). Apple won't let you run a Lua interpreter on iPhone, so there won't be Wherigo there ever.

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I think it's the opposite. An universal mobile version of the site only yields satisfied users.

So you could try this web app that works in many mobile browsers

 

I totally agree. An universal mobile web version of a very mobile website only helps costumers and users.

 

For example, sometime ago I need to know the location of a store to meet some friends there. The store website was made in flash. My only web access was my PDA, so I couldn't used the website. If I was going to buy something there, probably they would lost a client, because I wasn't able to find the location of the store.

 

An universal version of a website will help to improve any business... and We pay to use the website ... so please make a small effort to put GPX download in wap version, and keep it as it is because it's perfect .. no images, no trash, fast surfing :) Everything we need on the way.

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{snip}

An universal version of a website will help to improve any business... and We pay to use the website ... so please make a small effort to put GPX download in wap version, and keep it as it is because it's perfect .. no images, no trash, fast surfing :) Everything we need on the way.

 

Except it could use a cache name search and better coordinate entry interface.

 

 

But I sure ain't holdin' my breath waitin' for 'em! :)

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I agree with the OP and WAP is too light weight. We need something in between. A good layout is that like Spinner and GSAK puts out.

 

BCaching.com attempts to fill this gap. Unfortunately it still requires the use of pocket queries since there is no open API available to access geocache data directly from geocaching.com but you can set up automated PQs to run daily to your personalized bcaching.com email address so the data stays relatively up-to-date without any manual steps or user intervention.

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And what's really sad is that it's more effort and cost to build & support dedicated applications for each mobile platform than it is to take advantage of the .NET Framework (which the site is already built upon) to deliver pages tailored appropriately for the platform the user is on.

 

That's what I don't get about the whole thing. .NET can already do this, they just have to turn it on. And if they would also create a public spec for an API, even for PM use only, they could have a large number of apps available with no effort on their part. They already have an API, they just won't let other developers use it. I would add support for it to OpenGPX on Android myself, I've already added BCaching.com support to it in the source, we haven't released a binary yet.

 

BCaching is great, but it's still limited to PQs. If I am caching in a new area and I haven't set up any PQs, I can't use it. An official API link to GC.com would solve that problem. A mobile browser friendly site would also help as I could log in and create a PQ for the new area and just wait a bit for it to get sent to my email/BCaching. Well, as long as it's still 500 or fewer caches. Because that extra 500k of data (including base64) is just too much. :D

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I agree with the OP and WAP is too light weight. We need something in between. A good layout is that like Spinner and GSAK puts out.

 

BCaching.com attempts to fill this gap. Unfortunately it still requires the use of pocket queries since there is no open API available to access geocache data directly from geocaching.com but you can set up automated PQs to run daily to your personalized bcaching.com email address so the data stays relatively up-to-date without any manual steps or user intervention.

 

BCaching.com works like a charm on my non-high end verizon phone. Just add the bcaching email address you get when you register to your PQ destination and the info is always there waiting for you.

Edited by the3gmen
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iPhone this, iPhone that. Everyone including Groundspeak has gone iPhone crazy. :) Why is it that people cannot see that the iPhone is an inaccurate piece of crap. The iPhone has assisted gps and not the true gps system. This means it has to use the cell towers for a location fix. I wanted an iPhone when they first came out. I am so glad I did not purchase one. What are we on version 3? Rumor has it that the iPad will have the same agps issue when the next version is released with a gps. A friend of mine has an HTC touch pro. It accessed GC.com just fine until that stupid video was put on the home page. Now the phone hangs in his preferred browser. If people want to try to find a cache with an iPhone that is their issue. However, when they hide caches with that same inaccurate (sigh) gps, they are making it an issue for all of us. It seams like when I have an issue finding a cache, if it has not been muggled, that the hider used an iPhone and the coordinates are 100' or more away from the actual. Groundspeak! if you are listening, start taking care of the masses before there are no masses to take care of. I cannot believe I am about to say this but with the number of people that are into geocaching world wide, a modest raise in membership fees could hire more resources, and maybe even get more server space.

