Using deactivated cell phones

[+hokumcacher]

When we are out caching my little ones would like to have a device to carry with them as we find caches... With that said I have a couple of old Samsung Phones that have "GPS" in them however I was wondering how they work in offline mode as if the phones are not connected to wifi they will have no internet. 

 

Will this work or should I just buy 2 cheap gps units?

 

Tha

[Blue Square Thing]

You don't need to be connected to the internet at all. I pretty much always use my phone without any form of data connection and input the coordinates I need manually into a suitable app.

 

I would try it before opting to buy anything anyway.

[+hokumcacher]

Is there a better then others offline app? I have no issue upgrading to premium 

[Blue Square Thing]

I use an app called Free GPS on an old iPhone. No idea if it's available for Android devices, but there will be something free and easy to use out there. All they need to do is get the coordinates from you - assuming you're going to look them up n the fly (I enjoy planning in advance and writing the ordinates down on scraps of paper - I sometimes even remember to take the pieces of paper with me...)

[+Viajero Perdido]

Locus Map (free or pro) on Android is an excellent offline-focused map- and caching app.

 

Load it up in advance via cable or wifi - as you would with a pricey GPS unit - and away you go.

[+MNTA]

I've done similar things. Install the app while connected to wifi and save the caches in the area you are caching in to an offline list before going out. 

[+niraD]

I know a family that does something similar with their old iPhones. Dad has a new one, and his kids have his old ones. The old ones don't have a data plan, and use WiFi at home, or they piggyback on Dad's phone which sometimes uses its data connection to create a WiFi hotspot.

[+Crow-T-Robot]

Do the phones have the Geocaching app installed on them? If so, you could download a list while on Wifi and then use those phones in offline mode. This is primarily how I use my phone when I cache. As long as you don't log out of the app out in the field, all the data will be there for any cache on your downloaded list.

[+kunarion]

3 hours ago, Crow-T-Robot said:

Do the phones have the Geocaching app installed on them? If so, you could download a list while on Wifi and then use those phones in offline mode. This is primarily how I use my phone when I cache. As long as you don't log out of the app out in the field, all the data will be there for any cache on your downloaded list.

 

+1

 

That is what I did with my tablets and phones before I got a data subscription, and what I do to this day.  I find myself outside of the cell service, sometimes even in the middle of town.

 

But the App (and not just The Official App) will allow you to press most any button, even the buttons that only work online.  I always forget which button is online-only, and then have to wait for the phone to "try to connect".  Even the "offline buttons" may work in only a limited way when offline.  Practice makes perfect.

 

Apps such as "GDAK" are built to load maps and caches in advance, then to function offline.  You won't get all the logs of course.  Maybe some photos.  Street maps that you pre-loaded, stuff like that.  Offline is a little like using a good old-fashioned handheld GPS, except with a completely different interface.

 

 

Edited August 24, 2018 by kunarion

[+NYPaddleCacher]

18 hours ago, Blue Square Thing said:

You don't need to be connected to the internet at all. I pretty much always use my phone without any form of data connection and input the coordinates I need manually into a suitable app.

 

Found two caches today in Belgium with my smart phone, the official app, and pre-downloaded list.   Many apps will work completely offline, without a cell connection and even in airplane mode.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

3 hours ago, kunarion said:

Apps such as "GDAK" are built to load maps and caches in advance, then to function offline.  You won't get all the logs of course.  Maybe some photos.

'

One of the issues that I've had using the official app in offline mode is that it doesn't include any uploaded photos.  I DNFd a cache in Cuba that I most likely would have found if I were able to look at a couple of photos in the gallery from GZ.  

[+noncentric]

8 hours ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

'

One of the issues that I've had using the official app in offline mode is that it doesn't include any uploaded photos.  I DNFd a cache in Cuba that I most likely would have found if I were able to look at a couple of photos in the gallery from GZ.  

Agreed.

I can understand not loading the photos attached to logs, but I'd like the official app to at least include the photos in the Cache Description.

[+Viajero Perdido]

Locus will do that.  It has a "GC Offlinizer" function to pre-load cache-page images for one or multiple caches in bulk.  I think it can also pre-load cache-log images, but only by calling them up manually in advance - unless I've missed something there.

 

When I've remembered to do it, pre-loading images has saved my butt on more than a few occasions.

[+noncentric]

4 minutes ago, Viajero Perdido said:

When I've remembered to do it, pre-loading images has saved my butt on more than a few occasions.

Yes, if I remember ahead of time, then I take a screenshot of the cache page before going offline.  Same with photo hints in geocheckers, as I can't access those site 'live' when offline.

Good to know about Locus.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

On 8/25/2018 at 6:07 AM, noncentric said:

Agreed.

I can understand not loading the photos attached to logs, but I'd like the official app to at least include the photos in the Cache Description.

 

So would I (and would also include any photos uploaded by the CO).   I DNFd one cache yesterday for which the hint said "Spoiler Photo".   I broadened the search a bit and found a rubber ball covered in sticks in the crotch of a tree.  Since the cache was part of a school project I wondered if the coordinates were off and the rubber ball was a cache (without a log).  When I got back to my hotel I looked up the cache listing and saw the spoiler photo and that I had thoroughly searched that spot.   I went out this morning and walked by that cache again.   It's definitely missing, but I got three more in the lovely town of Ettelbruck, Luxembourg.

Edited August 26, 2018 by NYPaddleCacher