+Turtle_Sask Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Hi I just bought a smart phone that uses the Android apps. It is the samsung galaxy s. I love it and would like to know which app is the best for geocaching, I have heard the actual geocaching app is not that great and takes up a lot of battery power. but I have heard there are some good ones out there. Any that you know of? Is geocaching planning on fixing the app? Thanks for the help in advance I really do appreciate it! Quote Link to comment
+Turtle_Sask Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 why has no one replied or even looked at this? 0 reply's 0 views ........ impossible Quote Link to comment
+Triple Crown Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 why has no one replied or even looked at this? 0 reply's 0 views ........ impossible You might look at c:geo but using it might violate Groundspeak's Terms Of Use. Quote Link to comment
+Turtle_Sask Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 how could a app violate the terms of Groundspeak? and how do they have the right to say that I cant use that app and how could they figure out? Quote Link to comment
+northernpenguin Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 how could a app violate the terms of Groundspeak? and how do they have the right to say that I cant use that app and how could they figure out? It's their site, their database. You agreed to the TOU when you signed up. Same as the way you can expect visitors to knock on your FRONT door of your house, instead of opening the back window and greeting you in your kitchen. c:geo violates the TOU but is well loved and realistically Groundspeak isn't going to punish you the cacher for using it. There is a 3rd party API under development and I would be shocked if c:geo was not invited into the beta - this would bring it out of TOU violation. Alternatively, if you're worried about that, why not purchase and use the official Groundspeak App for Android. Quote Link to comment
+Turtle_Sask Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 (edited) how could a app violate the terms of Groundspeak? and how do they have the right to say that I cant use that app and how could they figure out? It's their site, their database. You agreed to the TOU when you signed up. Same as the way you can expect visitors to knock on your FRONT door of your house, instead of opening the back window and greeting you in your kitchen. c:geo violates the TOU but is well loved and realistically Groundspeak isn't going to punish you the cacher for using it. There is a 3rd party API under development and I would be shocked if c:geo was not invited into the beta - this would bring it out of TOU violation. Alternatively, if you're worried about that, why not purchase and use the official Groundspeak App for Android. Because after reading all the comments on the phone and in the forum it looks like a pretty unusable app that has not been updated in awhile. if they made a great app for 10$ I would buy it but it sounds not that good Edited January 7, 2011 by Turtle_Sask Quote Link to comment
+northernpenguin Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Because after reading all the comments on the phone and in the forum it looks like a pretty s***ty app that has not been updated in awhile. if they made a great app for 10$ I would buy it but it sounds not that good Then you've answered your own question. You're not interested in a "carp"y offical app that's $10 bucks. Just load up c:geo or geobeagle and carry on then. As I said, the likelihood of retaliation is quite minimal - you might get the "are you human?" page if you use the app an obscene amount (like downloading a few thousand caches per hour). In general, if the app gives you live data from geocaching.com, and wasn't made by Groundspeak it's violating the TOU. This will change after they launch the API later this winter/spring. If the app is based on Pocket Queries, have at 'er that's perfectly within the TOU. Quote Link to comment
+Turtle_Sask Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 Because after reading all the comments on the phone and in the forum it looks like a pretty s***ty app that has not been updated in awhile. if they made a great app for 10$ I would buy it but it sounds not that good Then you've answered your own question. You're not interested in a "carp"y offical app that's $10 bucks. Just load up c:geo or geobeagle and carry on then. As I said, the likelihood of retaliation is quite minimal - you might get the "are you human?" page if you use the app an obscene amount (like downloading a few thousand caches per hour). In general, if the app gives you live data from geocaching.com, and wasn't made by Groundspeak it's violating the TOU. This will change after they launch the API later this winter/spring. If the app is based on Pocket Queries, have at 'er that's perfectly within the TOU. So this API your speaking of, is it the upgraded Groundspeak app?! That would be awesome. Thanks for the input earlier Quote Link to comment
+northernpenguin Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 So this API your speaking of, is it the upgraded Groundspeak app?! That would be awesome. Thanks for the input earlier The API is a method where third party application developers are able to write programs that use the geocaching site in an approved manner. The Groundspeak app *uses* the API, and soon, hopefully others will too. Quote Link to comment
+WhoDis Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Because after reading all the comments on the phone and in the forum it looks like a pretty unusable app that has not been updated in awhile. if they made a great app for 10$ I would buy it but it sounds not that good Not been updated in a while?? I think this app has been updated more than any other app on my phone lately. It just had another update yesterday. I don't know where you are getting your info, but it's obviously wrong. Quote Link to comment
Texas Outlaw Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Because after reading all the comments on the phone and in the forum it looks like a pretty unusable app that has not been updated in awhile. if they made a great app for 10$ I would buy it but it sounds not that good Not been updated in a while?? I think this app has been updated more than any other app on my phone lately. It just had another update yesterday. I don't know where you are getting your info, but it's obviously wrong. Except for the part about the app sucking. He nailed that. Quote Link to comment
+mty55 Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I use the official app and don't have any major bitches with it. Maybe some of the people bad mouthing the app out there should learn how to use it. My gripe was the inability to do multis and add waypoints but that has been corrected and its not a problem once you learn how to use the app. C:geo is a good app but its not the one I go to first. Matter of fact after the last couple upgrades of the official app I rarely go to c:geo at all. Quote Link to comment
the3gmen Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Is there someplace I could go to check out the official Groundspeak app ? I don't mind spending the $10, but I would like to find out what it is like first. Quote Link to comment
