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INTRO APP users are killing the hobby


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It seems like you're taking my comment very personally, which is unfortunate.

 

Not taking it personally - no reason why I would as it doesn't affect me.

 

Merely pointing out the fact that it's flawed - even in the small context you intended.

 

Yeah, maybe there is some shadow community of geocachers here who see it in a totally different way. Could be!

 

Yeah... shadow community... :blink:

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It's difficult to balance what Groundspeak is likely talking about over coffee or in their conference room.

 

The game won't grow if there are barriers to play. The Official, Groundspeak Free Intro App is a way to get barriers taken away. It makes it free for anyone who already has a smartphone. That's a vast majority of cell phone users, and therefore a growing number of people in general as landline phones go away.

 

So, any barriers to the game aren't welcomed by new users, and likely avoided or removed intentionally by Groundspeak. The game didn't start as all that complicated, but it did require that you have a GPS, or at least were savvy with coordinates, a compass, and a good map set. The ownership of personal GPS grew, as did participation in the game. With that came growing guidelines and community-adopted best practices. That created things like the "Needs Maintenance" and "Needs Archived" log types, as well as the "DNF" and "Note".

 

So now we have a business that wants to grow, a public that is thirsty for simple, cheap thrills, and an easy medium to get the product out to the masses. What seemingly wasn't considered by Groundspeak is that there is quite a bit of nuance, best practice, common practice, unwritten "rules", and actual public guidelines and Help Center.

 

Until they can get some way to help direct these new, unaware users to the resources available to make the game have some semblance of consistency, there is a huge missed opportunity. Hence the chest thumping, foot stomping, and general kerfluffle about the Intro App.

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I think we've covered so many topics from just about every point of view in this thread.

 

And what it all boils down to is this....we can't help guide/teach/educate new users if Groundspeak won't let us.

 

***Get rid of unvalidated emails.***

 

Period.

 

We'll fix the rest

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I think we've covered so many topics from just about every point of view in this thread.

 

And what it all boils down to is this....we can't help guide/teach/educate new users if Groundspeak won't let us.

 

***Get rid of unvalidated emails.***

 

Period.

 

We'll fix the rest

 

This seems like a pretty good solution for the problems brought up in this thread, yeah.

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There will always be ignorant people who "ruin" the hobby. It comes with almost any hobby I think.

 

When I first heard about geocaching, I HAD to do it. The only problem I faced was that I could never afford a GPS. I registered on this site in 2009. I found my first geocache yesterday...5 years later. I was ecstatic when I saw there was an iPhone app. I would always come back and check every few months and just the other day, I found there was a free app so I downloaded it. I asked my husband to join me and we ended up having a lot of FREE fun. I do plan on purchasing the full app and membership when I have the extra funds. I'm a new mother and wife so I'm on a strict budget!

 

Anyway I think that once the newness of the free app wears off, things will calm down a bit. If you don't like who is hiding a cache, just don't go looking for it. Maybe do a bit of research first. Maybe there could be suggestions to make the app very limited like, after you click on 10 caches, you can't click on anymore until you buy the app.

 

I also saw on the news where some guy is hiding money in caches in San Franciso I think. The news also said that it's catching on and is happening all over the place now. I think once ALL this media coverage goes away, people may not be interested anymore.

 

Just a thought and my opinion :)

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I also saw on the news where some guy is hiding money in caches in San Franciso I think.

Actually, it has nothing whatsoever to do with geocaching. He is simply hanging an envelope with cash (spelled cash, not cache) and posting hints to it.

I'm not so sure that you really heard that it was placed in "geocaches".

 

More like letterboxing... follow the clues. If some newsfolk said geocaching, they don't know what they are talking about... but what's new in the newsworld, anyway?

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Yes, it has been argued for and against the idea that smartphone cachers have hurt this hobby. If nothing else, I will agree that they hurt the trackables aspect of the game.

 

Agreed, One of my trackables was picked up by a person that had only six caches,and they kept the trackable I assume as they have not cached again since and the trackable is MIA...

