Release Notes (Geocaching® app: Adventure pins) - April 12, 2021

[+Geocaching HQ]

Release Notes (Geocaching® app: Adventure pins) - April 12, 2021

 

With this release, Premium members can see Adventures in the Geocaching® app!  Adventures are represented by their own pin type, so they are easily recognizable on the map. Each pin represents an Adventure Lab’s starting location.

 

Adventure pins in the Geocaching® app are available only to Premium members. Basic members can still complete Adventures for free directly in the Adventure Lab® app.

 

For Premium members who have both the Geocaching® and Adventure Lab® apps installed on their mobile device, tapping an Adventure pin in the Geocaching® app will take you directly to the Adventure Lab® app via a deep-link and you can begin exploring.

 

For Premium members who have not yet installed the Adventure Lab® app, your first time interacting with an Adventure pin in the Geocaching® app will prompt you to install the Adventure Lab® app before being deep-linked directly.
 

Adventures on the Geocaching Map

 

 

The Geocaching® app’s filter panel is also updated to include Adventures. You can now search and filter for Adventures just as you would with cache types, or hide them entirely. It’s up to you. As an additional improvement, you now have the option to deselect all / select all cache types and cache sizes in the filters.

 

 

Displaying only Adventures on the Geocaching Map

 

 

We have also made some changes to the tray that is displayed when you tap an Adventure pin. The look and feel are quite similar to the existing Geocaching tray, but with different pieces of information.

 

Adventure Tray

• Total distance
• Number of ratings and average rating, if the Adventure has ratings
• Number of locations for the Adventure
   

 

We are eager to hear your feedback about these new features in the Geocaching® app. For an update about the Adventure Lab® platform, please see this forum thread.

 

Brendan (brendanjw) is watching this thread to answer questions whenever possible.
 
Any posts in this thread should relate to features in this release. Comments unrelated to the release may be removed. Please direct unrelated comments to other appropriate threads. Thanks!

[+Forest-Ghost]

Wow it looks awesome! So excited for this new feature. Thanks for making this possible! I know alot of people have been hoping to be able to see adventures in the app. Thanks Groundspeak!

[+Max and 99]

1 hour ago, Geocaching HQ said:

Adventure Tray

• Total distance

Total distance as in distance from where I am? Or total distance between the locations? It's the "total" part that I'm wondering about. If the distance is just between me and the posted Adventure lab coordinates then it wouldn't be called total it would just be called distance. 

[+barefootjeff]

2 minutes ago, Max and 99 said:

Total distance as in distance from where I am? Or total distance between the locations? It's the "total" part that I'm wondering about. If the distance is just between me and the posted Adventure lab coordinates then it wouldn't be called total it would just be called distance. 

 

It looks like it's the distance from where I currently am.

[+Mineral2]

Thank you for adding Adventure Lab pins to the map in the app. I hope that this will bring awareness to the Adventure Labs and maybe encourage more participation. This also makes it easier for those of us who do enjoy Adventure Labs to engage in both the labs and traditional caching without pre-planning or forgetting about one while engaged with the other.

I hope this feature comes to the website as well.

[+seffnjarah]

Indicating the starting location of an Adventure Lab is only useful where the individual waypoints of the lab are within that vicinity. These new developments still do not help you find individual waypoints in your vicinity which are located some distance from the starting point, nor help locate waypoints in your vicinity that belong to different Adventure labs. I have been to waypoints for one Adventure lab only to find out later that there were waypoints for other Adventure labs located in almost the same spot which I then had to revisit. Not an efficient use of time or resources. 

[+weellu]

Thanks for this great addition to map. Unfortunately, adventure that are in progress does not show on my Android phone. If I have completed some of the locations, the adventure doesn’t show along with other cache types. If I filter only Adventures to the map, then those ”in progress” Adventures show too.  On iOS it works perfectly

[+Max and 99]

25 minutes ago, weellu said:

Thanks for this great addition to map. Unfortunately, adventure that are in progress does not show on my Android phone. If I have completed some of the locations, the adventure doesn’t show along with other cache types. If I filter only Adventures to the map, then those ”in progress” Adventures show too.  On iOS it works perfectly

I suspected you were right but wanted to check for myself on my Android. On my map the partially completed adventures are showing with all other cache types when I have no filters set. 

