iPhone apps: GeoBucket app vs. Geocaching.com app

[+FISHT@IL]

I started Geocaching about a month ago. After a week of tagging along with friends, I decided to download GeoBucket for my iPhone 4 and register with Groundspeak and become a geocaching.com member.

 

At first I was using the free trial version of GeoBucket, which only displayed limited features. I could not receive Hints or view other peoples' Comments on their caching experience with specific caches, along with the other useful tools necessary. I wanted the full bundle, so I went ahead on 2/24/2012 and used my credit card to purchase the yearly Premium Membership for $30 from Geospeak. Come to find out, after about 10 days of using this app, I was still not receiving all of the added features as promised by purchasing a Premium Membership. Descriptions were still informing me, "for more information, you must become a Premium Member..." etc, for 2 weeks after my purchase. I made sure my app was up to date with all of the bug fixes and whatnot, but I was still having this problem, even after finding and logging a few caches with some extra difficulty.

 

Today I Uninstalled GeoBucket from my iPhone and installed the $10 Geocaching.com App (from the Apple iTunes store), which is so much better and was instantly more accurate.

I wanted to make note of this inconvenience.

 

Also, has anybody else used GeoBucket and had the same problem?? I am very curious.

[+JesandTodd]

.....

Edited March 5, 2012 by JesandTodd

[Keystone]

I am moving this thread from the Feature Suggestions forum to the Geocaching Live-Enabled Applications forum.

[+FISHT@IL]

"....." helps out tremendously, thanks

[+JesandTodd]

"....." helps out tremendously, thanks

 

I would delete my post if I could. I had nothing of value to add to your post. I misread what you asked, and deleted it when it was non applicable.

[+smilinthyme]

I do have the same problem as the thread starter describes and am curious to find out if there are any solutions?

[+thebruce0]

(edit: the first of this post isn't a direct response to the specific question, but an alternate possible resolution)

 

I've never personally used GeoBucket, but my app of choice is Geosphere - $8 and IMO much more flexible and an overall better experience than the official app. It doesn't use the Live API though, so it works off its own database of caches generated by pocket query data and GPX.

Presuming you have a premium membership, Geosphere is fully featured. The only thing it doesn't do (at this point) is a live lookup of caches from your current location. For that I tend to jump over the official app. Then the grab the GC code of a target cache, and load the listing's GPX into Geosphere by its in-app browser

seriously, the way it has macros set up makes grabbing GPX files and pocket queries a simple thing.

It maintains one database of waypoints, which you can categorize into groups (eg, I have a 'Home' group into which I load my daily home PQ of 1000 unfound caches closest to home; other groups for PQs centered around certain cities I visit occasionally; a group for my owned caches, and a group for my found caches; etc)

 

The author is nearing completion of the next major version 3.0, which as far as I know will be incorporating the Live API and whole whack load of new features since Geosphere was first published.

 

I highly recommend that app. (and one of the best features, imo, that it has over the official app is the ability to turn off the GPS which is huge on extending battery life; now I just how the author builds in an in-app LED flashlight toggle )

 

----

As for GeoBucket, it sounds like you do have the premium membership (verify that by checking features manually on the website), but the app isn't correctly applying your login or account via the API. In effect, geocaching.com doesn't know your account is premium, because the app isn't accessing the website using your premium account.

Is there a setting in the app somewhere that might define your account as premium? Or even to actually use your account and not the basic free access? Have you given the app your account login?

Edited April 17, 2012 by thebruce0

[+oxford comma]

you have to do a live update / full description every time to update the info displayed for

the caches. sometimes I forget to do that ( like yesterday) and only to find out later when

logging the finds that a particular cache ( in bad shape) had been

archived.

[+JoenGPS]

(edit: the first of this post isn't a direct response to the specific question, but an alternate possible resolution)

 

I've never personally used GeoBucket, but my app of choice is Geosphere - $8 and IMO much more flexible and an overall better experience than the official app.

The author is nearing completion of the next major version 3.0, which as far as I know will be incorporating the Live API and whole whack load of new features since Geosphere was first published.

 

I highly recommend that app.

 

What the thebruce0 said! One of the best apps we own. We run it on an iPad 2X mode and it is great! Using it on 3G we can see the cache and hit a button and it shows where we are and the cache which allows visual navigation via map or satellite. This allowed us to get into some tricky areas where our GPS "by Road" was taking us up blind alley's. Looking forward to 3.0. Highly recommended.

[+crunchewy]

What the thebruce0 said! One of the best apps we own. We run it on an iPad 2X mode and it is great! Using it on 3G we can see the cache and hit a button and it shows where we are and the cache which allows visual navigation via map or satellite. This allowed us to get into some tricky areas where our GPS "by Road" was taking us up blind alley's. Looking forward to 3.0. Highly recommended.

 

With the official app I can see the cache and myself on an updating map (road, topographic or satellite, and with compass rotating the map). Is there something this one does that is different from that?

 

Probably I don't need it as I'm mainly using my GPSMAP 62sc now, with the iPhone as a (great) supplement. For posting logs, seeing if there's new logs, and for on-the-fly caching when the need arises , which the official app does great. One thing I'd really like is an app that has a pocket query creator and let me set PQs to run. It lets me access ones that have already been run, but not create them nor set them to running. Does this other one do that?

 

EDIT: Also there seem to be two Geosphere apps. One is called "Geocaching with Geosphere" and has much better reviews. Is that the one? This: http://appshopper.com/navigation/geosphere

Edited July 24, 2012 by crunchewy