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

[+Babsbaby]

For those of us who don't use a phone for caching, is there any hope of getting the pins on the website map?

 

[+Max and 99]

36 minutes ago, Babsbaby said:

For those of us who don't use a phone for caching, is there any hope of getting the pins on the website map?

 

If you don't use a phone for geocaching then you cannot do Adventure Labs. 

[+barefootjeff]

17 minutes ago, Max and 99 said:

If you don't use a phone for geocaching then you cannot do Adventure Labs. 

 

I don't use a phone for geocaching (I have an Oregon 700 for that) but I still have a phone that gets used for ALs. All my caching trips are planned on the desktop computer, with either individual GPX files or PQs uploaded to the Oregon, so it would be handy to at least be able to see at a glance on the geocaching map if there are any ALs nearby. Especially since the maps on the website have a scale but the ones on the apps don't.

Edited May 18, 2021 by barefootjeff

[+Max and 99]

6 minutes ago, barefootjeff said:

I don't use a phone for geocaching (I have an Oregon 700 for that) but I still have a phone that gets used for ALs

ALs are a geocache type. If you don't use a phone you can't find this geocache type. 

 

But I agree that it would be nice to see them on the desktop map. I too plan with that.

[+thebruce0]

2 hours ago, Max and 99 said:

ALs are a geocache type. If you don't use a phone you can't find this geocache type. 

They're not technically a Cache Type. They are independent and distinct from Cache Types.  Traditional/Multi/Virtual/Wherigo/etc are cache types. Adventure Labs are an exception and shown specially where it can make sense to show them. eg, in a list of Cache Types found they can explicitly include the additional count of Lab Caches completed. But they're not, fundamentally, a "Type" of cache.

 

Including them on the desktop map would seem to be to be an enormous special code addition. This is why the mobile app had to have a major update and why ALs are treated differently than other cache types on the map. 

 

But from an end-user perspective, it would certainly make sense and be quite helpful to have some manner of seeing the same Adventure Lab posted coordinates layer on a map on desktop. Even if the only thing you can do with them is view the AL's landing page for information.

[+Max and 99]

[+thebruce0]

Yes, they are included as exceptions, programmatically, in statistics lists. They are technically (that is, programmatically and by data) not a "Cache Type". They have to be explicitly programmed with custom code to be included in statistics - where they share certain attributes (ie, not technically the same).

This is something that is as transparent as can be to the end user,  so generally speaking it's irrelevant on the surface. But there's a difference between a casual 'cache type' - as used say for a label of things you can find or see in some statistics - and Cache Type as in how the data is stored and what properties are available. Adventure Labs are not stored in the same way as Traditional/Multi/Virtual/etc - they are distinctly different. They have been connected in where their existence is relevant.  If they were technically the same as all the other Cache Types, they would have Difficulty, Terrain, Size, Attributes, be able to collect Logs in the same manner, and a whole slew of standard Cache Type properties.

Edited May 18, 2021 by thebruce0

[+barefootjeff]

4 hours ago, thebruce0 said:

Yes, they are included as exceptions, programmatically, in statistics lists. They are technically (that is, programmatically and by data) not a "Cache Type".

 

Yes, they don't have GC codes, can't be included in lists and aren't even listed under Owned Caches even though there's a heading and a count for them on the Profile page. The latest Platform Vision statement said:

Quote

• The Adventure Lab platform includes elements that complement the core geocaching experience but it will continue to be distinct from core geocaching with a limited intersection of features.

 

and with their proposal to open them up to non-geocachers, they are moving further and further away from being a cache type.

[+monsterbox]

On 5/18/2021 at 2:29 PM, Max and 99 said:

If you don't use a phone for geocaching then you cannot do Adventure Labs. 

 

Didn't know that GPSr devices stopped working recently... I'm using my Oregon 750t for geocaching and I also did put every lab cache onto it, too. Helps a lot when walking around, seeing there's an AL, too. And guess what; I'm absolutely able to use the AL app on my phone then, as there's no other option. But still not using any geocaching app... ;)

[+monsterbox]

On 5/18/2021 at 2:44 PM, barefootjeff said:

 

I don't use a phone for geocaching (I have an Oregon 700 for that) but I still have a phone that gets used for ALs. All my caching trips are planned on the desktop computer, with either individual GPX files or PQs uploaded to the Oregon, so it would be handy to at least be able to see at a glance on the geocaching map if there are any ALs nearby. Especially since the maps on the website have a scale but the ones on the apps don't.

 

You might want to use GSAK then. Import your PQs and also import the ALs, there's an extra macro just that for. Then use the Leaflet macro to show all of them on a nice map. Helps me a lot when planning trips.

[+HHL]

38 minutes ago, monsterbox said:

You might want to use GSAK then. Import your PQs and also import the ALs, there's an extra macro just that for. Then use the Leaflet macro to show all of them on a nice map. Helps me a lot when planning trips.

Yes, definitely the most reliable way to plan tours with mixed caches and labs.

 

[+Max and 99]

4 hours ago, monsterbox said:

 

Didn't know that GPSr devices stopped working recently... I'm using my Oregon 750t for geocaching and I also did put every lab cache onto it, too. Helps a lot when walking around, seeing there's an AL, too. And guess what; I'm absolutely able to use the AL app on my phone then, as there's no other option. But still not using any geocaching app...

You cannot complete adventure labs, which are geocaching, without a phone. That was my only point. I didn't mean to imply anything else. 

[+Bitaro]

Adventure Lab icon doesn't appear in the iPhone App if the filter section you adjust the Terrain Level below 5

[+Max and 99]

Adventure Tray

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

Why are the number of ratings and the number of locations switched from the adventure lab app to the geocaching app? It would be nice if they were in the same order.