Why Does GC add the Cache number to Google links?

[+Thot]

Tonight I tried to go to the Google Maps on my phone. 

 

I went to this cache page (I assume any cache will work the same) https://coord.info/GC7HQ4D.

 

Then scrolled down to the Google Maps link and got the following (see capture)

 

When GC sends the coordinates to Google they add the cache number (GC7HQ4D) causing the link to fail.  Why do they do this?

Edited May 30, 2019 by Thot

[niraD]

The "Google Maps" link on that page works for me.

[+Thot]

On your smart phone?

[niraD]

1 hour ago, Thot said:

On your smart phone?

Interesting... On my mobile browser, it doesn't show the links at all. It shows something like this:

 

Quote

Find...

• ...other caches hidden or found by this user
• astrovan
  this was the original ammo box for the cache, however, powers that be (sch security) shot down my locations. so had to make it a micro. eventually the astro van will make its way to the world. untill then.

 

[+noncentric]

What type of phone and browser are you using?

 

I'm not seeing the issue when using the Firefox browser on my Android phone.  I went to the cache page using the Firefox app, clicked on Google Maps, and that opened a new tab in the Firefox app that showed the location on the map.

[+IceColdUK]

3 hours ago, noncentric said:

What type of phone and browser are you using?

 

iPhone + Google Maps app.  I get the same as @Thot.  Been like that for as long as I can remember.  (I’ve got used to removing the GC Code from the coordinates string.)

 

Fyi, same result using both Safari and Chrome browsers.

Edited May 30, 2019 by IceColdUK
Added browser info.

[+Thot]

5 hours ago, noncentric said:

What type of phone and browser are you using?

 

iPhone - Safari - Google Maps

[+noncentric]

11 hours ago, niraD said:

Interesting... On my mobile browser, it doesn't show the links at all. It shows something like this:

 

What you're seeing is what users get when they're not logged in to geocaching.com on the browser app.

[+noncentric]

5 hours ago, Thot said:

iPhone - Safari - Google Maps

Ah, so you're using the Google Maps app - not the webpage.  Now I see it.

 

That's very odd, that clicking on "Google Maps" will open the correct location using the Google Maps website - on both Android and iOS.  But the same link doesn't work on the Google Maps app, on both Android and iOS.

[niraD]

2 hours ago, noncentric said:

What you're seeing is what users get when they're not logged in to geocaching.com on the browser app.

Details, details...

 

Logged in, I get basically the same thing as the OP. (Android Pie, Chrome)

[+hzoi]

As I recall, in the past, Google maps tended to shift to a nearby landmark if one just searched coordinates, but they stayed put if the waypoint was included in the URL.  I don't see that it does this anymore, at least, I couldn't replicate what I remember seeing years ago.

 

If including the name of the waypoint is reducing functionality rather than enhancing it, perhaps it's time for a programming change.

 

Meanwhile, if you change your phone's settings to not automatically associate location links to a particular application, your phone should allow you to choose the application to process that link.  That's how I have my phone set, so that I can open up a map in my browser, or I can choose Waze or even the Deutsche Bahn app, to navigate to a waypoint from the geocaching app.

[+Thot]

3 hours ago, hzoi said:

Meanwhile, if you change your phone's settings to not automatically associate location links to a particular application, your phone should allow you to choose the application to process that link.  That's how I have my phone set, so that I can open up a map in my browser, or I can choose Waze or even the Deutsche Bahn app, to navigate to a waypoint from the geocaching app.

 

I don't follow that.  The link in GC is specifically identified to Google Maps, so I assume it will always go there.

Edited May 31, 2019 by Thot

[+IceColdUK]

25 minutes ago, Thot said:

 

I don't follow that.  The link in GC is specifically identified to Google Maps, so I assume it will always go there.

 

The link is simply a URL pointing to maps.google.com, e.g.

 

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=N 51° 18.702 W 000° 36.887 (GC2QMP7)+

 

You (and I) have chosen - probably without even realising it - to open those links in the iPhone Google Maps app.

 

If you press and hold the Google Maps link on the cache page, then swipe up, you’ll see options to open the link in the browser.  (And the location is then displayed correctly.)

 

 

You can change this default behaviour but, off the top of my head, I can’t remember how...

 

To be honest, I think this is a defect in the Google Maps app.