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I think we've covered so many topics from just about every point of view in this thread.

 

And what it all boils down to is this....we can't help guide/teach/educate new users if Groundspeak won't let us.

 

***Get rid of unvalidated emails.***

 

Period.

 

We'll fix the rest

 

Honestly, I don't see it is primarily "our" job to educate new users.

 

If Groundspeak has an intro app intended to remove the barriers to entry it's their job to make sure users of the app know how to play the game.

 

If users of Groundspeak's official app don't know that finding a cache is about looking for it, signing the log, hiding it properly and writing a few words to say what you thought of the experience then Groundspeak have catastrophically failed. If new users don't understand that the purpose of the stuff in the cache is to trade rather than just take what you fancy, and that trackables aren't trade items, then Groundspeak have catastrophically failed.

 

If Groundspeak care more about getting extra people to pony up a few bucks than about the long term viability of geocaches that aren't film pots behind signs with an expected lifespan of a few weeks, they deserve to be driven out of business by cache owners refusing to hide anything bigger than a film pot and the consequential loss of interest and loss of paying customers.

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I think we've covered so many topics from just about every point of view in this thread.

 

And what it all boils down to is this....we can't help guide/teach/educate new users if Groundspeak won't let us.

 

***Get rid of unvalidated emails.***

 

Period.

 

We'll fix the rest

 

Honestly, I don't see it is primarily "our" job to educate new users.

 

If Groundspeak has an intro app intended to remove the barriers to entry it's their job to make sure users of the app know how to play the game.

 

If users of Groundspeak's official app don't know that finding a cache is about looking for it, signing the log, hiding it properly and writing a few words to say what you thought of the experience then Groundspeak have catastrophically failed. If new users don't understand that the purpose of the stuff in the cache is to trade rather than just take what you fancy, and that trackables aren't trade items, then Groundspeak have catastrophically failed.

 

If Groundspeak care more about getting extra people to pony up a few bucks than about the long term viability of geocaches that aren't film pots behind signs with an expected lifespan of a few weeks, they deserve to be driven out of business by cache owners refusing to hide anything bigger than a film pot and the consequential loss of interest and loss of paying customers.

 

Groundspeak will not go out of business.

There will always be a wave of people willing to hide and find film pots behind signs

 

 

Let's get that out of the way right now.

 

Because it's all good and fine to live in a world we we think that this will happen. You and every other great user who hides and finds great caches and cares about the game can leave tomorrow ....and Groundspeak will still survive.

 

So. Why don't we work with the real problems that are happening, instead of theoretical ones that aren't/won't? I mean, we can dream until the cows come home that GS will do what we want/think they should do. Or. We can just do it ourselves.

 

Also. I dont expect everybody to care enough about the game to be involved with new members. That's fine. It reminds me of nursing really. Lots of experienced nurses refuse to mentor our new nurses. "That's the hospitals job!" Or "they need to learn on their own"

 

Whatever.

 

Personally. I like to help new people. Be it geocachers or newbie nurses. I like to play an active role in my mileu, whatever it may be.

 

I'd like to contact new members and guide them. It really only takes one email.

 

 

So. You can choose not to be involved. No problem. I like to actually work on problems instead of just complaining about them

 

So please....no unvalidated emails.

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So please....no unvalidated emails.

Of almost 900 posts in this thread, this is about the only solid point. That is really only if you truly feel this is a problem (I still do not). I actually support the removal of unvalidated accounts not because of the intro app, but to help remove troll accounts on the forum, and logs that are vengeful (discussed in another thread).

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I also saw on the news where some guy is hiding money in caches in San Franciso I think.

Actually, it has nothing whatsoever to do with geocaching. He is simply hanging an envelope with cash (spelled cash, not cache) and posting hints to it.

I'm not so sure that you really heard that it was placed in "geocaches".

 

More like letterboxing... follow the clues. If some newsfolk said geocaching, they don't know what they are talking about... but what's new in the newsworld, anyway?

