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Dislike the new app


jkraz

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After exploring the new app, (not much to explore) I'm sorry to say that I'm quite disappointed. I find the graphic design of the interface to be juvenile and cartoonish. There are no settings available to personalize the interface. The app has very few features, and does not in any way improve on the Geocaching Classic paid version. As "premium" member, I'm able to access the full range of cache listings, but I find it appalling that basic members are unable to access anything other than a Traditional < 1.5/1.5

The filter feature is rudimentary with interface glitches. The cache size filter does not appear to be functional.(check boxes don't work.)

I have been very happy with the Geocaching Classic app, and would prefer to continue using it as opposed to the new Geocaching® app. I'm very disappointed that the Classic app will no longer be supported or updated. In my opinion, the "new" app should have been built on the framework of the Classic app, and should never have been rolled out before it was fully functional.

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After exploring the new app, (not much to explore) I'm sorry to say that I'm quite disappointed. I find the graphic design of the interface to be juvenile and cartoonish. There are no settings available to personalize the interface. The app has very few features, and does not in any way improve on the Geocaching Classic paid version. As "premium" member, I'm able to access the full range of cache listings, but I find it appalling that basic members are unable to access anything other than a Traditional < 1.5/1.5

The filter feature is rudimentary with interface glitches. The cache size filter does not appear to be functional.(check boxes don't work.)

I have been very happy with the Geocaching Classic app, and would prefer to continue using it as opposed to the new Geocaching® app. I'm very disappointed that the Classic app will no longer be supported or updated. In my opinion, the "new" app should have been built on the framework of the Classic app, and should never have been rolled out before it was fully functional.

 

Lackeys have explained several times that the classic app is well and truly past it and to bring it up to the standard of what they want out of the new app would have meant scrapping it altogether and staying afresh, which is what they've done.

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i think most of the complaints could have been averted if they launched the new app that had feature parity with the old app.

what they have done is release the new app with multiple features missing, or features not working properly.

that just smacks of a rush job and/or poor project management and/or poor or no beta testing.

 

Good luck with that. It's not a thing limited to Groundspeak, in fact is probably the norm in commercial IT.

Much of the software out there these days, including from companies with much bigger budgets than GS, put out many smaller updates rather than taking the time to get it right the first time.

And i suspect we're the cause of it.

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Good luck with that. It's not a thing limited to Groundspeak, in fact is probably the norm in commercial IT.

Much of the software out there these days, including from companies with much bigger budgets than GS, put out many smaller updates rather than taking the time to get it right the first time.

And i suspect we're the cause of it.

 

There's no excuse for replacing a perfectly working app by an app with a whole lot less functionality than the one it's replacing!

 

And that as nothing to do with budgets but with priority's!

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There's no excuse for replacing a perfectly working app by an app with a whole lot less functionality than the one it's replacing!

Since those are not your only two choices, I think Groundspeak figured they could dance a little closer to the edge, so to speak. It was smart planning, way back when, to open up an API for third-party developers.

 

The other apps, as far as I know, keep humming right along...

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I had posted these thoughts elsewhere, and someone recommended that I post them here on the forums...

 

This is using the app on a Samsung Galaxy S5.

 

There are several things I like about the new app (such as logging trackables, access to messages, more cool details on cache pages), but other things are missing that were in the paid app that are real deal-killers for me.

 

For example:

 

1) The navigation screen does not rotate horizontally when you have it attached to a windshield mount

 

2) The navigation screen doesn't prominently show the distance to a cache other than using very small letters at the bottom... and this is KEY information you use when navigating!

 

3) I have the perception that the navigation isn't as accurate as the old app. Maybe the distance to the cache isn't updating as often or something related. But while using both apps in the field, the new app seems more likely to be "off" from GZ.

 

4) Personal cache notes are missing, which I've used to store solutions to puzzles... so I have no access to these in the field

 

5) New cache posting alerts received by email with the cache link cannot be opened by the new app. (It reports "invalid GC code".)

 

6) It is very slow when loading caches in your area compared to the old app. The old app searched for a smaller set of caches, I think, and you manually triggered the search whenever and wherever you want. But the new app shows no caches for a much longer time. You get the perception that it's slow.

 

7) It doesn't let you search for caches in an area that is separate from where you are currently located. That is, if I will be at a different place later in the day from where I am now, I want to scout the area out in advance. But the app seems to want to return me back to my current location and show me the caches there.

 

8) Sometimes I've noticed that a newly published cache will show up in the old app, but won't appear in the new app. So if you're a FTF hound, you can't trust the new app. I haven't checked this recently, but I know I saw it more than once.

