Old time Geocacher returning, bring me up to date.

[mcb]

I started Geocaching (GPS-stash) way back in 2000.  I don't have nearly as many find as it appears most of you guys do but there was not that many back then.  Well I am getting back into geocaching with my daughter.  We finished her Girl Scout geocaching badge this past weekend.  We found four of the five we attempted and had a lot of fun hiking through parks and exploring the area (we are relatively new to Alabama).

 

Without making this too long of a post.  We found two of three caches, then stopped for lunch and while eating used the Geocaching App (my daughter told me about it I did not realize it existed) on my phone to identify two more caches we wanted to find.  Looking at the app there were caches in that same park that required the premium upgrade to find.  That is fine we found the two that did not require premium.  We figure we will see how we like geocaching before we invest in the premium membership.  None-the-less when we got home we went to the compute to log our finds and I notice that those same caches that required premium on the App to find did not require the Premium account on the website to see the coordinates/log.  Had we access the website on my phone not through the App we could have found those additional caches.  We hiked right past four caches in the process of finding the two we did find. 

 

Why is this difference between the App and the website?  It appears there are even more caches on the website that do require the Premium membership to see.  I am just trying to understand the various access granted by the Website, App and Basic and Premium memberships.  is there anything else I should be aware of?  Thanks!

[+cerberus1]

Another said similar just a day or two ago, hopefully the site didn't do the "premium instead of Advanced" thing again...

 

With the app, as a basic member, all but traditional caches with a D/T more than 1.5/1.5 are considered "advanced".

Some caches are viewable by premium members only and listed as such.

On the site, you can access any and all caches and D/T (other than pmo caches).

 

Geocaching 101 is good for the basics, while the Help Center gets more in depth.

Also included a link for the difference between premium/basic membership and the APP.

 

Have fun, cache safe. 

 

 

[+Viajero Perdido]

Hi, and welcome back.

 

It's upsell.  The app is designed to push premium membership by adding another similar-but-different-and-confusing concept.

 

I explained it a little better here: 

 

If you'd like to do phone-based caching without premium membership, you're better off with a non-Groundspeak caching app, of which there are a few good choices.

[mcb]

We normally use our Garmin GPS units for the actual finding.  They are a bit more accurate and stable under a heavy tree canopy then my phone in many cases.  We where using the phone simply to identify the caches and could only get the lat/lon coordinates for the easy caches off the official App.  I will do some more research on other potential apps and we will get more caches pre-loaded into our GPS units off the website before we head out next time.

Edited May 21, 2018 by mcb

[+Viajero Perdido]

Here's the list of authorized caching apps:  https://www.geocaching.com/help/index.php?pg=kb.chapter&id=125&pgid=826

 

If you're looking for a GPS-like experience (offline focus), I recommend Locus Map, + Geocaching4Locus to add online functionality.  Caution: there's a bit of a learning curve, but it's powerful.

 

Oddly (hey Groundspeak!), Locus Map doesn't show up in that list, even though it IS an authorized API partner, and uses the API for offline caching functions, eg, loading PQs.  The list does show Geocaching4Locus, which is the partner app for online functions, but really, both should be mentioned.

 

Edited May 21, 2018 by Viajero Perdido

[+PlantAKiss]

If it’s been a looong time since you have cached, you are in for a surprise.

 

I don’t use the GC app any more. It used to good and now is, in my opinion, awful.  It doesn’t even follow tradition terminology. I’ve switched to another one and I’m much happier with that.

 

Welcome back!! You can make your hunts your own and have fun.