 

I could have sworn a news station said geocaching...because it caught my attention and reminded me to look to see if there was an app. Either way, I could be totally wrong and just heard cash or something. 99% of the time, TV is background noise for me.

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I think we've covered so many topics from just about every point of view in this thread.

 

And what it all boils down to is this....we can't help guide/teach/educate new users if Groundspeak won't let us.

 

***Get rid of unvalidated emails.***

 

Period.

 

We'll fix the rest

 

Honestly, I don't see it is primarily "our" job to educate new users.

 

If Groundspeak has an intro app intended to remove the barriers to entry it's their job to make sure users of the app know how to play the game.

 

If users of Groundspeak's official app don't know that finding a cache is about looking for it, signing the log, hiding it properly and writing a few words to say what you thought of the experience then Groundspeak have catastrophically failed. If new users don't understand that the purpose of the stuff in the cache is to trade rather than just take what you fancy, and that trackables aren't trade items, then Groundspeak have catastrophically failed.

 

If Groundspeak care more about getting extra people to pony up a few bucks than about the long term viability of geocaches that aren't film pots behind signs with an expected lifespan of a few weeks, they deserve to be driven out of business by cache owners refusing to hide anything bigger than a film pot and the consequential loss of interest and loss of paying customers.

 

Groundspeak will not go out of business.

There will always be a wave of people willing to hide and find film pots behind signs

 

Let's get that out of the way right now.

 

You're probably right, until sooner or later the word spreads that this geocaching lark is just about finding soggy film pots behind signs and it's not very interesting. But maybe that will never happen, who knows?

 

Because it's all good and fine to live in a world we we think that this will happen. You and every other great user who hides and finds great caches and cares about the game can leave tomorrow ....and Groundspeak will still survive.

 

So. Why don't we work with the real problems that are happening, instead of theoretical ones that aren't/won't? I mean, we can dream until the cows come home that GS will do what we want/think they should do. Or. We can just do it ourselves.

 

I just have little to no interest in fighting the tide when the company behind it all appears to have no interest in improving anything. Groundspeak could have put some tutorials in the free app but apparently preferred to cater for the zero-attention-span crowd who can't bear to wait more than a few nanoseconds before finding their first film pot.

 

Also. I dont expect everybody to care enough about the game to be involved with new members. That's fine. It reminds me of nursing really. Lots of experienced nurses refuse to mentor our new nurses. "That's the hospitals job!" Or "they need to learn on their own"

 

Whatever.

 

It would be nice if the company behind the game cared enough about the game to be involved with its new customers. But why would a commercial company spend any of its own money when there's an army of unpaid volunteers willing to do the job for free, and keep paying for the privilege?

 

Personally. I like to help new people. Be it geocachers or newbie nurses. I like to play an active role in my mileu, whatever it may be.

 

I'd like to contact new members and guide them. It really only takes one email.

 

It wouldn't even take that one email if Groundspeak did the job properly.

 

So. You can choose not to be involved. No problem. I like to actually work on problems instead of just complaining about them

 

I'd be more inclined to work on the problem if I saw a shred of evidence that Groundspeak cared about the problem.

 

So please....no unvalidated emails.

 

The fact this discussion is still ongoing suggests you're shouting into the wind and the only people who could fix the problem don't care about the problem.

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So doing something like this with the intro app would result in the original cache (that doesn't have the geocoin any more) not showing up on the app, while the second cache (that does have the coin, but the site thinks it doesn't) showing up. That would probably make it even more confusing for the new cacher who wouldn't know that the cache had a geocoin in it, probably would have no idea what the pretty coin was, and take it home thinking it was a trading item.

 

The trackable should contain the information what it is, it makes not much sense to rely on the cache description/attributes to show it.

Some people cache offline where on holidays, they'll log trackables after days or even weeks, so the cache inventory will never be accurate.

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Thanks for the kind responses, Ben0w and Gitchee-Gummee!

