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Import Adventure Labs into GSAK using the "Import Adventure Labs" macro


HeEr1

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For some time now I have not imported any new labs into GSAK using the macro. Therefore I can no longer export labs to my Garmin via (GPX) export. The "Adventure Labs" mobile phone app is too cumbersome because I don't have unlimited mobile data and, as a stranger in a city, I would have to constantly work with google maps to go through the stations. Can someone give me information on how to get the latest labs loaded onto my garmin as GPX?

 

 
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10 minutes ago, C3GPS said:

Well with the official news that Groundspeak will not be allowing access to individual stages through the API, Adventure Labs have just become less interesting to me. I have no desire to drive back and forth all over town, tripling the miles driven, to do 2 or 3 adventure labs in a new town, rather than being able to plan them all ahead of time. Not to mention putting them into GSAK for statistical purposes just became infinitely more difficult. It was fun while it lasted.

I can plan them all ahead of time and I don't use GSAK. I can look at the map, see where all the stages are, and plan accordingly. 

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disappointing. If Groundspeak are going to deliberately make it harder then perhaps they will need to restrict the lab 'waypoints' to be close to each other. Or lab owners will need to self-select that restriction because once they are not all together then nobody will find them. And when it comes back to walking a trail and having to run multiple apps? Nuts!, Spend all my time on the phone and not looking where I am going? I am outside to look at the outsideness not my phone.  I can't see me running two apps, and so ALs will be largely ignored now. oh well Life goes on. Presume these will go the way of the original 'challenges' - although I really hope the current stats are kept this time and not deleted from profiles when the Adventure Lab concept is fully wound up.

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On 6/28/2021 at 3:26 AM, HeEr1 said:

For some time now I have not imported any new labs into GSAK using the macro. Therefore I can no longer export labs to my Garmin via (GPX) export. The "Adventure Labs" mobile phone app is too cumbersome because I don't have unlimited mobile data and, as a stranger in a city, I would have to constantly work with google maps to go through the stations. Can someone give me information on how to get the latest labs loaded onto my garmin as GPX?

 

 

This is a macro that is very useful.  With its functionality halted by HQ it doesn't work.  I like software that works whomever comes up with it.  Be it HQ or someone else.  At least turn it on till you have something better to replace it with!

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For me it’s not about knowing the question ahead of time - I've never used that feature and had no intention of ever doing so. 
 
It’s about being able to see all Geocaches in an area and where they are in relation to each other, and not having to constantly switch back and forth between apps. It’s also about being able to export the locations into an app which has a decent map so I can actually navigate to the locations when the labs are rural.
 
I really hope Groundspeak reconsider - maybe an API which offers coordinate information and the name of the lab with a link to the lab app - I don't think it needs any more than that.  I am really going to miss not having all the Geocaches in an area on one map.  Constantly switching between two apps to see what is nearby is a real pain!  I know the start point can be incorporated, but that isn't all that helpful - all stages need to be available.
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Another user here who is very disappointed with this decision. I prefer to use a GPSr and don't always think to check my phone just in case there is a lab cache nearby. I have recently done a few labs in towns with three or four series in them and being able to sort out a sensible route was brilliant. I hope that Groundspeak will reconsider. Having access to the information enhances my experience, it doesn't destroy it. 

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This decision by Groundspeak makes the Adventure Labs less interesting again. Before I saved the individual stations on the GPS, it was cruel to play several LABs at the same time - some places had to be visited several times.
With the help of GSAK it was then possible to run an optimal route. Some LABs are designed as Labs by car - now fall off the grid.
It would be nice if the individual LABs with coordinates were visible in GSAK again.
I hope that Groundspeak will reconsider the decision.

Edited by Rhönbussard
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My desire to have the coordinates for lab caches started within a week of the release of the Adventure Lab app due to the diabolical representation of the points on the map of the adventure lab app. Very disappointed 15 yaer geocacher who can't cope with the inprecision of the location having been indoctrinated by 15 years of accuracy implementation within standard geocaching.

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Not only did it make it more practical in loading labs onto my car GPS, It also made it more SAFER. As some one who caches 99% of the time by myself, (so no one to navigate) I could load them and wouldn't even have to look at the app until after I got parked. 

Edited by osubrownsfan
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Groundspeak wet our appetite by making the API available. We spend many hours/days/weeks developing code to access the API in meaningful ways to aid the geocaching community plan their trips and not have to revisit locations already visited, avoiding time wasting, extra expense, additional carbon into the atmosphere, etc.

Then bang! No access to the original API. Shame on you Groundspeak. The very least you can do is to make the lab stage locations and whether or not the adventure needs to be done in sequence within the final (restricted) API.

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This is a big disappointment. First the AL owners were revoked the access to data about visits of AL series. That moment I archived both of my series. Now they took the only mean to effectively join geocaching and playing AL during one trip. If this is the direction Groundspeak wants to drive ALs I'd rather get off. This has nothing to do with service for the users. I am very angry and I seriously think of deleting all my previous Lab visits.

