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iamageobug

By iamageobug
in General geocaching topics

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NeverSummer

+NeverSummer

Posted
Posted

I just upgraded to the Premium Membership. Do I have to pay again to get it on my iPhone?[/size]

Check out this topic in the iPhone App topic: http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=319161

 

It all depends on what you're really talking about.

 

There are 4 different things we could be talking about:

1. Basic Membership: For access to the website and database of geocaches on Geocaching.com

2. Premium Membership: For more specialized access to the website and database of geocaches on Geocaching.com at a cost of $30/year

 

3. "Intro" iPhone App: A tool to find geocaches listed on Geocaching.com that is free to download from the iTunes App store

4. "Full" iPhone App: A tool to find geocaches listed on Geocaching.com that is a one-time $10 charge from the iTunes App store.

 

Premium Membership does not get you the App--free or paid.

 

Membership is for access to the site. To play you need a GPS-enabled device (Handheld GPS or smartphone, eg) The alternative to purchasing a specialized handheld GPS is using your iPhone to search for caches. Pros/Cons for each can be easily researched in this Forum topic. The official "full" Groundspeak Geocaching.com iPhone App is $10. Combined with your Premium Membership you will be able to access the full offering of features from Geocaching.com for Premium Members.

 

Clear as mud.

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geodarts

+geodarts

Posted
Posted (edited)

Or, as I do, you could use one of the third party apps that take advantage of premium membership through the Live API. Some require an additional purchase (that may be less than the Groundspeak app),but there are free versions of some of the apps.

Edited by geodarts
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Jayme H

Jayme H

Posted
Posted

I hope Groundspeak is paying attention to how many PAYING CUSTOMERS are getting confused about the whole "upgrade to Premium" thing. It needs to be made much clearer in the app exactly what is being upgraded.

Yep, we are definitely paying attention. I attended a meeting today where the confusion surrounding this was discussed.

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T.D.M.22

+T.D.M.22

Posted
Posted

I hope Groundspeak is paying attention to how many PAYING CUSTOMERS are getting confused about the whole "upgrade to Premium" thing. It needs to be made much clearer in the app exactly what is being upgraded.

Yep, we are definitely paying attention. I attended a meeting today where the confusion surrounding this was discussed.

 

They are, or you are? I rarely see any lackeys posting on the forums, other than yourself. Do they even look in the forums, or is it just you?

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JesandTodd

+JesandTodd

Posted
Posted

I hope Groundspeak is paying attention to how many PAYING CUSTOMERS are getting confused about the whole "upgrade to Premium" thing. It needs to be made much clearer in the app exactly what is being upgraded.

Yep, we are definitely paying attention. I attended a meeting today where the confusion surrounding this was discussed.

 

They are, or you are? I rarely see any lackeys posting on the forums, other than yourself. Do they even look in the forums, or is it just you?

 

That's her job. We can't have every lackey checking the forums. She checks and relates back.

 

Iamageobug, do you in fact have the intro app or the full paid app? Either way, log out and log back in to make sure either app knows you're a PM now.

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Jayme H

Jayme H

Posted
Posted

They are, or you are? I rarely see any lackeys posting on the forums, other than yourself. Do they even look in the forums, or is it just you?

There are a handful of us in different departments who read various topics...and less who will post. But it is all of our responsibility to relate what we hear from the community (from the forums, attending Mega and local community events, Help Center questions, I <3 Geocaching surveys, etc.) back to everyone at HQ.

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T.D.M.22

+T.D.M.22

Posted
Posted

They are, or you are? I rarely see any lackeys posting on the forums, other than yourself. Do they even look in the forums, or is it just you?

There are a handful of us in different departments who read various topics...and less who will post. But it is all of our responsibility to relate what we hear from the community (from the forums, attending Mega and local community events, Help Center questions, I <3 Geocaching surveys, etc.) back to everyone at HQ.