 

After reading your comments, I think I may purchase the full app soon.

 

Although this may be slightly off topic, has anyone found premium only caches to be better? As in, more swag, not just film canister sized, ect.?

Yes. PMO caches are by far better. When was the last time you found an ammo can full of nice trades, TB's, and a dry log book big enough to leave a comment on? :)

I can't remember when the last pmo hide was an ammo can in this area

- What's the difference between a regular and pmo roadside, guardrail or lpc hide?

I haven't seen any difference since we started...

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Well, twice this week I've had newbie cachers DNF my caches. I truly would like to reach out to these folks and maybe give them a nudge in the right direction, offer my assistance, see if they have any questions, etc. But of course I can't, because they have no validated email address and have never visited the site. Sound familiar?

 

See, Groundspeak seems to fail to grasp this very basic premise....we more "seasoned" cachers here on the forums gripe and moan about how "Intro App users are killing the hobby"....BUT...I think the consensus is not to ostracize the neophytes, to put up roadblocks to keep the noobs out of the game because "they're ruining it"....no, quite to the contrary, I think most of us would like to REACH OUT and MENTOR these new players, to welcome them and answer their questions, to guide them into the proper etiquette and a deeper appreciation of the finer points of the game. But since we have no way of contacting them, this can't happen.

 

I think back to my earliest days playing this game....several of the first caches I found were by a local cacher, pistash. When I DNF'd a couple of his caches, he emailed me with advice and hints. As clueless as I was at the time, I really appreciated the gesture! I've yet to meet the man in person but I hope I do someday because I'd really like to shake his hand and thank him for taking a little time to point me in the right direction. It really influenced my outlook on the game and my feeling of being part of a larger community of Geocachers.

 

I'd like to have that kind of positive influence on new players. Unfortunately that doesn't work, because these new folks play in a vacuum where Geocaches are hidden by, I don't know, the cache fairy I guess. They are missing that important sense of connection to the community.

 

Requiring new players, even Intro App users, to provide a validated email address would be a step in the right direction. To take it a step further, I think the Geocaching app (Intro and paid) should have a function for contacting other cachers. I know they don't want to turn the app into a social media tool, but a basic communication conduit between players would be beneficial to the game, in my opinion.

 

I hope Groundspeak can see the logic in this concept.

Edited by Chief301
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I can't remember when the last pmo hide was an ammo can in this area

- What's the difference between a regular and pmo roadside, guardrail or lpc hide?

I haven't seen any difference since we started...

 

I don't think I've ever found a PMO cache that was in any way remarkable. Most of them are puzzlingly mundane.

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Well, twice this week I've had newbie cachers DNF my caches. I truly would like to reach out to these folks and maybe give them a nudge in the right direction, offer my assistance, see if they have any questions, etc. But of course I can't, because they have no validated email address and have never visited the site. Sound familiar?

 

See, Groundspeak seems to fail to grasp this very basic premise....we more "seasoned" cachers here on the forums gripe and moan about how "Intro App users are killing the hobby"....BUT...I think the consensus is not to ostracize the neophytes, to put up roadblocks to keep the noobs out of the game because "they're ruining it"....no, quite to the contrary, I think most of us would like to REACH OUT and MENTOR these new players, to welcome them and answer their questions, to guide them into the proper etiquette and a deeper appreciation of the finer points of the game. But since we have no way of contacting them, this can't happen.

 

I think back to my earliest days playing this game....several of the first caches I found were by a local cacher, pistash. When I DNF'd a couple of his caches, he emailed me with advice and hints. As clueless as I was at the time, I really appreciated the gesture! I've yet to meet the man in person but I hope I do someday because I'd really like to shake his hand and thank him for taking a little time to point me in the right direction. It really influenced my outlook on the game and my feeling of being part of a larger community of Geocachers.

 

I'd like to have that kind of positive influence on new players. Unfortunately that doesn't work, because these new folks play in a vacuum where Geocaches are hidden by, I don't know, the cache fairy I guess. They are missing that important sense of connection to the community.

