+cache jeep Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 Is it possible to rotate the caching display from portrait. I use my tablet in my Jeep and it has to be on it's side for mounting reasons. Most displays will automatically rotate, but not geocaching. Samsung 8" tablet with android operating system Quote Link to comment
+Viajero Perdido Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 (edited) Locus Map will. (It's a caching app among other things.) Probably most other 3rd-party caching apps as well. If you're talking about the house-brand app, I don't know. It seems light on features... Edited January 7, 2019 by Viajero Perdido 1 Quote Link to comment
+noncentric Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 The Official app does not go into Landscape position. There's nothing you do to make it. Neither does Geooh, which is another Android app and has some impressive features itself.GCDroid does go to Landscape when the phone is turned, so that might be an option for you. Not sure about other Android apps. You may just have to try them out and see what works best for your tablet. Quote Link to comment
+JohnCNA Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 On 1/7/2019 at 5:51 AM, cache jeep said: Is it possible to rotate the caching display from portrait. I use my tablet in my Jeep and it has to be on it's side for mounting reasons. Most displays will automatically rotate, but not geocaching. Samsung 8" tablet with android operating system I use an app called 'Ultimate Rotation Control'. It allows you to force screen rotation on apps that won't do it on their own. I just verified that it forces the Geocaching app to rotate as desired, both on my phone and tablet. It also allows you you to force apps to a specific orientation on an app by app basis. I have a couple apps that force landscape mode on my tablet and this forces them to rotate to portrait as well. So it works both ways. I see that there are several rotation apps in the store but I only have experience with this one. It's a paid app with a free trial. I bought it several years ago so I don't remember what I paid. $2 maybe? Anyway, there are some easy solutions to what you need. 1 2 Quote Link to comment
+Viajero Perdido Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 (edited) On that subject, this one worked well for me: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ahapps.controlthescreenorientation My previous tablet had a broken orientation sensor, and I used it to force landscape when needed. For example - ahem - to force Groundspeak's Dashboard page to display properly. No idea if it'll win the argument against an app that insists on portrait. Edited January 9, 2019 by Viajero Perdido Quote Link to comment
+noncentric Posted January 9, 2019 Share Posted January 9, 2019 If you force rotation, then does the compass arrow still point in the correct direction? I mean, will it still point as though the top of the phone is forward? Quote Link to comment
+JohnCNA Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 On 1/9/2019 at 5:41 PM, noncentric said: If you force rotation, then does the compass arrow still point in the correct direction? I mean, will it still point as though the top of the phone is forward? Well that was an interesting experiment. With a forced rotation to landscape, the compass orientation is still towards the top of the phone/tablet. So although the screens are properly redrawn, the compass still thinks North is at the top. Not so useful after all, in my opinion. Perhaps other similar utilities might compensate for this but I wouldn't think so. I don't use the Geocaching app so I never noticed the compass issue. Apps that I know natively handle handle landscape mode are Locus (my favorite) and GCDroid. I'm thinking the OP would be better served to just switch apps. Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 (edited) On 1/7/2019 at 6:51 AM, cache jeep said: Is it possible to rotate the caching display from portrait. I use my tablet in my Jeep and it has to be on it's side for mounting reasons. Most displays will automatically rotate, but not geocaching. Samsung 8" tablet with android operating system Some previous Official Geocaching Apps did rotate. I prefer my phone in landscape, I guess due to years of working with tablets. I mount my phone in landscape, and the car mount would not even work any other way. Yet my Garmin GPS is in portrait mode, go figure. I hardly ever use The App in landscape, sideways like that. You can kinda-sorta use its moving map in landscape while driving, if you consider the rotation. I notice that sometimes even that doesn't work. The "car" drives off-screen sometimes. You could try other Apps as mentioned. Beware that this tends to introduce new, unexpected results, where you have to research what went wrong. For example, here's Locus Pro, after I set it up to do street routing. I'm all set. Oh yeah! ...Except that if I'm not driving North, the street names are all upside down: Cool. Anyway, what I've typically done with the Official Geocaching App in landscape mode is start navigation to a cache, at which point I'm dropped into Google Maps which works in landscape mode. It's just for street routing in an unfamiliar area. I have the handheld Garmin GPS also mounted, for the compass pointer to the cache upon arrival. I can't stand "The Apps" which seem to fail in many ways when most needed, nevermind that the display washes out in sunshine, so portrait-only is just one of the many nuisances. If "landscape" gets added, that's fine, but I'm not depending on Geocaching Apps anyway. When you finally get landscape, which introduces a host of new issues such as the street names being upside-down or whatever, it's not much of an improvement. Edited January 11, 2019 by kunarion Quote Link to comment
+Viajero Perdido Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 In the example above, you can avoid the upside-down labels by choosing to stay with north-up display. (It's not landscape that triggers that.) Not perfect, but I live with it. On a tablet, you'll see much more map, and the clutter around the screen edges becomes much less noticeable. Oh, and the navigation will talk to you, and even work on trails. Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Viajero Perdido said: On a tablet, you'll see much more map, and the clutter around the screen edges becomes much less noticeable. If The Official App accounted for the roomier screen, a tablet could be in portrait and yet present more of the map. Well, I guess in the case of tablet-aware App, it would likely work in landscape, too. But I'm wondering about the OP's Jeep mount, as it applies to Android Apps. I have a bunch of Geocaching-related utilities that only work in portrait mode, they're "phone Apps". So if I mount a tablet in my vehicle, it would have to be portrait-mode capable. With my phone, I probably need a vertical mount option. Too many non-landscape Apps. Edited January 11, 2019 by kunarion Quote Link to comment
+Viajero Perdido Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 Hmm. My new tablet has a split-screen feature. Not sure if that's an Android thing (7), or a Samsung thing. Anyway, I just gave it a try. Yep, I've got two portrait-mode apps side-by-side on my landscape tablet. Cool. Now I just have to figure out a use for it. (I tend to use even my tablet in portrait mode.) Quote Link to comment
+kunarion Posted January 11, 2019 Share Posted January 11, 2019 4 hours ago, Viajero Perdido said: Hmm. My new tablet has a split-screen feature. Not sure if that's an Android thing (7), or a Samsung thing. Anyway, I just gave it a try. Yep, I've got two portrait-mode apps side-by-side on my landscape tablet. Cool. Now I just have to figure out a use for it. (I tend to use even my tablet in portrait mode.) Depending on the situation, one half could have the web browser cache page. That might be pretty cool. Quote Link to comment
+Viajero Perdido Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 That could be fun all right. Maybe distracting for the driver. Quote Link to comment
+JohnCNA Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 On 1/11/2019 at 11:13 AM, Viajero Perdido said: My new tablet has a split-screen feature. Not sure if that's an Android thing (7), or a Samsung thing. Anyway, I just gave it a try. Yep, I've got two portrait-mode apps side-by-side on my landscape tablet. You could try Locus set for Guide On to the geocache, with Google Navigate set to the parking coords. I just tried it with my tablet, Locus zoomed out to show the entire distance and Google of course shows zoomed in turn by turn. It's actually rather cool, I think. Quote Link to comment
+Viajero Perdido Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 (edited) It's all pretty cool, what you can pack onto a modern screen, innit? But Locus will do turn-by-turn too, with the well-integrated help of a nav-engine or two. I like BRouter (bike router) for that; it understands bike safety, hill effort, and of course trails. PS, for the above example, After 20 metres, run down the stairs. Edited January 14, 2019 by Viajero Perdido Quote Link to comment
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