iPad app installs as default app for displaying caches and won't display archived caches.

[+Scouting4Ever]

I've had this problem previously and contacted geocaching.com to get it fixed.  I have a watch set for nearby geocaches that get archived; like to go look to see what they were.  Here are the issues:

 

1. When the geocaching app is installed on an iPad (don't know about iPhone, but probably the same) it becomes the default app for displaying geocaches.  So... I get an email about a geocache (new, archived, owned, ...) and I click on the link.  According to Apple, the default app should be the Safari browser (and you can't change that) but somehow it now opens the geocaching app instead.  This is an annoyance for me if I wanted it to open in the browser so I could view everything I'd normally see on the website.

 

2. When the link is for an archived geocache, it is redirected to the app (see issue #1) and I am informed that the geocache is archived (yeah, I knew that) and it will not display anything else.  This may be a "feature", but I find it annoying.  

 

I've uninstalled and reinstalled the app (that's what Groundspeak eventually told me to do last year) but this time the behavior has not changed.

[+Max and 99]

3 minutes ago, Scouting4Ever said:

I've had this problem previously and contacted geocaching.com to get it fixed.  I have a watch set for nearby geocaches that get archived; like to go look to see what they were.  Here are the issues:

 

1. When the geocaching app is installed on an iPad (don't know about iPhone, but probably the same) it becomes the default app for displaying geocaches.  So... I get an email about a geocache (new, archived, owned, ...) and I click on the link.  According to Apple, the default app should be the Safari browser (and you can't change that) but somehow it now opens the geocaching app instead.  This is an annoyance for me if I wanted it to open in the browser so I could view everything I'd normally see on the website.

 

2. When the link is for an archived geocache, it is redirected to the app (see issue #1) and I am informed that the geocache is archived (yeah, I knew that) and it will not display anything else.  This may be a "feature", but I find it annoying.  

 

I've uninstalled and reinstalled the app (that's what Groundspeak eventually told me to do last year) but this time the behavior has not changed.

There is a point where you can choose whether you view it in the app or the browser. When I get a notification for an archived cache I have to remember to use the browser, not the app.

When you click to open it are you not given

 an option?

[+kunarion]

27 minutes ago, Scouting4Ever said:

I've had this problem previously and contacted geocaching.com to get it fixed.  I have a watch set for nearby geocaches that get archived; like to go look to see what they were.  Here are the issues:

 

1. When the geocaching app is installed on an iPad (don't know about iPhone, but probably the same) it becomes the default app for displaying geocaches.  So... I get an email about a geocache (new, archived, owned, ...) and I click on the link.  According to Apple, the default app should be the Safari browser (and you can't change that) but somehow it now opens the geocaching app instead.  This is an annoyance for me if I wanted it to open in the browser so I could view everything I'd normally see on the website.

 

2. When the link is for an archived geocache, it is redirected to the app (see issue #1) and I am informed that the geocache is archived (yeah, I knew that) and it will not display anything else.  This may be a "feature", but I find it annoying.  

 

I've uninstalled and reinstalled the app (that's what Groundspeak eventually told me to do last year) but this time the behavior has not changed.

On my iPhone 8s, I’ve been able to long-press that link and choose between App and Safari.  The setting then stays until something gets updated.  See if that works for you.

 

But displaying archived caches in the App, nope.  Try the web site, or an App that uses a GPX file, or type the cache coordinates into an App.

 

Edited March 23, 2021 by kunarion

[+Scouting4Ever]

Pressing on the link opens it in the default app... the Geocaching app.  Long pressing is slightly better.  I'm given four options:

• Open Link (shows the Safari icon but opens in the Geocaching app.)
• Add to Reading List (this sort of works... then I have to switch to Safari and view it)
• Copy Link
• Share...

I do view archived caches in web browsers... but have to get there first.  I get the notifications in e-mail.  The default "click and I'm in the app" is annoying when it tells me the cache is archived (yeah, I already know that) and then won't display anything.  The app doesn't even give you the option to open it in a browser.  It could do either (display details or offer to open it in a browser) but it doesn't.  It is kind of a dead end.

 

As I mentioned initially, the app used to have this behavior.  Last year I contacted Groundspeak and something got fixed.  It no longer defaulted to the app.  Now it is doing it again.  Oh well...

 

FWIW- I'm a recently retired software developer.  Simple programming issues with software kind of bothers me.  I keep asking myself, why did the developer do that?

[+kunarion]

3 minutes ago, Scouting4Ever said:

Pressing on the link opens it in the default app... the Geocaching app.  Long pressing is slightly better.  I'm given four options:

• Open Link (shows the Safari icon but opens in the Geocaching app.)
• Add to Reading List (this sort of works... then I have to switch to Safari and view it)
• Copy Link
• Share...

I do view archived caches in web browsers... but have to get there first.  I get the notifications in e-mail.  The default "click and I'm in the app" is annoying when it tells me the cache is archived (yeah, I already know that) and then won't display anything.  The app doesn't even give you the option to open it in a browser.  It could do either (display details or offer to open it in a browser) but it doesn't.  It is kind of a dead end.

 

As I mentioned initially, the app used to have this behavior.  Last year I contacted Groundspeak and something got fixed.  It no longer defaulted to the app.  Now it is doing it again.  Oh well...

 

FWIW- I'm a recently retired software developer.  Simple programming issues with software kind of bothers me.  I keep asking myself, why did the developer do that?

