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I am looking to add the Geocaching iPad app but have some questions on how the gpx files can be moved to the ipad. FYI, I wont be using the iPad to actually find caches. I have a 60cx that works just fine. The iPad will be used to look up listing, hints, etc.

 

In order to transfer a gpx file to the ipad I need to have a working emial account set up. That I understand. How does the app see the gpx file? Can I use a Yahoo account or web browser emial account? Could someone give me the rundown on how it works?

 

Thanks,

HolyCowboys

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I am looking to add the Geocaching iPad app but have some questions on how the gpx files can be moved to the ipad. FYI, I wont be using the iPad to actually find caches. I have a 60cx that works just fine. The iPad will be used to look up listing, hints, etc.

 

In order to transfer a gpx file to the ipad I need to have a working emial account set up. That I understand. How does the app see the gpx file? Can I use a Yahoo account or web browser emial account? Could someone give me the rundown on how it works?

 

Thanks,

HolyCowboys

 

Could I use an app like Dropbox to move the gpx file to the iPad. Will the Geocaching app be able to load it?

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I am looking to add the Geocaching iPad app but have some questions on how the gpx files can be moved to the ipad. FYI, I wont be using the iPad to actually find caches. I have a 60cx that works just fine. The iPad will be used to look up listing, hints, etc.

 

In order to transfer a gpx file to the ipad I need to have a working emial account set up. That I understand. How does the app see the gpx file? Can I use a Yahoo account or web browser emial account? Could someone give me the rundown on how it works?

Well, what application do you plan to use on your iPad to view the GPX data? If you are using the Groundspeak Geocaching app, you don't need to move the GPX files to your iPad, you open the app, and while connected to a wifi network, you can load the files into the app. If you are using a different app like Geocaching with Geosphere, there are several ways to get the GPX data to the app, including email, file shares like drop box & box.net, as well as locally through your sync process.

 

To give any more detail on "how to..." we need more info like "what app?"...

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I am looking to add the Geocaching iPad app but have some questions on how the gpx files can be moved to the ipad. FYI, I wont be using the iPad to actually find caches. I have a 60cx that works just fine. The iPad will be used to look up listing, hints, etc.

 

In order to transfer a gpx file to the ipad I need to have a working emial account set up. That I understand. How does the app see the gpx file? Can I use a Yahoo account or web browser emial account? Could someone give me the rundown on how it works?

Well, what application do you plan to use on your iPad to view the GPX data? If you are using the Groundspeak Geocaching app, you don't need to move the GPX files to your iPad, you open the app, and while connected to a wifi network, you can load the files into the app. If you are using a different app like Geocaching with Geosphere, there are several ways to get the GPX data to the app, including email, file shares like drop box & box.net, as well as locally through your sync process.

 

To give any more detail on "how to..." we need more info like "what app?"...

I would be using the Geocaching app and uploading a query of say 500 caches. Let me also say the iPad would not be connected via a G3 connection. I would want to load the file and be able to refer to the content when I was out of range of a free wireless connection.

 

Thanks for your help.

Edited by HolyCowboys
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I'm not sure the GS app can do the offline thing. I bought iGeocacher for my iPod Touch and it worked like a portable database of caches. It uses wireless to transfer .GPX from your computer to the app. It might work for iPad but I don't know if iTouch apps work on iPad. If it did, it might be an option for you.

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LOC -> GPX Tool: http://free-data.com/gps/converters/#LOC2GPX

 

Find the cache you want to find and click on the LOC button to export it to a file called "geocaching.loc". It creates the file that looks like:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<loc version="1.0" src="Groundspeak">
<waypoint>
<name id="GC2GEXW"><![CDATA[Cattail Beach by BluegrassBaker]]></name>
<coord lat="38.31099" lon="-85.578762"/>
<type>Geocache</type>
<link text="Cache Details">http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC2GEXW</link>
</waypoint></loc>

 

If you want to get more for your day of caching, just keep searching for caches and downloading the LOC files (different names) and you will combine them with a text editor.

 

You will keep the following header and footer for the LOC file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<loc version="1.0" src="Groundspeak">

</loc>

Insert up to 12 waypoints into one file. The reason will be clear in a few. Insert the waypoint code (below) in between the <LOC...> and </LOC> tags.

<waypoint>
<name id="GC2GEXW"><![CDATA[Cattail Beach by BluegrassBaker]]></name>
<coord lat="38.31099" lon="-85.578762"/>
<type>Geocache</type>
<link text="Cache Details">http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?wp=GC2GEXW</link>
</waypoint>

Now that you have 1 LOC file with up to 12 caches (waypoints) you can download and extract the LOC->GPX app I linked above. Once you unzip it, you will drag and drop the LOC file onto the LOC2GPX.EXE app. It will convert the LOC file and create a new GPX file.

 

Note: The subscription fee allows you to create queries and export the query results to an already formatted GPX file. In this case, create a query with 12 caches and export the GPX file to your computer instead.

 

Next, I assume you will have the MotionX GPS HD app installed on your iPad. The price and the functionality are bar none the best I have found and it offers an import feature to allow your to import this GPX file onto your iPad so you dont have to manually key in the lat/long for every cache.

 

Email the new GPX file to "GPSimport@motionx.com". They only accept up to 12 caches (waypoints) per conversion, and since they do it for free, meh, can't complain. Within 5 minutes, you will get an email back with 2 links: one for the iPhone and one for the iPad (HD). Make sure you send the email from an account that you have sync'd with your iPad, or you can forward it to your iPad email account.

 

On the iPad, open up the email and click on the appropriate link and MotionX GPS will run and ask if you wish to import the waypoints. Hit Yes and they will appear in the waypoint list.

 

Here is a Screenshot of it from my iPad. You can see the details with the Name of the waypoint as the Name of the cache on the Geocaching website.

 

motionx.png

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I would be using the Geocaching app and uploading a query of say 500 caches. Let me also say the iPad would not be connected via a G3 connection. I would want to load the file and be able to refer to the content when I was out of range of a free wireless connection.

Let me be honest, or the last year or so I have been using Geosphere much more than the Groundspeak app, but I have it and do use it some.

 

The Groundspeak app allows you to download a saved Pocket Query into the memory of your device, and then use that when you are out away from an internet connection. It loads these from the Groundspeak server (the same place you go to download a saved PQ to your PC if it has more than 500 caches in it). The drawback is that it only loads form that place, so if you want to get your data from another source, it has to be in a format that can be uploaded to the Groundspeak site. You may (or may not) remember that some time ago they changed the site to allow you to upload GPX files back to their site, and this is one reason why you may want to do that. I haven't tried to do that, so I don't know how well it works (if at all).

 

Using Geosphere, you load data into the app and it is much like having a GSAK Lite on your iPod Touch/iPhone/iPad. You can load many different GPX files (or PQ files) and they can all be searched at the same time. Additionally, there are many different ways to get the data into the device. You can download from just about any web source that you can browse with a web browser (including the Groundspeak PQ download page). Many of the most common ones already have bookmarks making the process even easier. You can load files (GPX and ZIP) from email attachments (using iOS4). You can sync the files to the Geosphere app using iTunes (using iOS4). I'm sure there are other methods as well, I am just mentioning the ones I've used.

 

From my experience with the two apps, the Groundspeak one seems to be more oriented towards on-line use, and Geosphere while it can be used online seems to be a much stronger off-line app.

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