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Release Notes (Geocaching® app: Android solved coords on map, iOS bug fixes) - August 7, 2017


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Release Notes (Geocaching® app) - August 7, 2017

Android-

With this release, we have updated the functionality around displaying geocaches with solved coordinates on Android. Now, all caches with solved coordinates will display on the map at those coordinates when solved but unfound.
 
An updated puzzle piece map pin will differentiate these caches on the map. Unfound caches with solved coordinates in a list view are badged with the same puzzle piece icon.
 
Once found, the cache will move back to the posted coordinates on the map with a smiley map pin. In a list view, the puzzle piece badge is removed and the cache icon replaced with a smiley.
 
Unsolved caches with solved coordinates that are logged as a DNF are displayed at the solved coordinates location on the map with the DNF map pin.
 
Any solved coordinates you submit in the app will also display on Geocaching.com, and vice versa.

Additionally, users of the Geocaching® app will now see reduced clustering on the map.

iOS-

In this release, we squashed a bunch of bugs and made several performance improvements. Most importantly, we fixed a bug that was causing the app to crash on startup for some users immediately after updating to a new version.

Both versions-

Users of the Android and iOS apps will now see reduced clustering on the map.

Casey from HQ’s Mobile Team is watching the thread to answer questions whenever possible.


Any posts in this thread should relate to features in this release. Unrelated comments may be removed. Please direct unrelated comments to other appropriate threads. Thanks!

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1 hour ago, Geocaching HQ said:

With this release, we have updated the functionality around displaying geocaches with solved coordinates on Android. Now, all caches with solved coordinates will display on the map at those coordinates when solved but unfound.

Thank you!

1 hour ago, Geocaching HQ said:

Unsolved caches with solved coordinates that are logged as a DNF are displayed at the solved coordinates location on the map with the DNF map pin.

Perhaps you meant "Unfound caches with solved coordinates" instead?

1 hour ago, Geocaching HQ said:

Additionally, users of the Geocaching® app will now see reduced clustering on the map.

Thank you. It might be nice to make the clustering level configurable.

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I was lucky enough to see this about a week ago, so I've had time to play. A quick summary:

  • Battery life is not good.
  • I thought I noticed less clustering but wasn't sure. It's a whole lot better than early versions which clustered too soon and mad it difficult to get a view larger than the immediate vicinity.
  • Sharing corrected coordinates across the platforms is good.
  • Displaying corrected coordinates is very good, except...

Except...

1 hour ago, Geocaching HQ said:


Once found, the cache will move back to the posted coordinates on the map with a smiley map pin. In a list view, the puzzle piece badge is removed and the cache icon replaced with a smiley.
 

Switching back to posted coordinates when a cache is found serves only to confuse. For those using the web site who like the geo-art I can see the attraction of a pattern of smileys, but for something that is supposed to be a field tool it's not helpful. Being able to map the actual known locations of found caches is extremely helpful when looking for possible locations for new caches. If we can't do that then the reviewers are likely to see a whole lot more coordinate check requests.

I can see no reason in the app for displaying found caches at posted coordinates where corrected coordinates exist, and only a fairly trivial one on the web. At the very least this should be a user-configurable option across platforms. 

 

 

 

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I am still having the "app crash on startup"

running iOS 10.3.3 on iphone 7

updated the Geocaching app to version 5.6.1

i restarted my phone and it works now. Sorry for the noise.

iOS-

In this release, we squashed a bunch of bugs and made several performance improvements. Most importantly, we fixed a bug that was causing the app to crash on startup for some users immediately after updating to a new version.

Edited by chetterhummin
No longer having problem
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14 hours ago, gasbottle said:

Switching back to posted coordinates when a cache is found serves only to confuse. For those using the web site who like the geo-art I can see the attraction of a pattern of smileys, but for something that is supposed to be a field tool it's not helpful. Being able to map the actual known locations of found caches is extremely helpful when looking for possible locations for new caches. If we can't do that then the reviewers are likely to see a whole lot more coordinate check requests.