[+weellu]

Thanks Max99. That is what I also suspected that the problem is not that straightforward. There was a report on a local group that for someone only some of the Adventures shown even all of them being not started. 
 

But here is an example attached how it is for me. 

[+Wizard_Speed_Time]

Thank you!!!!!

At last!

[+ardila.nl]

11 hours ago, Mineral2 said:

I hope this feature comes to the website as well.

 

On both maps. The browse map and the search map. (Because I still prefer the browse map over the search map)

For the GPX file: The same as with the waypoints for a multi cache

[+Thathanka]

Hi @brendanjw. This is long awaited addition - thanks.

Could you share app version number, please?

[+MecanoMusique]

Sadly, it doesn't work on my Android/Samsung. I am premium, I have the latest Geocaching app version + the Adventure Lab app downloaded. Still nothing. It's a great feature that I can't wait to see on the map! Thanks. 

[+simon_cornelus]

1 hour ago, MecanoMusique said:

Sadly, it doesn't work on my Android/Samsung. I am premium, I have the latest Geocaching app version + the Adventure Lab app downloaded. Still nothing. It's a great feature that I can't wait to see on the map! Thanks. 

Have you tried sign out and sign back in?

I didn't see anything at first and now I did after clossing the app and logging back in...

[+MartyBartfast]

28 minutes ago, MecanoMusique said:

Sadly, it doesn't work on my Android/Samsung. I am premium, I have the latest Geocaching app version + the Adventure Lab app downloaded. Still nothing. It's a great feature that I can't wait to see on the map! Thanks. 

That's the correct version, log out and back in again.

 

[brendanjw]

4 hours ago, Thathanka said:

Hi @brendanjw. This is long awaited addition - thanks.

Could you share app version number, please?

Hi @Thathanka . You will need to have a minimum version number of 8.46.0 for this feature.

[+Max and 99]

Adventures take you on a contactless, socially-distant scavenger hunt to unlock fun stories, solve puzzles, and explore new places. From a road trip along the stunning Sea-to-Sky Highway in British Columbia to exploring the Nile River in Egypt to a short walking tour of the murals in your own town, there’s an Adventure for everyone. Plus, new Adventures are added all the time by Premium members like you. 

 

* Not if they're inside a business/restaurant. 

 

you can now seamlessly move between the two for a new, integrated caching experience. 

*I see how I can move from the geocaching app to the adventure lab app but not the AL app to the Geocaching app. 

[+happileigh]

not working for me- I've updated the App, logged in and out, tried on the website, ticked the Adlab filter?

[+Max and 99]

13 minutes ago, happileigh said:

not working for me- I've updated the App, logged in and out, tried on the website, ticked the Adlab filter?

Do you have any other filter set?

[brendanjw]

32 minutes ago, happileigh said:

not working for me- I've updated the App, logged in and out, tried on the website, ticked the Adlab filter?

Hi @happileigh I would like to try to help you out.  Are you using an Android or iOS device?  Can you check what version of the App you are running?  You can find this on the latest versions on both iOS and Android opening the More menu then tapping Version Info.  

[+goldentree]

Same as Max and 99.

Does not work on iPhone SE. Latest version App 8.46.0. Logged out and in again. Set filters for ALC. Not visible on map.

[+goldentree]

Switched off all filters except for ALC and all ALC (not completed) visible only in the near surroundings on map. If all filters are again switched on the ALCs disappear from map.

[+goldentree]

Switched again all filters off and on and now all ALC (not completed) are shown on map. !

[+amber1997]

Does this mean that as individuals, if we are premier members, we can create Adventure labs whenever we want?

[+Chalupa_Dad]

The blog post about it says IOS users need to log out to see the Adventure Lab starting pins, but I had to log out and log back in on Android to get them to show up as well.

 

Just a heads up!

[+Max and 99]

18 minutes ago, Chalupa_Dad said:

The blog post about it says IOS users need to log out to see the Adventure Lab starting pins, but I had to log out and log back in on Android to get them to show up as well.