 

Requiring new players, even Intro App users, to provide a validated email address would be a step in the right direction. To take it a step further, I think the Geocaching app (Intro and paid) should have a function for contacting other cachers. I know they don't want to turn the app into a social media tool, but a basic communication conduit between players would be beneficial to the game, in my opinion.

 

I hope Groundspeak can see the logic in this concept.

I agree, we'd like to help, but with no means...

- It's not like there's a rush on to fix this either (over a year).

It appears (to me, and was pooh-poohed many pages back) that this may be a way to create pay-to-play.

There's a number of posts saying, "just make 'em pmo", which kinda enforces that idea a bit and doesn't help the new folks at all, but simply keeps 'em away.

Glad people weren't reaching out to us like that when we started...

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I am a new user that found the free app while looking for something to do with my six year old today. I had heard of geocaching in the past, but never really got into it. After finding the app and downloading it I did a little research. After that me and my son spent the rest of the day finding caches and enjoying the outdoors. We even came across a trackable that we left until I could read exactly what they were for. After about two finds I went straight in and bought the full version of the app. I also intend on upgrading to the premium membership as soon as funds allow. Thanks to the free app I have found a wonderful activity that we will be able to enjoy for years to come. I am sure that there are new users that are ruining the hobby, but I wanted to let everyone know that there are a few of us that will be reading the forums and getting as much information as we can to help us enjoy the hobby.

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So doing something like this with the intro app would result in the original cache (that doesn't have the geocoin any more) not showing up on the app, while the second cache (that does have the coin, but the site thinks it doesn't) showing up. That would probably make it even more confusing for the new cacher who wouldn't know that the cache had a geocoin in it, probably would have no idea what the pretty coin was, and take it home thinking it was a trading item.

 

The trackable should contain the information what it is, it makes not much sense to rely on the cache description/attributes to show it.

Some people cache offline where on holidays, they'll log trackables after days or even weeks, so the cache inventory will never be accurate.

 

The cache inventory often isn't accurate. Some trackables do have tags on them explaining what they are, some don't. If a trackable starts life with a tag there's nothing to stop it being removed during its life.

 

But it seems we're agreed that blocking caches with TBs from the intro app isn't a solution to anything.

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Well, twice this week I've had newbie cachers DNF my caches. I truly would like to reach out to these folks and maybe give them a nudge in the right direction, offer my assistance, see if they have any questions, etc. But of course I can't, because they have no validated email address and have never visited the site. Sound familiar?

 

See, Groundspeak seems to fail to grasp this very basic premise....we more "seasoned" cachers here on the forums gripe and moan about how "Intro App users are killing the hobby"....BUT...I think the consensus is not to ostracize the neophytes, to put up roadblocks to keep the noobs out of the game because "they're ruining it"....no, quite to the contrary, I think most of us would like to REACH OUT and MENTOR these new players, to welcome them and answer their questions, to guide them into the proper etiquette and a deeper appreciation of the finer points of the game. But since we have no way of contacting them, this can't happen.

 

Hence my thoughts that the app itself is an obvious place to put some information to show people how to play the game.

 

Requiring new players, even Intro App users, to provide a validated email address would be a step in the right direction. To take it a step further, I think the Geocaching app (Intro and paid) should have a function for contacting other cachers. I know they don't want to turn the app into a social media tool, but a basic communication conduit between players would be beneficial to the game, in my opinion.

 

I suggested an internal messaging system a while back. I think it would solve lots of problems.

 

As it stands if you send an email through the site you either have to disclose your own email address (which some may prefer not to do) or the recipient ends up with a mail from a noreply address and they only way they can reply is to click the link to your profile and email you. An internal messaging system would let people reply from within the system, wouldn't require giving out an email address, and would overcome the issue of spam filters and people not validating their email address.

 

Not only that but if the people who use the intro app are considered to have such a short attention span they couldn't cope with the few minutes it would take to validate an email address, they could rush out and find their first soggy film pot behind a post in double-quick time and people could still give them a clue where it was if they didn't find it.