 

I know this is getting off topic, but I believe that having morel lackeys post, would show they are there. And I mean more like what you do, not just the standard "It's in the works" "It was brought up here before" and all that. Things like that pretty much come off as "We know, but we don't want you to know we don't care"

 

Yes, I understand that's not how it (always) is, but it can seem like that. Especially to someone new to the forums/geocaching. Maybe more feedback on ideas and issues-the buying a premium membership instead of the full app comes to mind.

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Jayme H

Jayme H

Posted
Posted

I know this is getting off topic, but I believe that having morel lackeys post, would show they are there. And I mean more like what you do, not just the standard "It's in the works" "It was brought up here before" and all that. Things like that pretty much come off as "We know, but we don't want you to know we don't care"

 

Yes, I understand that's not how it (always) is, but it can seem like that. Especially to someone new to the forums/geocaching. Maybe more feedback on ideas and issues-the buying a premium membership instead of the full app comes to mind.

Yep, this is getting off topic, but I want to let you know that there are only 2 Lackeys that are responsible for the forums. That would be Moun10Bike and myself. I'm sorry that the lack of information coming from HQ feels like we don't care. That's not our intention at all. We wish we could share everything that is happening here at HQ with the community...but the honest truth is that sometimes we either don't know or expectations from community make it hard. We would hate to tell you an expected release time for something specific and then have the developers run into an unforeseen problem that delays that fix for you guys.

 

We are working on communicating more effectively with the community in the forums and the shift to constructive conversations have been a big improvement in the content that we can bring back to our meetings. I hope that keeps up!

 

Either way, we care about the community's needs and wants and are working on building that trust back with you guys...even if we can't tell you everything we are working on to earn it back. :)

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postmangav

+postmangav

Posted
Posted

I have to say, I have just fallen foul of this too. I upgraded what I thought was my app for £6.99 in the Intro app expecting it to upgrade the app to the one listed for £6.99 on iTunes. I feel that this is VERY misleading in the app itself and I have to say it feels more than a little bit deliberate. The fact that the 'upgrade' and the App are the same price and you are told very little about what you are getting when you upgrade make this feel a bit smoke and mirrors. I'm half inclined to try and request a refund from iTunes to be honest. I know £7 isn't a huge amount of money, however I now have to outlay another £7 to get the features that I wanted in the first place.

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cerberus1

+cerberus1

Posted
Posted

I have to say, I have just fallen foul of this too. I upgraded what I thought was my app for £6.99 in the Intro app expecting it to upgrade the app to the one listed for £6.99 on iTunes. I feel that this is VERY misleading in the app itself and I have to say it feels more than a little bit deliberate. The fact that the 'upgrade' and the App are the same price and you are told very little about what you are getting when you upgrade make this feel a bit smoke and mirrors. I'm half inclined to try and request a refund from iTunes to be honest. I know £7 isn't a huge amount of money, however I now have to outlay another £7 to get the features that I wanted in the first place.

That seems to be the common theme.

Contact the Help Center and maybe they can get you straightened out, hopefully without any additional fees.

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Seaglass Pirates

+Seaglass Pirates

Posted
Posted (edited)

I know this is getting off topic, but I believe that having morel lackeys post, would show they are there. And I mean more like what you do, not just the standard "It's in the works" "It was brought up here before" and all that. Things like that pretty much come off as "We know, but we don't want you to know we don't care"

 

Yes, I understand that's not how it (always) is, but it can seem like that. Especially to someone new to the forums/geocaching. Maybe more feedback on ideas and issues-the buying a premium membership instead of the full app comes to mind.

Yep, this is getting off topic, but I want to let you know that there are only 2 Lackeys that are responsible for the forums. That would be Moun10Bike and myself. I'm sorry that the lack of information coming from HQ feels like we don't care. That's not our intention at all. We wish we could share everything that is happening here at HQ with the community...but the honest truth is that sometimes we either don't know or expectations from community make it hard. We would hate to tell you an expected release time for something specific and then have the developers run into an unforeseen problem that delays that fix for you guys.