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Developing applications for each indiviudal phone is a crazy strategy as it requires WAY WAY WAY more effort than just producing a mobile friendly stripped down version of the website.

 

I certainly agree a mobile version is needed, while I do load geocaching.com on my Nokia when out caching, it takes an age to load each page due to the weight of data which needs to be transferred. Geocaching is an outdoor hobby and access while you are out and about needs to be catered for as the first priority, not the last!

Edited by markhewitt1978
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Groundspeak had already come out and said their mobile strategy is dedicated apps for iPhone and Android, and that they do not have the resources to develop a mobile friendly site to benefit those of us with Blackberry (Americans can use Trimble), Palm (PalmOS/WebOS), Windows Mobile (HTC/Sony/Toshiba/Acer/Dell/etc etc), Windows Phone, Nokia/Symbian.

 

Actually, there is indeed an application for the Palm: Geocaching for the webOS. It's what we use and it works fabulously. If you have a Pre or Pixi or the plus versions of either, go to your Apps Catalog and search for this app. The interface is fabulous.

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Groundspeak had already come out and said their mobile strategy is dedicated apps for iPhone and Android, and that they do not have the resources to develop a mobile friendly site to benefit those of us with Blackberry (Americans can use Trimble), Palm (PalmOS/WebOS), Windows Mobile (HTC/Sony/Toshiba/Acer/Dell/etc etc), Windows Phone, Nokia/Symbian.

 

Actually, there is indeed an application for the Palm: Geocaching for the webOS. It's what we use and it works fabulously. If you have a Pre or Pixi or the plus versions of either, go to your Apps Catalog and search for this app. The interface is fabulous.

 

There are applications for WebOS, Windows Mobile, Android, Blackberry.

 

That doesn't make them 'official' applications. Most of these actually violate the Terms of Use and using the apps can get you banned from Geocaching.com (unlikely, but possible still).

 

From what I'm aware, Groundspeak has not launched an official app for WebOS so be careful

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That doesn't make them 'official' applications. Most of these actually violate the Terms of Use and using the apps can get you banned from Geocaching.com (unlikely, but possible still).
Most of them violate the TOU? I'm aware of only a couple that violate the TOU. The one I use (GeoBeagle on Android) is very careful to get information only from approved sources (from PQs or from Google Maps). As I understand it, most apps use PQ data, which is perfectly fine.
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That doesn't make them 'official' applications. Most of these actually violate the Terms of Use and using the apps can get you banned from Geocaching.com (unlikely, but possible still).
Most of them violate the TOU? I'm aware of only a couple that violate the TOU. The one I use (GeoBeagle on Android) is very careful to get information only from approved sources (from PQs or from Google Maps). As I understand it, most apps use PQ data, which is perfectly fine.

 

The ones that try to emulate "live data" like a (Mobile version of the site) violate the TOU. Apps like Cachemate that use PQs are fine. I'm not going to list off the ones that I know violate the TOU, as the moderators will come in and remove all the names.

 

My experience is in the Windows Mobile space where there are more TOU violating apps than non-TOU violating apps.

 

Rule of thumb - if your mobile app can give you live data off the website be careful. Blackberry users can use the Trimble program. There are other ways the apps violate the TOU as well, not just screen scraping -- I've seen complaints about unauthorized use of copyrighted material too -- like cache icons or the Geocaching.com logo.

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I agree with the OP and WAP is too light weight. We need something in between. A good layout is that like Spinner and GSAK puts out.

 

BCaching.com attempts to fill this gap. Unfortunately it still requires the use of pocket queries since there is no open API available to access geocache data directly from geocaching.com but you can set up automated PQs to run daily to your personalized bcaching.com email address so the data stays relatively up-to-date without any manual steps or user intervention.

 

BCaching.com works like a charm on my non-high end verizon phone. Just add the bcaching email address you get when you register to your PQ destination and the info is always there waiting for you.

 

Yeah, it works pretty well on my Exclaim. One down side is that since they went to download only on the My Finds PQ that part of it has to be a manual upload. Having the auto-forward of that in my GMail was pretty nice. The other, of course, is that your searches are limited to what is in your most recent PQs (I forget how long the data is retained).

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