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Hi Everybody!

I am such a 'green' newbie to this.. I have NO idea what I'm doing. I am going 'caching' with my granddaughter next week, and I kind of want to know what I am doing!

I have downloaded the "intro" app on my phone. THEN I decided to become a premium member. My stupid question is..... Does the app on my phone automatically go to Premium or do I have to reinstall and pay again? ( Sorry I am SO dumb on these things!!)

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Hi Everybody!

I am such a 'green' newbie to this.. I have NO idea what I'm doing. I am going 'caching' with my granddaughter next week, and I kind of want to know what I am doing!

I have downloaded the "intro" app on my phone. THEN I decided to become a premium member. My stupid question is..... Does the app on my phone automatically go to Premium or do I have to reinstall and pay again? ( Sorry I am SO dumb on these things!!)

It should recognize the upgrade.

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Hi Everybody!

I am such a 'green' newbie to this.. I have NO idea what I'm doing. I am going 'caching' with my granddaughter next week, and I kind of want to know what I am doing!

I have downloaded the "intro" app on my phone. THEN I decided to become a premium member. My stupid question is..... Does the app on my phone automatically go to Premium or do I have to reinstall and pay again? ( Sorry I am SO dumb on these things!!)

Premium membership does not automatically get you the full paid app for your phone. Those are separate purchases.

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Hi Everybody!

I am such a 'green' newbie to this.. I have NO idea what I'm doing. I am going 'caching' with my granddaughter next week, and I kind of want to know what I am doing!

I have downloaded the "intro" app on my phone. THEN I decided to become a premium member. My stupid question is..... Does the app on my phone automatically go to Premium or do I have to reinstall and pay again? ( Sorry I am SO dumb on these things!!)

Premium membership does not automatically get you the full paid app for your phone. Those are separate purchases.

So I have to pay again to upgrade on my phone?

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Yup. Looks as if you only bought the 3month premium membership. Not the full app.

The full app is $10 and a one time fee. You need to buy this via the iTunes Store, not as in in-app service.

 

There is a way to dispute this charge that I'm sure someone on here can help you with...

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Yup. Looks as if you only bought the 3month premium membership. Not the full app.

The full app is $10 and a one time fee. You need to buy this via the iTunes Store, not as in in-app service.

 

There is a way to dispute this charge that I'm sure someone on here can help you with...

I have an android.. thing there would be a difference?

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Yup. Looks as if you only bought the 3month premium membership. Not the full app.

The full app is $10 and a one time fee. You need to buy this via the iTunes Store, not as in in-app service.

 

There is a way to dispute this charge that I'm sure someone on here can help you with...

I have an android.. thing there would be a difference?

 

You want to dispute the $10 3 month premium membership, and have it refunded, so you can instead "use that money" so to speak, to purchase the the full Android app for the one time fee of $9.99?

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Yup. Looks as if you only bought the 3month premium membership. Not the full app.

The full app is $10 and a one time fee. You need to buy this via the iTunes Store, not as in in-app service.

 

There is a way to dispute this charge that I'm sure someone on here can help you with...

I have an android.. thing there would be a difference?

 

You want to dispute the $10 3 month premium membership, and have it refunded, so you can instead "use that money" so to speak, to purchase the the full Android app for the one time fee of $9.99?

YES!!! Sorry, I am so stupid.. HOW do I do that?

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YES!!! Sorry, I am so stupid.. HOW do I do that?

 

YOU are not stupid!! It is very confusing--some think it is deliberately confusing. I can't tell you how to do it, but someone will be along who can. I just wanted to let you know that you have a lot of sympathy (and a lot of company) here.

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YES!!! Sorry, I am so stupid.. HOW do I do that?

 

YOU are not stupid!! It is very confusing--some think it is deliberately confusing. I can't tell you how to do it, but someone will be along who can. I just wanted to let you know that you have a lot of sympathy (and a lot of company) here.