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Aww, this was such a cool thing to be able to do and allowed better planning. I don't need to know the answer beforehand, but having the co-ords really helped. Please reconsider HQ. I understand you like them as separate platforms, so either remove from Geocaching or integrate further.

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Je suis très déçue de cette décision. Je trouvais pratique de pouvoir télécharger les waypoints dans mon GPS.  J'ai une labcache à créer et je vais y penser deux fois avant de le faire.  J'espère que HQ changera d'idée car c'était beaucoup plus facile de planifier une sortie.

 

Très très décevant comme décision !  Groundspeak s'emploie à nous compliquer la vie !

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8 minutes ago, IDILIO49 said:

Again, another wrong decision by someone that is not in the field.
Current info provided by API has no useful information enough.

As I have posted elsewhere in connection with other changes to the website, it is fine to criticize a decision that Geocaching HQ has made.  It is NOT OK to criticize the people making those decisions, particularly by making false accusations that they are not actively outdoors, finding geocaches and playing Adventures.

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I too am very disappointed with Groundspeak's decision.

 

The GSAK macro offered us an eco-responsible approach to Adventure Labs by allowing us to optimize our route plans.

 

To meet the needs of geocachers and for respect for the environment, thank you Groundspeak for finding a solution to this problem as quickly and effectively as possible!

 

Incorporating good environmental practises into geocachers daily activities should be part of all decisions made by Groundspeak.

 

Best regards!

Edited by OusKonNé & Cétyla
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Please let us have a way of getting the lab caches onto our GPSs. 

We'd never managed to do them before someone showed us how to use GSAK to do it for us, it had been too confusing swapping back and forth between GPS and phone.  ALs were something we could do at last, we spent about a month enjoying having ALs and caches on our GPS map together  ... and then suddenly they were gone. 

This feels like a giant step backwards.  :(

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Please Groundspeak reconsider your decision.

 

API access for GSAK does not devalue Adventure Labs in any way - on the contrary.

Adventure Labs offer a wonderful opportunity for sightseeing, especially for visitors of other places or cities.

 

With the possibility to upload the stations to a GPS (please keep in mind: it all started with GPS ! Mobile phones are a nice extension, but there are still many cachers who use GPS devices) you are fulfilling a wish of many geocachers worldwide.

 

Thank you in advance.

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With no longer being able to download Adventure Lab stages in GSAK, I'm having a real issue with doing Adventure Labs in another country (I live close to Canada), where I have to set my phone to 'roaming' and am being charged per megabyte. Before, I could navigate to the different stages with my GPS and only use my phone to enter the answers to the questions. Now I have to use my phone to navigate to each stage! This can run up my international roaming bill considerably.  Also, multiple Adventure labs/stages may overlap each other, which leads to unnecessary back tracking, not to mention missing any regular geocaches that are hidden along the way.

 

I agree that questions do not have to be included in the GSAK macro, just the coords of the stages.  I hope that Groundspeak will change their mind and allow access to GSAK to access adventure lab stages via an API.

 

Thank you.

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Good morning Groundspeak. I respectfully request that you reinstate GSAK's ability to download Adventure Lab stages. While I can multitask in some situations, I really don't want to try and concentrate on two devices (phone & GPS) and control a 2 ton vehicle. Not the safest thing in the world. As others have said, it is nice having  ALL cache types conveniently visible on one device making route planning easier. I'm not a programmer by trade but have done some in the past. I might be naively thinking that it should be fairly simple to not allow the questions to be included with the download. I personally don't gain any advantage having the questions pre-disclosed and I'm not savvy enough to spoof the app into thinking I'm at the AdLab location.

 

Please Goundspeak, let my GSAK Go! Thanks

Edited by 77-Degrees-South
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Groundspeak, please reconsider your decision.

 

API access for GSAK (and other 3rd party applications) will only enhance the Adventure Labs experience.

One of the main issues I have with the official application is that when I am doing one adventure, I have absolutely no idea if I accidentally passes a location for another adventure.

 

This was where GSAK helped me out, gathering information about all the locations in the same way as for multi-caches.

I could then plan my route, but I still had to use the official app to do the adventures.

 

So once again, please reconsider the API access decision.

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Dear HQ,

 

I really liked the idea of the Lab Adventures and am a owner of one. With the aid of GSAK en therefore the API we were able to:

  1. Plan optimal routes, doing multiple caches and lab adventures. When doing these by car, this makes our hobby a little bit more eco-friendly
  2. Do multiple Lab Adventures at the same time that are in the same town or city
  3. Prepare everything in advance, adding in some preparation fun
  4. Upload the stages to our GPS, needing our smartphone only when we need to answer the questions
  5. Last longer with the phone battery

In short, we had a lot of fun with the old API.  Please please, reconsider your decision or make it possible to get the same functionality again.

Without the API, I would consider dropping Lab Adventures as a whole as they are to difficult to manage at the moment.