Maybe the designers of this new feature think that, because it is not possible to log multiple founds, the location does not matter after the first found.But sometimes there is reasons to visit the cache again. For example, when the most wanted travel bug is placed in the cache, you definitely want to visit at the solved, not the bogus coordinates.

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On 8/12/2017 at 1:06 AM, stanley90 said:

With this release an older problem (which seemed to be fixed in recent weeks/months) reappeared - solved coordinates from web are not synced to the Android app.

Sorry you're having trouble with syncing of solved coords. To help us diagnose the problem, can you give some details about the exact steps you're going through to encounter the problem? Thanks!

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On 8/8/2017 at 0:12 AM, chetterhummin said:

I am still having the "app crash on startup"

running iOS 10.3.3 on iphone 7

updated the Geocaching app to version 5.6.1

i restarted my phone and it works now. Sorry for the noise.

iOS-

In this release, we squashed a bunch of bugs and made several performance improvements. Most importantly, we fixed a bug that was causing the app to crash on startup for some users immediately after updating to a new version.

Thanks for reporting. We're monitoring of a couple new types of crashes that were previously masked by the other crash we fixed. We'll continue investigating and fixing!

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On 8/7/2017 at 6:26 PM, gasbottle said:

 

I was lucky enough to see this about a week ago, so I've had time to play. A quick summary:

  • Battery life is not good.
  • I thought I noticed less clustering but wasn't sure. It's a whole lot better than early versions which clustered too soon and mad it difficult to get a view larger than the immediate vicinity.
  • Sharing corrected coordinates across the platforms is good.
  • Displaying corrected coordinates is very good, except...

Except...

Switching back to posted coordinates when a cache is found serves only to confuse. For those using the web site who like the geo-art I can see the attraction of a pattern of smileys, but for something that is supposed to be a field tool it's not helpful. Being able to map the actual known locations of found caches is extremely helpful when looking for possible locations for new caches. If we can't do that then the reviewers are likely to see a whole lot more coordinate check requests.

I can see no reason in the app for displaying found caches at posted coordinates where corrected coordinates exist, and only a fairly trivial one on the web. At the very least this should be a user-configurable option across platforms. 

 

 

 

Project-gc.com allows the user to toggle back and forth between solved and posted coords. Perhaps that is an option? I can see how both would be useful to different people. 

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On 8.8.2017 at 3:06 PM, arisoft said:

Maybe the designers of this new feature think that, because it is not possible to log multiple founds, the location does not matter after the first found.But sometimes there is reasons to visit the cache again. For example, when the most wanted travel bug is placed in the cache, you definitely want to visit at the solved, not the bogus coordinates.

But the corrected coords are still there!? So where's the real issue then? Couldn't you still navigate to these coords?

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Just wanted to say that the official app seems pretty darn useful now, especially with the solved coords.  I usually use a GPSr, but have been using the app more and more since getting a newer smartphone that has a better GPS than my last one.

I'll usually use it in offline mode, downloading caches in a specific area or from a pre-existing list/pq. My GPSr may still be my primary device, but I'll bring out the phone if I want to re-read a long cache description or I want to check the attributes or I want to add a longer field note.

I'll also use the app online for more urban caches where the satellite view can be helpful.

There are still some things I'd like to see in the app, and it may not be perfect, but overall I'd say that the app is quite usable and much improved over what it was on initial rollout. Keep up the good work!

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The updated coordinates on the map are great...
BUT what I really miss is an option when creating a PQ to have only Mystery caches with corrected coordinates. I don't have a map with me while geocaching but the PQ on the GPSr. As I don't want to see all mysteries I would love to have this feature included.

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1 hour ago, ratnig said:

The updated coordinates on the map are great...
BUT what I really miss is an option when creating a PQ to have only Mystery caches with corrected coordinates. I don't have a map with me while geocaching but the PQ on the GPSr. As I don't want to see all mysteries I would love to have this feature included.

A work-around to that is to create a list and whenever you solve a puzzle, add it to your list. Then you can run a PQ of that list, so only puzzles that you have solved will be included. 

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