 

Just a heads up!

That surprised me too.

[+Max and 99]

51 minutes ago, amber1997 said:

Does this mean that as individuals, if we are premier members, we can create Adventure labs whenever we want?

Negative.

[brendanjw]

1 hour ago, amber1997 said:

Does this mean that as individuals, if we are premier members, we can create Adventure labs whenever we want?

Hi @amber1997 Great question, thanks for surfacing it.  To answer your question, no this is not what this feature means.  The same guidelines regarding creation and placement of Adventure Labs® still exist today, they have not changed. This feature is about providing a convenient experience for our Premium Members so that they can see Geocaches and Adventure Labs on one map.

[+Nikkie72]

I was waiting for this functionality!

 

I really would like to see the adventures on may geocaching.com map as well. That is the way I plan my geocaching trips.

Will that be developed as well?

 

 

[+Tomcat06]

Can't see any of the adventure pins. No new version on Google Play available. I am premium. How did others manage to test the new feature?
Tomcat

[+sernikk]

1 hour ago, Tomcat06 said:

Can't see any of the adventure pins. No new version on Google Play available. I am premium. How did others manage to test the new feature?
Tomcat

 

Try to relog inside the app

Edited April 13, 2021 by sernikk

[+Max and 99]

5 hours ago, Tomcat06 said:

Can't see any of the adventure pins. No new version on Google Play available. I am premium. How did others manage to test the new feature?
Tomcat

Just in case this helps... If you completed the Adventure Labs they'll show up in the app as a yellow smiley not an Adventure Lab pin. 

[+CAVinoGal]

22 minutes ago, Max and 99 said:

Just in case this helps... If you completed the Adventure Labs they'll show up in the app as a yellow smiley not an Adventure Lab pin. 

That does help.  And the smilie shows up at the posted first location of the lab, so in some cases that is hidden by other nearby caches, including my own.  It is confusing, though nice to have a different icon on the geocaching map for the AL's.  In areas where I have completed the AL's it's another smilie among many, not distinguished as an AL (or 5 smilies, for that matter).  I thought I wasn't seeing the Ad Lab pins, but I am, in my local area they are hidden by my own hides/finds so it was confusing.  Moving away from my home area, I can see them.

[+Max and 99]

1 minute ago, CAVinoGal said:

That does help.  And the smilie shows up at the posted first location of the lab, so in some cases that is hidden by other nearby caches, including my own.  It is confusing, though nice to have a different icon on the geocaching map for the AL's.  In areas where I have completed the AL's it's another smilie among many, not distinguished as an AL (or 5 smilies, for that matter).  I thought I wasn't seeing the Ad Lab pins, but I am, in my local area they are hidden by my own hides/finds so it was confusing.  Moving away from my home area, I can see them.

I saw that twice today: AL smiley overlapping another geocache icon. 

[+barefootjeff]

1 hour ago, Max and 99 said:

I saw that twice today: AL smiley overlapping another geocache icon. 

 

On my two, and on many of the others I've seen and done, the bogus location of the bonus cache is at the same coordinates as the starting point of the AL. It looks like on ones I don't own and haven't done, the ? of the bonus covers up the AL pin.

[+Merino]

I have read, checked, applied all of the above but still have a problem.

 

I am a Premium Member, I installed the most recent version of the GC app, 8.46.2, on both my tablet, a Samsung running Android 7.0, and my mobile phone, a Xiaomi running Android 10. On both I have the AL app 1.3.1 build 2062 installed. On both I have switched all filters on and off, logged out of the apps and back on again. I even switched the devices off and restarted them, but still nothing shows up, no icons on the map, no Other category in the filters.

 

Does anyone have any sensible suggestion as to what else I could do to get this new feature working?

[+Max and 99]

7 hours ago, Merino said:

no Other category in the filters.

Can you explain? Do you have Adventure Labs filtered to be shown or not? Or do you not see the adventure lab filter?

And you are looking for adventure lab pins that you have not completed, correct?

Edited April 14, 2021 by Max and 99

[+GenHenk]

I understand why you see only the starring point, because effectively it's like a multi. What I don't understand is why each waypoint counts like a separate find. 