NordicMan Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Is there someplace I could go to check out the official Groundspeak app ? I don't mind spending the $10, but I would like to find out what it is like first. I think Android allows you to "try" an app for one day for free(?) Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but you can BUY an app and if you remove it within a day they credit your $ back to you. I know one day isn't much time to really get to know an app especially a complex one, but it's better than nothing Quote Link to comment
+user13371 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) Is there someplace I could go to check out the official Groundspeak app? Query your local geocaching buddies to see if anyone already has it? Edited January 9, 2011 by Portland Cyclist Quote Link to comment
the3gmen Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Is there someplace I could go to check out the official Groundspeak app ? I don't mind spending the $10, but I would like to find out what it is like first. I think Android allows you to "try" an app for one day for free(?) Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but you can BUY an app and if you remove it within a day they credit your $ back to you. I know one day isn't much time to really get to know an app especially a complex one, but it's better than nothing A one day trial would be great. Can anybody confirm this one day trail for Android apps ? Quote Link to comment
+geobernd Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Careful: The Android Market policy has been changed from 1 day to 15 minutes a couple of weeks back (see http://www.google.com/mobile/android/market-policies.html ) so you only have 15 minutes to say yea or nay .... Quote Link to comment
+mty55 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Is there someplace I could go to check out the official Groundspeak app? Query your local geocaching buddies to see if anyone already has it? I believe I read somewhere about the 24 hour return policy. As mentioned though 24 hours isn't a very long trial period to learn the app. There is a bit of a learning curve. Now that they have updated and added the ability to add waypoints and navigate to them by compass has made it even better. In my opinion its worth dropping the 10 bucks on the app. It has been pretty good since the recent updates and I figure it will only get better. Quote Link to comment
+mty55 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Is there someplace I could go to check out the official Groundspeak app? Query your local geocaching buddies to see if anyone already has it? I believe I read somewhere about the 24 hour return policy. As mentioned though 24 hours isn't a very long trial period to learn the app. There is a bit of a learning curve. Now that they have updated and added the ability to add waypoints and navigate to them by compass has made it even better. In my opinion its worth dropping the 10 bucks on the app. It has been pretty good since the recent updates and I figure it will only get better. Oops sorry I posted on the wrong quotes. Now I see they did change the return policy. I guess they have the right to change policies but it does suck. Guess thsts big business out to screw the little guy again Quote Link to comment
+rtmlee Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) Because after reading all the comments on the phone and in the forum it looks like a pretty unusable app that has not been updated in awhile. if they made a great app for 10$ I would buy it but it sounds not that good Not been updated in a while?? I think this app has been updated more than any other app on my phone lately. It just had another update yesterday. I don't know where you are getting your info, but it's obviously wrong. I'm finding that the official app has a bit of a flaw or perhaps it's me. When I download and list PQs then select show on map, nothing happens. It would be nice to see them on the map instead of just as a list.Hopefully it will be fixed next update. Edited January 9, 2011 by rtmlee Quote Link to comment
+lolagotit Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) I've been using both c:geo and Groundspeak's android app and had some success with both, but not 100% satisfaction with either one on my Galaxy S for live geocaching. In the reviews below, I've emphasized whether the app can activate voice turn-by turn navigation. This feature is important to me because I'm often out solo caching and the onboard navigation system in my car can't accept GPS coordinate entries. My Garmin's can't speak, either. c:geo - Much slower than Groundspeak's app in bringing up both the caches in any type of query and displaying the description of a selected cache. That's got to eat up power waiting alone. The one plus I've found with the program is it's turn by turn menu feature that utilizes google's voice navigation. But it only works once and won't activate when you can finally get the next cache up. This is no longer one of my favorite apps but I keep hoping it will eventually be improved. Groundspeak - Very fast bringing up caches in area and also immediate response bringing up selected cache descriptions. Log entries and field notes can be updated immediately or be saved and batch updated later (this feature does save the previous entries and then posts the batch when you select "Submit to Groundspeak now.) It is possible to activate voice navigation by drilling through the menu system directly to google nav. This is now my preferred app for live searching. There are times when you won't have a good cell signal and my favorite off line app is CacheMate, which I pre-load every week with my pocket query results. CacheMate is a little slower than Groundspeak's, but it otherwise has no problems downloading and updating log entries on Groundspeak.com. The biggest plus is that you have access to all your pocket queries when you're in a deep canyon with little or no cell bars. I have no complaints with this app and use it more than Groundspeak's when I'm in an area covered by my pocket queries. The Galaxy S has 16 G memory built in and I've added a 16 G sd card to accommodate the caches and still leave plenty of room for all my other apps. Edited January 10, 2011 by lolagotit Quote Link to comment
+WhoDis Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Hmm, didn't they used to hand out vacations for mentioning the C: app? It used to be a banned app and using it would get you banned. It scraps the site and evidently, that's a no no. Quote Link to comment
+EngineersSmiths Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 The Groundspeak app on Android worked great until they updated it this week. They've changed the compass so that it no longer shows the lat and long. It only shows the compass direction and a distance, which I find to be much less useful and more unreliable. Other than that we've loved it, but we may be looking for a new app if this continues to be a problem. Thanks for the suggestions on this thread. Quote Link to comment
Valderi Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 didnt realize that using cgeo was against the TOU of Groundspeak. will have to try out the official app. thank goodness I can afford the 10 bucks, but free was nice, too.... Quote Link to comment
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