 

We are working on communicating more effectively with the community in the forums and the shift to constructive conversations have been a big improvement in the content that we can bring back to our meetings. I hope that keeps up!

 

Either way, we care about the community's needs and wants and are working on building that trust back with you guys...even if we can't tell you everything we are working on to earn it back.

 

Awww that is such a lovely sincere and encouraging post. Awww so you read everything and relay it back - that's so cool *cough* TB's are not trade items - specific wording in FAQ's required *cough * that someone on high has taken the time to be specific and concise. Yeah that app confusion business phew headache or what.

:ph34r:

Edited by Seaglass Pirates
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kunarion

+kunarion

Posted
Posted (edited)

I have to say, I have just fallen foul of this too. I upgraded what I thought was my app for £6.99 in the Intro app expecting it to upgrade the app to the one listed for £6.99 on iTunes. I feel that this is VERY misleading in the app itself and I have to say it feels more than a little bit deliberate. The fact that the 'upgrade' and the App are the same price and you are told very little about what you are getting when you upgrade make this feel a bit smoke and mirrors. I'm half inclined to try and request a refund from iTunes to be honest. I know £7 isn't a huge amount of money, however I now have to outlay another £7 to get the features that I wanted in the first place.

If the Intro App allows you to buy a one-month Premium Membership through iTunes (and within the App itself), no wonder it's confusing. If that's the case, how would you buy the full App? That should be what the Intro App offers, not "Premium Membership". The App not offering an upgrade to the App, but instead a different premium, seems kind of shady to me.

 

[EDIT]: Just for my own curiosity, I've installed the Intro App on my iPad. Can someone direct me to the "confusing Upgrade"? I don't see any such thing within the App.

Edited by kunarion
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JesandTodd

+JesandTodd

Posted
Posted

Yep, this is getting off topic, but I want to let you know that there are only 2 Lackeys that are responsible for the forums. That would be Moun10Bike and myself. I'm sorry that the lack of information coming from HQ feels like we don't care. That's not our intention at all. We wish we could share everything that is happening here at HQ with the community...but the honest truth is that sometimes we either don't know or expectations from community make it hard. We would hate to tell you an expected release time for something specific and then have the developers run into an unforeseen problem that delays that fix for you guys.

 

We are working on communicating more effectively with the community in the forums and the shift to constructive conversations have been a big improvement in the content that we can bring back to our meetings. I hope that keeps up!

 

Either way, we care about the community's needs and wants and are working on building that trust back with you guys...even if we can't tell you everything we are working on to earn it back.

 

Awww that is such a lovely sincere and encouraging post. Awww so you read everything and relay it back - that's so cool *cough* TB's are not trade items - specific wording in FAQ's required *cough * that someone on high has taken the time to be specific and concise. Yeah that app confusion business phew headache or what.

:ph34r:

 

This response is unnecessarily rude.

 

Her post actually WAS sincere, and if I'm being honest, your tasteless response only proves her point. (Which I've bolded above)

 

People complain they don't get enough information for GS. GS lackeys respond. I believed it was explained that the lackeys don't have a full time job responding to posts in the forum. They really are busy working. People still complain. Then when they do respond, people attack their posts with a belittling and immature tone.

 

People.still.complain.

 

It's never enough....

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Chief301

+Chief301

Posted
Posted
[EDIT]: Just for my own curiosity, I've installed the Intro App on my iPad. Can someone direct me to the "confusing Upgrade"? I don't see any such thing within the App.

 

I also installed it on my iPhone but I think you have to log a certain number of attempts (3? 5? I don't know) before it gives you the upgrade option.

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postmangav

+postmangav

Posted
Posted
[EDIT]: Just for my own curiosity, I've installed the Intro App on my iPad. Can someone direct me to the "confusing Upgrade"? I don't see any such thing within the App.

 

I also installed it on my iPhone but I think you have to log a certain number of attempts (3? 5? I don't know) before it gives you the upgrade option.