 

...and so on. So while the new app has several improvements, there are several features critical for me that have been taken away. I feel like the app is a few steps backward from the original paid app, not a successor to it. I keep finding myself going back to the paid classic app when I'm out caching.

 

There are still some issues that exist in both -- such as when navigating at night there is no "night screen" with reduced lighting that most GPS units use to help you keep your night vision... very distracting and even dangerous when driving a car at night. I had hoped this would be addressed in the new app, but nope.

 

I received a survey not long ago about the new app and completed it. However, it was short and I couldn't accurately cover all my concerns and feedback in it.

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I had posted these thoughts elsewhere, and someone recommended that I post them here on the forums...

 

This is using the app on a Samsung Galaxy S5.

 

There are several things I like about the new app (such as logging trackables, access to messages, more cool details on cache pages), but other things are missing that were in the paid app that are real deal-killers for me.

 

For example:

 

1) The navigation screen does not rotate horizontally when you have it attached to a windshield mount

 

2) The navigation screen doesn't prominently show the distance to a cache other than using very small letters at the bottom... and this is KEY information you use when navigating!

 

3) I have the perception that the navigation isn't as accurate as the old app. Maybe the distance to the cache isn't updating as often or something related. But while using both apps in the field, the new app seems more likely to be "off" from GZ.

 

4) Personal cache notes are missing, which I've used to store solutions to puzzles... so I have no access to these in the field

 

5) New cache posting alerts received by email with the cache link cannot be opened by the new app. (It reports "invalid GC code".)

 

6) It is very slow when loading caches in your area compared to the old app. The old app searched for a smaller set of caches, I think, and you manually triggered the search whenever and wherever you want. But the new app shows no caches for a much longer time. You get the perception that it's slow.

 

7) It doesn't let you search for caches in an area that is separate from where you are currently located. That is, if I will be at a different place later in the day from where I am now, I want to scout the area out in advance. But the app seems to want to return me back to my current location and show me the caches there.

 

8) Sometimes I've noticed that a newly published cache will show up in the old app, but won't appear in the new app. So if you're a FTF hound, you can't trust the new app. I haven't checked this recently, but I know I saw it more than once.

 

...and so on. So while the new app has several improvements, there are several features critical for me that have been taken away. I feel like the app is a few steps backward from the original paid app, not a successor to it. I keep finding myself going back to the paid classic app when I'm out caching.

 

There are still some issues that exist in both -- such as when navigating at night there is no "night screen" with reduced lighting that most GPS units use to help you keep your night vision... very distracting and even dangerous when driving a car at night. I had hoped this would be addressed in the new app, but nope.

 

I received a survey not long ago about the new app and completed it. However, it was short and I couldn't accurately cover all my concerns and feedback in it.

 

I agree with all you've said but,

 

This: 2) The navigation screen doesn't prominently show the distance to a cache other than using very small letters at the bottom... and this is KEY information you use when navigating!

 

This: 4) Personal cache notes are missing, which I've used to store solutions to puzzles... so I have no access to these in the field

 

and This: 5) New cache posting alerts received by email with the cache link cannot be opened by the new app. (It reports "invalid GC code".)

 

are the main reasons I'm still using Geocaching Classic (and trying to get used to using my Oregon 450)

 

I would add that 9) offline lists are worse than useless for anyone looking for puzzle caches (to be fair this is also the case in the Classic app) as it can be hit and miss as to whether the corrected coordinates will be there or not. With the classic app you need to hit refresh (so not very offline). With the new app there is no option to refresh the data (or it's incredibly well hidden), so you have no way at all of finding the solved puzzle cache.

 

Rant over, carry on.

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I've just thought of something else (while answering a question in another thread):

 

Logging the trackables appears to be a separate function in the new app. From the cache page scroll down to "Inventory", tap "View My Inventory", this will bring up a list of all your TBs and coins. You can then tap "log" and choose from "Visit", "Drop", and "Write Note". It seems that you will need to go through all this separately for each coin/TB (bit of a bugger if you have several to dip). There is no option I can see to dip multiple coins/TBs together. They have taken a simple function with a few steps and made it a time-consuming, multi-step, nightmare!

 

Further to this: I have a growing collection of geocoins that I have in my "Collection" on the website. These coins, when logging online, are not available for "Visit" or "Drop" logs, the can only be discovered. Using the app all 104 of them show up in my inventory. The TBs and any coins I've picked up in the wild to move on... are scattered throught this list. Another example of the new app being barely functional to unworkable.

 

:mad:

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