 

Thanks,

 a premium member (for 10 years now)

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Dear HQ,

 

I rarely post on forums but herewith adding my 'name' to the list of people asking you to please reconsider your blocking of API's for Adventure labs.  Several posts already quite clearly explain our reasoning for them to be re-instated, but let me add one more scenario:

 

Like many of us, I keep a running list of Found Caches w/in GSAK that includes Adventure Lab waypoints -- since you count those as well in your 'total finds" tally... Trouble is, now that you have blocked the API's -- and you do not provide any support for downloading them via yourself -- I must now MANUALLY create individual waypoints in GSAK for each Lab visit, MANUALLY copy/paste names and descriptions, MANUALLY assign them approximate coordinates, and -- yes -- MANUALLY create a log entry for each in order to be recognized as "Finds" and count towards the total... which, again, ultimately adds up to the same tally shown on your website.

 

Please either provide the ability to download "Adventure Lab" found waypoints into a GPX file, or unblock the API's: you just can't have it both ways.  Adventure Labs were fun and a decent alternative to Virtuals (and even include a fail-safe deterrent to any 'couch potatoes' out there since one can only log when in proximity to GZ), but if I cannot properly record them offline then I too will stop pursuing Adventure Labs altogether: just too much MANUAL work involved "post-caching", not worth my time.

 

Thank you,

 

A premium member (for 15 years and counting)

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5 hours ago, Raven said:

Like many of us, I keep a running list of Found Caches w/in GSAK that includes Adventure Lab waypoints -- since you count those as well in your 'total finds" tally... Trouble is, now that you have blocked the API's -- and you do not provide any support for downloading them via yourself -- I must now MANUALLY create individual waypoints in GSAK for each Lab visit, MANUALLY copy/paste names and descriptions, MANUALLY assign them approximate coordinates, and -- yes -- MANUALLY create a log entry for each in order to be recognized as "Finds" and count towards the total... which, again, ultimately adds up to the same tally shown on your website.

I have realized HQ does not intend to integrate AL with "standard" geocaches. To eliminate above mentioned MANUAL steps I decided to stop searching for AL and deleted all (approx. 500) previous found logs from GSAK (in bulk) and on the webpage (MANUALLY one by one with each one to be confirmed). This way I have the same number of founds from GSAK and geocaching web page. And there will be no MANUAL steps to carry out in future.

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I cannot understand, why Groundspeak-HQ is preventing this useful GSAK-macro from being used.
I would accept this decision if the PQ with the found-caches would also include the lab caches.
There ist nothing to add to Raven's statement "Please either provide the ability to download 
"Adventure Lab" found waypoints into a GPX file, or unblock the API's: 
you just can't have it both ways.  .... but if I cannot properly record them offline then I too will stop
pursuing Adventure Labs altogether: just too much MANUAL work involved "post-caching", not worth my time."

However, there are currently no lab caches existing for the found-PQ. This is really not user friendly! 
Say me why, is HQ not able to include found lab-caches in the found-PQ?
Edited by grummelot
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2 hours ago, c-h-b said:

So why does each AL stage count as a found geocache?

How would you introduce the new game to the existing millions of players other way than making it attractive to them (AL easy points)... Who would play ALs if they were completely separated from geocaching?

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8 hours ago, kikonan said:

Who would play ALs if they were completely separated from geocaching?

 

I do, as I've "deleted" all my AL finds from my caching stats. The ALs I've done have taken me to interesting places and, from where I'm currently sitting in COVID lockdown with movement restricted to a 10km radius of home and no unfound caches or ALs in there, I'm looking forward to that far-off day when I'll be able to get out and do some more for no reward other than the joy of getting outside and doing them.

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If you will not allow the API to access AL location data, would it be possible to include ALs in the "My Finds" pocket query?  Or, create some sort of "My AL Finds" query that can be imported into GSAK?

 

I use GSAK for keeping statistics of my finds.  I cannot easily do this anymore.

 

With there no longer being an easy way to import Adventure Labs into GSAK, I will be avoiding them in the future, until this is resolved.

Very frustrated.

 

Web-ling

disgruntled Charter Member

 

 

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Most of the post in this thread are about those that used the macro to plan for the future. I did not use the macro for that. Instead I used it to download those caches that I found. I know I could add them one at a time into GSAK, but the macro made it so much better.

Since Adventure Labs are not included in the My Finds Pocket Query. It would be nice if there was some access to this set of information so that those user that like to track their finds with GSAK can do so, without manually entering every single point. Project-GC has access to this information, not sure why GSAK can't

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5 hours ago, igator210 said:

Since Adventure Labs are not included in the My Finds Pocket Query. It would be nice if there was some access to this set of information so that those user that like to track their finds with GSAK can do so, without manually entering every single point.

 

You mean something like a "Download GPX" option in our Found Lab Caches Webpage?

 

Download GPX Option.jpg

Edited by OusKonNé & Cétyla
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