[+Thot]

3 hours ago, IceColdUK said:

To be honest, I think this is a defect in the Google Maps app.

 

Are you saying you think Google is fetching the GC number and adding it to the link?

Edited May 31, 2019 by Thot

[+Touchstone]

20 minutes ago, Thot said:

Are you saying you think Google is fetching the GC number and adding it to the link?

A better question might be why the same link works fine on a computer, but doesn't on a mobile platform?

 

I agree with ICU.  There's something wonky with the mobile google maps, vs the regular platform.  The same exact link works fine on my computer, but I get a failure on the mobile google maps like you did.  Why would the same link behave differently?

[+IceColdUK]

10 minutes ago, Touchstone said:

35 minutes ago, Thot said:

Are you saying you think Google is fetching the GC number and adding it to the link?

A better question might be why the same link works fine on a computer, but doesn't on a mobile platform?

 

I agree with ICU.  There's something wonky with the mobile google maps, vs the regular platform.  The same exact link works fine on my computer, but I get a failure on the mobile google maps like you did.  Why would the same link behave differently?

 

^ What he said! :-)

[+Thot]

This is a follow on from a Post I made yesterday

 

In an attempt to get Google Maps link on a cache page to work, I uninstalled the Google Maps app, but the link requires it so I reinstalled it.  Now I can't get it to navigate to the cache at all. 

 

Here's a video I made that shows what it does now.  I've removed and reinstalled the app probably 10 times, still the same.

[+kunarion]

I found something maybe not related to adding a "GC Code" to a link, it's a general question of why Google Maps pops up "No Results".  That's what mine did all the time on my iPhone 8, and not just while using Geocaching.com.   I don't know when it started, nor exactly why it sometimes works (yeah, I guess it's a waypoint name or something).

 

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5848879

 

There are the typical responses, wildly all over the place, from "Don't install iCloud" to a complete reset, to everything in between.  Also, vague.  I thought I'd try deleting the "bookmarks and recents in Maps" suggestion, since it makes sense that some link in the history could mess up future links, then started down the rabbit hole of what the "bookmarks and recents" are, and how to delete only the Maps-related ones. 

 

Long story short, I did the simpler thing just now and deleted the Google Maps App which warned me that its data would also be deleted.  Then I restarted the phone (turn off/on).  Now Geocaching is sending me to the Google Maps website from either Chrome or Safari, to an actual map pin, then even the whole route shown, as I would expect, without error.  Except that it's complaining that the Google Maps app isn't on the phone.  I use Waze anyway directly from within the Geocaching App, for voice directions to a cache.  I may try this for a while and see how it goes.  It's nice to not see "no results".

 

[EDIT:  After deleting Google Maps App to clear any faulty "bookmarks and recents" and restarting the iPhone, then installing a fresh Google Maps App, the error returned.  "No results".  So I deleted it again.]

 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by kunarion

[+spotter/g]

if i had to make a guess:

do you have location services turned on for your cell phone? i would just open google maps on your cell phone to see if it can get a fix on where you are.

if that don't work i am out of ideas.

 

[+Touchstone]

Maybe you missed this portion of kunarion’s post:

 

“[EDIT:  After deleting Google Maps App to clear any faulty "bookmarks and recents" and restarting the iPhone, then installing a fresh Google Maps App, the error returned.  "No results".  So I deleted it

again]”

 

just for future reference, starting a duplicate thread is frowned upon and makes the conversation difficult to follow. 

[+kunarion]

17 hours ago, Thot said:

This is a follow on from a Post I made yesterday

 

In an attempt to get Google Maps link on a cache page to work, I uninstalled the Google Maps app, but the link requires it so I reinstalled it.  Now I can't get it to navigate to the cache at all. 

 

Here's a video I made that shows what it does now.  I've removed and reinstalled the app probably 10 times, still the same.

 

Does "Could not determine your location" also happen if you search for a place with only the Google Maps App?  Is Google Maps the only App that shows that? I think you also have Apple "Maps" permanently installed on an iThing, which you could compare.

 

I'm guessing that, as spotter/g says, somehow a service got switched off while you were trying stuff.  There are options and selections all over the place on an iPhone, and some are pretty well hidden.  Or the phone is just in a mode and will clear up if you turn the phone off/on or whatever.  Then it will be back to doing it's "no results" thing. 