Assuming the ipad version is identical to the iphone version. There is a button in the top left corner of the screen to access your profile. This menu gives you the option to either sign out or upgrade to premium. No information regarding what the upgrade does is provided. Being as the prices are identical I assumed this would give me the fully featured app. Reading the forums, it would seem I'm far from alone. I've since paid for the full app however, I still feel that this matter could be handled far better by GS.

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kunarion

+kunarion

Posted
Posted (edited)
There is a button in the top left corner of the screen to access your profile. This menu gives you the option to either sign out or upgrade to premium. No information regarding what the upgrade does is provided.

Can someone take a screenshot and post it here? I don't see an "upgrade" option, and not having a data connection, the "Intro App" doesn't do much for me. I'll try to craft a some cache runs, to see if the "upgrade" option appears, but I'm still not quite clear what the exact issue is. If it asks if you wish to "Upgrade To Premium" in those words specifically, that is misleading. People couldn't automatically know what the "Premium" is.

 

It's also kind of an iTunes thing. I have almost never "upgraded" to a full App from within a demo App, so it doesn't confuse me; I always buy and download a full App from iTunes. Since both are in view there, I know what the deal is, before I get the free one (and unlike most "Demos", the Intro App is kind of useful). And you have to download to upgrade anyway, since the Intro App is obviously quite different from the full version. It's not just an unlock of features, it's a much more extensive App. Anyway, this kind of thing is all over iTunes, so it's no surprise. But there are actual scam Apps there, too, fully supported and advertised by iTunes. You could spend unlimited amounts of money on many of the "In-App Purchases", and not realize in advance that you need to. The Geocaching App is nothing compared to many of the borderline criminal iTunes schemes.

 

But it's also a Groundspeak thing. If you're enjoying Geocaching enough to buy the full App, the yearly Premium Membership is advisable, regardless of the sequence you pay for the App/Membership. So, if you accidentally bought a 3-month membership, why not try it anyway?

Edited by kunarion
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SaltyCacheNutZ

SaltyCacheNutZ

Posted
Posted

If the new device is the same platform (iOS or Android) and if the new device is registered with the same email address, then you should be able to download the app to the new device without paying for it again.

somehow I missed seeing your reply earlier... thank you so much for answering! the tablet & phone are both android so now I just need to remember which e-mail I used to sign up! LOL

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SaltyCacheNutZ

SaltyCacheNutZ

Posted
Posted

If the new device is the same platform (iOS or Android) and if the new device is registered with the same email address, then you should be able to download the app to the new device without paying for it again.

somehow I missed seeing your reply earlier... thank you so much for answering! the tablet & phone are both android so now I just need to remember which e-mail I used to sign up! LOL

 

*sigh* I thought I used the same e-mail address but couldn't find a record... and am travelling overseas without much contact with the other half who currently has the tablet/original device. So I bit the bullet & paid AGAIN to put the app on my phone. Which would have been OK, but I am finding it hugely dissapointing that solved puzzles are not showing up with the corrected coordinates. pfzzzzt. Wondering if I can get a refund...

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T.D.M.22

+T.D.M.22

Posted
Posted

If the new device is the same platform (iOS or Android) and if the new device is registered with the same email address, then you should be able to download the app to the new device without paying for it again.

somehow I missed seeing your reply earlier... thank you so much for answering! the tablet & phone are both android so now I just need to remember which e-mail I used to sign up! LOL

 

*sigh* I thought I used the same e-mail address but couldn't find a record... and am travelling overseas without much contact with the other half who currently has the tablet/original device. So I bit the bullet & paid AGAIN to put the app on my phone. Which would have been OK, but I am finding it hugely dissapointing that solved puzzles are not showing up with the corrected coordinates. pfzzzzt. Wondering if I can get a refund...

 

I don't think they show up at the corrected co-ords on the main website either... But you can add waypoints to the app. Or at least to the iOS apps.

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