Alternative for non Premium members

[+fbax]

Hi all,

I have a friend that has only a casual interest in geocaching and is not a premium member. They find the constant nagging in this app to become a premium member makes the app unusable. My friend is using the classic app now; but apparently those days are numbered. Are there alternative apps for the iPhone out there; hopefully free?

[Keystone]

I am moving this thread from the Geocaching® iPhone App forum to the API forum.

[+kunarion]

Hi all,

I have a friend that has only a casual interest in geocaching and is not a premium member. They find the constant nagging in this app to become a premium member makes the app unusable. My friend is using the classic app now; but apparently those days are numbered. Are there alternative apps for the iPhone out there; hopefully free?

If your friend can't find an App in the iPhone App store, it may be that your friend is just plain not interested.

 

The Official Geocaching App expensive to maintain, a special service for those who would use it, so of course it's designed as an ad about becoming paying members. Other Apps are funded differently, and have different forms of nagging. If you're sure your friend's problem is an App, there are more to choose: https://www.geocaching.com/mobile/partners/

 

Or do what I did when I started Geocaching, and use the web site instead. The site is free to use, and for non-paying members, suitable for a cache or two. With a compass App, type coordinates manually and go. One great App to enter waypoints is "Commander Compass". I check the App Shopper list regularly, and therefore got the full version of Commander Compass for free. I like it so much, I bought Spyglass, too. Search "Free GPS" for even more.

 

I would highly suggest a handheld GPSr. Modern Garmins are easy to use, configurable to exactly the way you wish to use them, and you can use your phone as a phone. The "Geocaching Apps" are hard-coded with commonly used features buried in sub-sub-menus, and they mess up in surprising ways, cache-trip-killing ways. If I was relying on an App, I'd probably become casual, too.

Edited February 28, 2017 by kunarion

[+geodarts]

The partner list linked above is not complete for either the iPhone or android, but there are a number of iPhone apps that offer more features than that of Groundspeak. All of these apps use the Geocaching Live API, which means that basic members are subject to some limitations.

 

With any of the apps, Groundspeak allows basic members to search only for traditional geocaches (with less filter capabilities). You can download any geocache type, if you know the GC-Code. Basic members may download up to three full geocache listings a day, but obtain the "lite" version for 10,000 caches (excluding description, logs, additional waypoints). If you are online, all the apps I have tried allow you to switch to Safari and view the full cache details there.

 

I have had more problems with garmin units not indexing caches properly and losing data that became "cache-trip-killing" than the apps that I use. In fact, there have been times when I was the only one who had graphics necessary for some of the caches because the app I used automatically downloaded the images for offline use - something that handhelds do not do. But the debate between phone apps and handheld GPSr units is endless and need not be addressed in this thread.

 

For the iPhone, in years past I would have unquestionably recommended Geosphere and it remains the only app I use to plan caching - and the only one that remains on my phone. But it's future is in doubt, so until that is settled one way or the other, there are others to try. Cachly is up and coming and there are free versions of looking4cache, geobucket and geocaches - although I have not tried the latter. Again, all these apps (as well as a handheld GPSr) work best with premium membership but it is certainly possible to cache without it.

Edited February 28, 2017 by geodarts

[+zoobum]

Hi all,

I have a friend that has only a casual interest in geocaching and is not a premium member. They find the constant nagging in this app to become a premium member makes the app unusable. My friend is using the classic app now; but apparently those days are numbered. Are there alternative apps for the iPhone out there; hopefully free?

 

this app is totally free, all you have to do is click the "look at the description on website" and you won't have to buy anything according the the Geocaching Live API rules as stated above.

 

Simple and Clean layout too.

 

Cachebot