Lily Pad Chat

[+Jimrky]

Can't seem to find anything on the Forums regarding this, and nothing since Jeremy did a round of Podcast shows at launch.

• Is anyone using this?

• Results during Events (Mega or Giga)?

• Should I bother?

 

Relevant feedback appreciated.

[+The Leprechauns]

I had an opportunity to use the Lilypad Chat app at GeoWoodstock last month.  With thousands of geocachers milling around, it's hard to find your friends in the crowd.  On multiple occasions, I used the app to pin down the location of friends we wanted to meet up with.  Or, I could also just open the map and see "oh, Jim and Susan are nearby - let's go find them!"

 

I used the messaging feature to create ad hoc groups ("people going on the bike trail with me to find challenge caches") and to monitor the special group chat for the event where people were asking questions and sharing news.  Previously I used Whatsapp for that, but I don't necessarily want everyone knowing my phone number.

 

After that initial experience, I believe that large event caches are one of the best use cases for Lilypad Chat.  I think it will get even better as more geocachers download and use the app.

[+Jimrky]

Thanks! I thought of using it after we got there (GWS XXI), but with no experience I thought it better to sit back.

[+GeoElmo6000]

1 hour ago, The Leprechauns said:

On multiple occasions, I used the app to pin down the location of friends we wanted to meet up with.  Or, I could also just open the map and see "oh, Jim and Susan are nearby - let's go find them!"

 

So, it shows your location to those in your chat group?  That's interesting in a game where most people don't even tell each other their real names.  How does that work?

[RuideAlmeida]

1 hour ago, The Leprechauns said:

...geocachers download and use the app.

 

Only in US?

[+kunarion]

1 hour ago, GeoElmo6000 said:

 

So, it shows your location to those in your chat group?  That's interesting in a game where most people don't even tell each other their real names.  How does that work?

 

There was a Geocaching App that included the mapping portion of that feature. A group was caching through the region, coming to the oldest cache in Georgia, and they asked in this Forum if any locals wished to meet up. I agreed, and used the App to follow their icon, to decide when to arrive at that cache. I then waited in town at a McDonald's, 3 miles away, because I had only wifi. So it was tricky to know exactly when they arrived. But it still worked out. I had to type the username at the time (and they also had to find mine), and everyone selected to "allow" the tracking.  I don't know how The Lily Pad Chat does it.

 

That App sounds like something that would be useful in that case, and would have come in handy at the local Mega as well.

 

I've found the App here:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.Groundspeak.lilypad&hl=en_US&pli=1

 

 

Edited June 18 by kunarion

[+The Leprechauns]

2 hours ago, GeoElmo6000 said:

So, it shows your location to those in your chat group?  That's interesting in a game where most people don't even tell each other their real names.  How does that work?

 

Because the Lilypad chat app connects to my Geocaching account, people only know me as "The Leprechauns" unless I share more information, like "my name's Dave."  I like that.

 

I also like the degree of control I have on how my location is shared.  Here are the options:

• Location sharing turned off, or always turned on, or turned on for a specified period of my choosing, from 5 to 120 minutes
• Share my location with all Users or only with Users selected by me ("My Friends," "Starred Friends" or "My Groups")
• Don't show my location when I'm in zones that I define (for example, I can have a hidden zone around my house, my office, etc.)

I personally felt comfortable sharing my location with defined friends, with a time limit of 60 minutes, by which point we ought to have connected in person.  If they didn't see me, my friends would send a message in the chat feature and then I'd turn on sharing again.

[+The A-Team]

Huh, first I've heard of this. It certainly isn't being advertised by HQ very well.

 

I'm not sure I'm a fan of spending resources on developing a third method of communications, rather than deal with the long list of issues and improvements with the existing geocaching.com systems.

[+The Leprechauns]

Lilypad Chat is a side project led by our old friend Jeremy Irish.  It's in a "soft launch" mode, which began with invitations and then became broader.  Jeremy talked about it in a podcast, so it's not a secret.  I would expect more publicity once any bugs are squashed and the feature set is stabilized.  Seeing the app perform well at GeoWoodstock was a good production test.

[+JL_HSTRE]

This is the first I've heard of this, but I've never followed any geocaching podcasts.

 

While I can see how it's particularly useful at large events I can imagine another way it could be useful. 

 

Let users tag themselves with certain cacher types: hiker, biker, paddler, equestrian, puzzlehead, numbers junkie, stats junkie, handicacher, caches with dog, loves/hates Virtuals/Earthcaches/ALs, etc.

 

Then allow people to search for nearby users of the type(s) they're interested in caching with, and exclude the kinds of cachers they

 

Events are an effective way to meet other cachers, but they're not necessarily an effective way to meet your type of cacher. Especially for geocachers who aren't social butterflies. A chat app could remedy that.