Thank you... *sigh* lol All I wanted to do was have a funfilled day with my granddaughter.. and now I am SOOO confused!!

Thank goodness I have a week to figure out what I'm doing. And hope that I didn't pay for both pc and phone memberships!

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The premium membership is your subscription to geocaching.com - you don't need this to go geocaching, but it provides you a number of advanced features in your profile. That's purchased distinct from the mobile app.

 

The full version of the mobile app is what you want in order to actually go geocaching. The 'intro' app is a very toned down version that limits how much you can do.

 

So, you want to buy the full version of the app.

If you want, you can then upgrade your free geocaching.com account to a premium membership.

 

If you mistakenly have the free intro app and bought a 3 month premium membership, it won't do much good ;)

As above, you'll want to dispute it, see if you can get a refund on the membership (go back to a free account, presumably), and then buy the full geocaching app (not the intro version).

 

Later, if you decide to upgrade your account, you can go the premium membership route again.

 

Does that make a little more sense?

Edited by thebruce0
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Can someone tell me the difference between the full version and the premium membership?

 

The Full Version is the Android app itself. It costs $9.99 at Google Play and has more features than the free Intro App that you're using now. Don't quote me on this but i believe the intro app is pretty limited and only displays traditional caches, possibly 3 at a time.

 

The Premium Membership is for use of the gc.com website itself. It gives members additional features that cachers find handy. Being able to run pocket queries is probably the biggest perk for premium members but there are others such as finding premium member's only caches and setting up notifications.

 

Not sure where you live but i would bet there are local geocaching events held from time to time not too far from you. These are usually great for meeting fellow cachers, asking questions, and getting hands on help with just about everything cache related.

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So please....no unvalidated emails.

Of almost 900 posts in this thread, this is about the only solid point. That is really only if you truly feel this is a problem (I still do not). I actually support the removal of unvalidated accounts not because of the intro app, but to help remove troll accounts on the forum, and logs that are vengeful (discussed in another thread).

 

Good point. Because I see spoilers in logs from newbie cachers and I can not ask them to remove it.

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So please....no unvalidated emails.

Of almost 900 posts in this thread, this is about the only solid point. That is really only if you truly feel this is a problem (I still do not). I actually support the removal of unvalidated accounts not because of the intro app, but to help remove troll accounts on the forum, and logs that are vengeful (discussed in another thread).

 

Good point. Because I see spoilers in logs from newbie cachers and I can not ask them to remove it.

 

Delete the logs - spoilers violate Groundspeak's TOU. Simple :)

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And hope that I didn't pay for both pc and phone memberships!

 

There are not separate pc and phone memberships. A premium membership will apply to you, whatever device you are using.

 

(I do not use a phone app, but if I got a smart phone, my premium membership would be good on it as well as on the computer/GPS setup that I use now.)

 

The full paid phone app is a completely different animal. This is what you for sure want to get.

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An interesting point on Apps. You can use a third party app. I perfer NeonGeo on my Android phone. It is cheeper than the Geocaching.com app and I like the interface better. The catch is that for these third party apps that use the API, you are severly limited in use if you don't have a premium membership. (It is almost like they are trying to force people to use the app that violate the TOU)

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The premium membership is your subscription to geocaching.com - you don't need this to go geocaching, but it provides you a number of advanced features in your profile. That's purchased distinct from the mobile app.

 

The full version of the mobile app is what you want in order to actually go geocaching. The 'intro' app is a very toned down version that limits how much you can do.

 

So, you want to buy the full version of the app.

If you want, you can then upgrade your free geocaching.com account to a premium membership.

 

If you mistakenly have the free intro app and bought a 3 month premium membership, it won't do much good ;)

As above, you'll want to dispute it, see if you can get a refund on the membership (go back to a free account, presumably), and then buy the full geocaching app (not the intro version).

 

Later, if you decide to upgrade your account, you can go the premium membership route again.

 

Does that make a little more sense?

Thank you. Yes.

