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Get Rid of Clunky App


raistlin306

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I have found a way to improve the official Geocaching App, get rid of it and use Cachly, at least until Groundspeak takes away what they can do on that app, like they just did removing my friends list from the Cachly app citing privacy concerns. I will never use the official app, it's so bad. I remember how nice the old one was.

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If you haven't used the official App recently, how do you know it's still "clunky?"  I will agree that, when rolled out, the current app was missing key features and didn't implement other features very well.  But, over the past couple of years, it's gotten better with each release.  I wish that Geocaching HQ had waited to make their change in app strategy AFTER some more of the key features were fully baked.  Many, like you, haven't checked back to see the changes.

 

Recently I went on a roadtrip across 8 states.  Except for one day hiking in the mountains, I used the official App exclusively and my caching partner used Cachly exclusively.  Both performed well.  I noticed some tasks that Cachly excelled at, such as real time filtering, and my friend noticed some of the many improvements made to the official app since the last time she used it.

 

Are there any specific things you don't like about the official App in its current version?

 

Regarding the "friends list" issue, you can direct your disappointment to the European Union.  The privacy concerns arise from GDPR, and that legislation is the cause of many changes across the online world.

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It is just a matter of features that the official app still has not caught up, why is it a third party app is so much better? The sorting of caches, cachly has 23 different ways to do this including size, type, date hidden, D/T, by state or country, plus many ways to include exclude caches. There is a history tab, a usage data wise tab, download tab, pocket queries, that last one I don't understand why the official app still does not have it. even the souvenir tab makes the official one look crappy. The trackable section lets you differentiate between owned and trackables in your inventory, plus it even has filters. The official app lacks so much that I have had in cachly since the beginning, I can view the trackables travels on a map. It just goes on and on. The ability to upload multiple images when I log, this is such a basic thing, when will the official app have that? Where can I see my dnf's on the map? My profile is so minimal its unbelievable on the official app, on cachly it shows my finds in either a list or map with ability to export, also the list has 15 filters, also my logs filterable in 12 ways, all of the trackables I've found or discovered or moved. lists my favorites in list or map with 15 filters. All of my lists are available, my entire gallery is available, all of the types of caches I've found are shown. The official app shows if your a premium member or not, your hides, (a single number no detail), your finds (same no detail), what year you joined, how many trackable (again a single number no detail) Cachly can also translate, why is this useful feature not on the official app. .On the main map, under cache description in the official app you can view either text or web view, cachly adds the source code, useful for info buried in there for mystery caches. The offical app has hint, logs, cache notes, images, attributes, and waypoints, cachly has all of that and 22 more in the additional info. I think I could go on with this for quite a while. 

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21 minutes ago, raistlin306 said:

why is it a third party app is so much better?

 

I'm curious.  Does it matter?  If you've found a great app, why not keep using it and never look back?  There should be no shame, no stigma, in going 3rd-party.  All the 3rd-party apps (less one that I know of) are official API partners, meaning Groundspeak supports their use.

 

One possible answer to your question could be cross-platform toolkits; maybe they're a royal pain to use.  Those are software tools that let you write a single set of source code, and have it runnable on both Android and iOS.  Back in the pre-phone era I had some experience with those toolkits, and they were indeed painful.  Support an app on both Windows and Mac?  Eeww.  Fast-forward to today.  Cachly is iOS only; my favourite app is Android only, but Groundspeak needs to (or feels they need to) support the same app on both platforms.  That could be a handicap.

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raistlin306, thanks for the follow up post.  Those specifics are a lot easier to think about and discuss than a general request to get rid of the official Geocaching app.

 

I agree with you on Cachly's capabilities for filtering and working with trackables in the field.  I have all my bookmark lists and pocket queries available to me on the official app, which makes me happy since that is how I transfer my planning at home into a cache plan on my smartphone.  Most of the other Cachly features you cited aren't important to me, since I do my planning at home 90% of the time.

 

I think the answer to your questions about when other features will come to the official app is this: the goal of the official app is to provide a good basic tool for finding caches with a smartphone.  If you find yourself needing more than that, then invest in a more full-featured app like Cachly.  That's why there is an API that is used well by Cachly's developers and by other authorized API partners.

 

A good analogy: I am a personal statistics junkie.  The official statistics on my profile just don't cut it for me, so I use Project-GC and I support that site with a voluntary membership and additional financial contribution.  I am glad that you've found the additional features you need by using Cachly.  I don't feel a need for them.

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On ‎9‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 3:30 PM, The Leprechauns said:

the goal of the official app is to provide a good basic tool for finding caches with a smartphone.  If you find yourself needing more than that, then invest in a more full-featured app like Cachly.  That's why there is an API that is used well by Cachly's developers and by other authorized API partners.

 

+1

 

The App is a great way to see if "Geocaching Apps" or "Geocaching" in general are suitable to someone trying it out, for free, with no obligation.  If I were trying it, I might instead use a handheld GPS, with "Apps" as a backup, especially if I already have access to a handheld GPS.  And I was doing OK without "Apps" at all before that.  I loves me some gadgets, yet I don't enjoy "Geocaching" by phone.  If another App, or another device is preferable to the individual, go for it.  But keep in mind that several such "Apps" (including several that I bought) have subsequently vanished.

 

 

Edited by kunarion
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I think sometimes I just get frustrated with how Groundspeak doesn't go all in on certain products or avenues of bringing in new cachers. I guess I worry that they will mess this up somehow. I can't imagine not caching. I know there are lots of variations out there, but I prefer the official Geocaching company. The old app was so easy and well put together, it just upset me with the change, I got cachly and never looked back. I admit I still use the official one but only for the built-in messenger. Probably a subject for a new thread and or place, but did anyone ever notice the lack of content update on the Official Geocaching Youtube channel? I guess its just a lot of effort to create them plus there are a billion other videos by cachers out there. 

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