 

Here's what I found about "location services":  https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT203080

 

What model of iPhone do you have?  My iPhone 8 got an automatic update to iOS 12.3.1 overnight (cool, that's the first time it ever did that without asking several times first).  If your phone gets an update, go test Google Maps again.  It would have done a soft reset, so maybe the "location" glitch cleared up.

 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by kunarion

[+kunarion]

On ‎5‎/‎30‎/‎2019 at 6:12 AM, IceColdUK said:

Been like that for as long as I can remember.  (I’ve got used to removing the GC Code from the coordinates string.)

 

What is your process?

I long-press the link, "Open In New Tab", and my next step is to start Navigation which asks if I want to use the Google Maps APP, I tap "Use The App" and now it works without error.  I didn't even have to delete a GC code.

 

Anyway, it's a couple extra clicks, so that's probably what I'll do instead of trying to work on that "no results" bug, when I feel the need to navigate using Google Maps.  Maybe the next time I factory restore my phone, I'll try to not let it set up iCloud  (supposedly that is how you fix it).

[Keystone]

I merged together two threads started by the same geocacher about solving the same problem.

[+IceColdUK]

1 hour ago, kunarion said:

What is your process?

 

To be honest, it’s not something I do very often.  I use that link predominantly when I’m on my PC (where there’s no problem).  On the phone, I tend to use the Geocaching app.

[+Thot]

3 hours ago, Touchstone said:

just for future reference, starting a duplicate thread is frowned upon and makes the conversation difficult to follow. 

 

I did it because this problem is entirely different than the subject of the thread it had now been embedded in.

 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by Thot

[+Thot]

6 hours ago, spotter/g said:

 i would just open google maps on your cell phone to see if it can get a fix on where you are.

if that don't work i am out of ideas.

 

It can and does.

[+kunarion]

15 minutes ago, Thot said:

 

It can and does.

 

What happens if you (long-press and) open the "Google Maps" Link in a new tab and follow the page that opens?  I'm getting no errors when I select navigate and allow Google Maps App to open. 

 

But I also don't have the "no location" error.  I'm guessing that some setting became messed up when you deleted or installed something while working on the "No Results" issue.

 

 

Edited June 2, 2019 by kunarion

[+Thot]

I uninstalled & reinstalled Google Maps again and now I'm back to the "No Results" result.

 

But when I try to use IceColdUK suggestion about sweeping up and Opening in a New Tab I get the result in the Video.

 

So, it seems there is no way to get a straightforward link to Google Maps.

Edited June 2, 2019 by Thot

[+Thot]

If there were any way to delete the Apple maps it would eliminate some confusion

[+Thot]

On 5/31/2019 at 11:28 AM, IceColdUK said:

If you press and hold the Google Maps link on the cache page, then swipe up, you’ll see options to open the link in the browser.  (And the location is then displayed correctly.) 

 

 

 

Did you then try to click the "Directions" button?

[+kunarion]

8 minutes ago, Thot said:

 

Did you then try to click the "Directions" button?

 

It's working fine on mine when I try that process. 

 

On a cache page, long-press on the Google Maps link.  Select "Open in New Tab" in the window that pops up.  Switch to that new tab and there's a pin on the (web) map over the cache.  Tap "Directions", tap "Choose starting point",  "Your location", and the route is shown.  Tap "Navigate".  Tap "Use The App".  Street routing by voice ensues.

 

It's actually pretty simple when you try it.

 

This is a work-around for the "no results" error.  I don't know what creates the "no location" error, and I haven't seen that happen on my iPhone.

[+Thot]

When I Tap "Directions" I get the 'Can't determine your location' error shown in my video.

Edited June 2, 2019 by Thot

[+IceColdUK]

3 hours ago, Thot said:

 

Did you then try to click the "Directions" button?

 

I have a new problem now - I’m not getting the Directions button!  (At least, not enough of it to click.)

 

[+Thot]

Interesting, when I "Open in new Tab" the GC.com menu goes away and what I have is this:

 

[+IceColdUK]

8 hours ago, Thot said:

Interesting, when I "Open in new Tab" the GC.com menu goes away and what I have is this:

 

 

My mistake.  The top half of my screenshot is just a preview of what you get if you open the link in the browser.

 

If I open in the browser, all’s well, and if I switch to the app, e.g. for Directions, then again no problems.