I wrote them about a refund, and they said they will contact me in 2-3 business days. So I guess I will see what happens. :unsure:

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Can someone tell me the difference between the full version and the premium membership?

 

The Full Version is the Android app itself. It costs $9.99 at Google Play and has more features than the free Intro App that you're using now. Don't quote me on this but i believe the intro app is pretty limited and only displays traditional caches, possibly 3 at a time.

 

The Premium Membership is for use of the gc.com website itself. It gives members additional features that cachers find handy. Being able to run pocket queries is probably the biggest perk for premium members but there are others such as finding premium member's only caches and setting up notifications.

 

Not sure where you live but i would bet there are local geocaching events held from time to time not too far from you. These are usually great for meeting fellow cachers, asking questions, and getting hands on help with just about everything cache related.

 

I think it's worth mentioning that the full version of the App (both on Android and IOS) is enhanced when a Premium Membership is also purchased. With a PM you can create pocket queries and save them in the app. This is pretty much essential if you want to use the app for geocaching while traveling outside your cell phone providers data coverage. Most of the countries I've been outside the U.S. require data roaming and can cost as much as $20 per megabyte. Additionally, partner applications which use the API (such as GSAK) will significantly restrict the amount of data you can access if you don't have a premium membership.

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OH my this new free app is causing so much frustratiton. A local cacher deleted a person's log since she couldn't get in contact with them because of the fact that there was no email address. They left a log telling where the cache was, which has happened to me several times too and I deleted that person's log also. This is what that cacher left on the cache page now.

 

"I found this last night and some group got on here and deleted my find. Do it to me again and I'll search all their finds and do same to them. What's up with that crap"

 

I then left a note on that person's cache page addressing the issue hoping this idiot wouldn't go after her other caches and destroy them.

 

Dear so and so.

"Did you leave a spoiler (meaning telling where the cache was) in your log? So many new cachers do that and since you haven't signed up on the site with a validated email address, there is no way to tell you to change your log other than to delete it. I had to delete someones logs off of my caches when they left logs like 3rd post from the corner, tree stump, under pinkish rock, . I finally left a note on my cache page telling the person why I was deleting their logs. Then they logged it correctly.. Sorry for your frustration but we all had to learn somehow."

 

I hope they go back to the cache page and see the note. It worked for me after deleting the person's logs that was leaving explicit descriptions as to location of my caches as a log. Deleted their logs twice and then they finally logged it correctly.

 

I just don't understand why Groundspeak didn't make them at least sign up with an email address so a person could contact them directly get it straightened out instead of causing all this frustration.

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With the phone-app-only nature of the new cachers, why not have a validation method that contacts the cacher directly through the app? No need for an email address that they probably don't even use anyway. (like my 18 y.o. - she never checks her emails. If I want to contact her, I have to text or call her....)

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OH my this new free app is causing so much frustratiton. A local cacher deleted a person's log since she couldn't get in contact with them because of the fact that there was no email address. They left a log telling where the cache was, which has happened to me several times too and I deleted that person's log also. This is what that cacher left on the cache page now.

 

"I found this last night and some group got on here and deleted my find. Do it to me again and I'll search all their finds and do same to them. What's up with that crap"

 

 

This is bad.

 

I was pretty hacked off by the fact Groundspeak granted free access to everyone's caches to people we can't even contact - but this demonstrates very clearly how the complete lack of proper communication channels could in fact end up creating cache-trashers :mad:

 

COME ON Groundspeak - PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DO SOMETHING TO FIX THIS BEFORE THINGS GET WORSE :(

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I have just reached a dessision. If any of my caches have problems relating to the Free App, I will be changing all of my caches to PMO until the email issue is fixed. So far I have not had any problems. <cross_fingers>

 

I would hate to have to delete a spoiler "Found It" log then change to cache to PMO. The new cacher 98% chance will not know of the backdoor logging method, and will not be able to log thier find. That would be unfortunate (no sarcasm intended, truly unfortunate)

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