Time for a vote? 

[+Merino]

3 hours ago, Max and 99 said:

Can you explain? Do you have Adventure Labs filtered to be shown or not? Or do you not see the adventure lab filter?

And you are looking for adventure lab pins that you have not completed, correct?

 

I have no Other and therefore no options under this entry, so no possibility to pick AL 

And I have looked for AL's that I can see in the AL app and that I have never started.

[+Mineral2]

2 hours ago, GenHenk said:

I understand why you see only the starring point, because effectively it's like a multi. What I don't understand is why each waypoint counts like a separate find. 

Time for a vote? 

That's unrelated to this thread. But historically, lab caches have been associated with mega events and were therefore a cohesive bundle, but each lab was still an individual cache/find. It's still kinda that way, with each bundled adventure appearing once on the map and only showing as complete when all locations have been completed. It's kind of a hybrid between a multi- a virtual, and a Wherigo. Either way, it's best not to compare them to physical geocaches because they are different.

[+Max and 99]

11 hours ago, Merino said:

I have read, checked, applied all of the above but still have a problem.

 

I am a Premium Member, I installed the most recent version of the GC app, 8.46.2, on both my tablet, a Samsung running Android 7.0, and my mobile phone, a Xiaomi running Android 10. On both I have the AL app 1.3.1 build 2062 installed. On both I have switched all filters on and off, logged out of the apps and back on again. I even switched the devices off and restarted them, but still nothing shows up, no icons on the map, no Other category in the filters.

 

Does anyone have any sensible suggestion as to what else I could do to get this new feature working?

Any chance you can include a screenshot of the filter options?

[+Merino]

[+Max and 99]

Strange!

[+Mineral2]

Instead of just logging out of the app, go to the app manager and delete the data associated with the app. Cache and app data. You'll have to log back in, but this may solve the problem. Alternatively, you could uninstall the app and reinstall it.

[+Merino]

Deleting the associated data didn't work, neither clearing cache data, nor 'all' data, the options that Android 10 offers. It was only uninstalling the app and re-installing it that did the trick. That's one poorly programmed app. 

[+Birdie.NL]

Now Groundspeak has to be consequent: only 1 symbol per lab cache is visible, so it should count as only 1 found, despite having up to 10 stages.

 

That is also a way to keep the map as clean as possible, and not overrate every stage of a lab cache.
I do not mind if this means lab caches at Mega Events are not counted, unless you have completed the whole bunch.

Cache quality should count, not mere quantity.

[+Merino]

When you create a AL, you do not mandatorily have to set an order for the usually 5 locations that you can add, you can just leave them to be visited in random order.

If a sequence is set, the first point will be on the GC app map, but how is the location picked for an AL that has no set sequence ?

[+Max and 99]

4 minutes ago, Merino said:

When you create a AL, you do not mandatorily have to set an order for the usually 5 locations that you can add, you can just leave them to be visited in random order.

If a sequence is set, the first point will be on the GC app map, but how is the location picked for an AL that has no set sequence ?

The "Starting Location" does not have to be the same coordinates as one of the locations in the AL. So even if the adventure lab can be done in any sequence, the starting location remains the same. The coordinates for the Starting Point are independent from the five locations. 

[+GeoElmo6000]

It would probably be more useful to have the locations shown on the map than the starting pin.  As @Max and 99 just pointed out, starting pin locations don't necessarily show an actual location.  Also the adventure locations can be anywhere independent of the pin, so just because you don't see a pin in your location doesn't mean there isn't an adventure location there.  In the extreme case where people have adventure locations at great distances from the starting pin, one may never know there's a location nearby.

 

Good start... keep going though!

[+CAVinoGal]

On 4/16/2021 at 7:10 AM, Merino said:

If a sequence is set, the first point will be on the GC app map, but how is the location picked for an AL that has no set sequence ?

 

If you go into the lab builder, and click on Edit, towards the end of the page is this box, and a map:

 

As you can see, you can place it anyhere.  I happened to pick one of the pins on my adventure, which can be done in any order; the pin is about in the center for my locations which comprise about a 10 mile drving or biking loop of wineries in my area.