Is that in the latest iOS 14.4.1?  I’ve always had both Safari and Geocaching available with a long press on my phone, and the chosen setting remains.  I will test it on my iPad, but it’s the old Retina (4th generation?) and isn’t updated.

 

Yeah, I kind of wish I could select my 3rd-party browser instead...

[+Scouting4Ever]

Yes, I am currently running 14.4.1.  It is a 5th generation iPad.

[+kunarion]

1 hour ago, Scouting4Ever said:

Yes, I am currently running 14.4.1.  It is a 5th generation iPad.

 

This may not help you, because I'm running an iPad 4, iOS 10.3.3, and the newest version of Geocaching I'm able to load is 8.7.0.  None of that gets updated anymore.  I never did any Geocaching from the iPad because it was too awkward outdoors, and wifi-only, it also required an external GPS device.

 

But I'm getting something different than you do after a long-press on an emailed cache link.  When I select "Open", Safari opens!

I poked around on my iPad for a little bit, but I don't see a way to change it as you might on an iPhone.  So how I got "Safari" as a default, I can't say.  If it's some kind of trick I did a while ago, I'm bound to remember it!  Sure.  

 

What happens if you FIRST delete The App, then go back to the email and select "Open"... because Safari must open in that case, right? ...and THEN you reinstall The App? 

I don't know if that would change anything.  Just thinking out loud.

 

 

Edited March 24, 2021 by kunarion

[+Scouting4Ever]

10 minutes ago, kunarion said:

 

This may not help you, because I'm running an iPad 4, iOS 10.3.3, and the newest version of Geocaching I'm able to load is 8.7.0.  None of that gets updated anymore.  I never did any Geocaching from the iPad because it was too awkward outdoors, and wifi-only, it also required an external GPS device.

 

But I'm getting something different than you do after a long-press on an emailed cache link.  When I select "Open", Safari opens!

I poked around on my iPad for a little bit, but I don't see a way to change it as you might on an iPhone.  So how I got "Safari" as a default, I can't say.  If it's some kind of trick I did a while ago, I'm bound to remember it!  Sure.  

 

What happens if you FIRST delete The App, then go back to the email and select "Open"... because Safari must open in that case, right? ...and THEN you reinstall The App? 

I don't know if that would change anything.  Just thinking out loud.

 

 

 

Well... this just keeps getting more interesting. 

 

Here's what I expected:  delete Geocaching app, click on a link -> Safari (Apple's default browser) or long click on a link and select "open link" -> Safari.

Here's what happened: delete Geocaching app, click on a link -> Firefox (?) or long click on a link and select "open link" -> Safari.

 

Reinstall Geocaching app, click on a link -> Geocaching app (groan).

 

I remember searching through all the Apple information for iPad last year when trying to fix this problem and never found a way to change the default browser.  I seem to recall finding information saying you couldn't change the default browser.

[+kunarion]

7 minutes ago, Scouting4Ever said:

 

Well... this just keeps getting more interesting. 

 

Here's what I expected:  delete Geocaching app, click on a link -> Safari (Apple's default browser) or long click on a link and select "open link" -> Safari.

Here's what happened: delete Geocaching app, click on a link -> Firefox (?) or long click on a link and select "open link" -> Safari.

 

Reinstall Geocaching app, click on a link -> Geocaching app (groan).

 

I remember searching through all the Apple information for iPad last year when trying to fix this problem and never found a way to change the default browser.  I seem to recall finding information saying you couldn't change the default browser.

 

I found my old post where I experimented with this.  I was using a different App ("Looking For Cache") for this experiment.  Look at the 6th post down in this thread:  https://forums.geocaching.com/GC/index.php?/topic/343416-open-geocachingcom-site-and-not-the-app/#elControls_5646749_menu

 

 

The posts about first starting the Geocaching App and then opening Safari from The App aren't the answer, for reasons you already mentioned.  But maybe you can find something useful in my rambling post over there.  Ever since, my iPad always opens Safari from a Geocaching notification email link.  Also note, I have no idea how to switch it back.  Which I won't try to do, but it may be a concern for some people. 

[+Scouting4Ever]

14 hours ago, kunarion said:

 

I found my old post where I experimented with this.  I was using a different App ("Looking For Cache") for this experiment.  Look at the 6th post down in this thread:  https://forums.geocaching.com/GC/index.php?/topic/343416-open-geocachingcom-site-and-not-the-app/#elControls_5646749_menu

 

 

The posts about first starting the Geocaching App and then opening Safari from The App aren't the answer, for reasons you already mentioned.  But maybe you can find something useful in my rambling post over there.  Ever since, my iPad always opens Safari from a Geocaching notification email link.  Also note, I have no idea how to switch it back.  Which I won't try to do, but it may be a concern for some people. 

Still trying things... but have been unable to get Safari (or any other browser) to be the default when opening geocaching links from e-mail (I'm using Outlook).  

 

Options available when using the long-press include:

1. Add to Reading List (then switch to Safari later to view)

2. Share... / select Firefox (note that Safari isn't an option) / then Open in Firefox (yes, it is a 2-step process)

 

If opening in a browser (e.g., Firefox), the long-press also provides two more options that are not available when I'm in Outlook.  They work as expected:

3. Open in New Tab

4. Open in New Private Tab

 

Now here's another twist on my iPad.  I do a google search for a geocache (using Firefox, but same behavior with Safari and Chrome).  I click on the result and.... it opens the cache page in the browser's current tab.  Now that's how it is supposed to work!