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First Look: Geocaching 2.0 for iPhone 3G

by Steven Sande Apr 3rd 2009 at 11:30AM

Hey, it's your resident geocaching geek here. I was scoping out iPhone app updates tonight and was pleased to find that Geocaching.com's official application for the iPhone 3G has been updated to version 2.0. In case you're not familiar with the terminology, geocaching is a game/sport/hobby in which participants use a GPS receiver and information on the Geocaching.com website to find hidden containers with logbooks and loot.

When the Geocaching 1.0 launched, a lot of iPhone-carrying cachers were less than thrilled with the app. You still needed to switch to Safari to check out hints and see where local caches were in relation to your coordinates. In addition, the app was slow and the compass pointer was often inaccurate.

It's obvious that the developers from Groundspeak were listening to the criticism, as Geocaching 2.0 (click opens iTunes) has added speed, embedded maps (topo or street) showing the location of nearby caches, and the ability to save caches for offline use. If you don't like the maps, you can view single caches on your choice of Google, Windows Live Search, or Yahoo Maps.

Version 2.0 retains the ability to submit field notes for found caches, which was added in an interim update. The app is $9.99, and well worth the cost if you'd like to try geocaching but don't want to spend money on a dedicated GPS receiver. Be sure to check the app page on the Geocaching site for scads of screen shots.

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Hey, it's your resident geocaching geek here. I was scoping out iPhone app updates tonight and was pleased to find that Geocaching.com's...
 

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Ed

A good upgrade, and it's nice to see OpenStreetMap (which I've been a regular contributor to for ages) is being used. It might encourage more people to get involved with improving OSM, which can only be a good thing!

I'd like to see custom waypoints - for clue-based caches, plus it'd be useful to be able to log your car's position for example, so you don't get lost!

April 04 2009 at 8:47 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Pablo Mac

The Geocaching iPhone App 2.0 truly rocks. The improvement I'm really looking for is the ability to store pocket queries on my iPhone for viewing cache pages when I'm geocaching out of a coverage zone. Yes, I know I can save them individually, but would you rather save one cache page at a time, or 500 in one fell swoop?

Rock On,

 Pablo Mac

April 03 2009 at 6:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
hmart316

I do the same thing. I submit a field note for my cache finds of the day and then when I have the time I go to "My Field Notes" which I have bookmarked in mobile safari and actually post my finds from there. At least on my 3G it seems really fast, although it would be great if it was in the actual app.

I also have the waypoint conversion page bookmarked in mobile safari so I can have that handy for the multistage caches where I need to enter in new coordinates. After entering new coordinates on the waypoint conversion page I can then click on the google maps link it generates and it puts a new location on the googlemaps.app on the iphone.

The new version of this app is awesome! Well worth the price.

hmart316

April 03 2009 at 4:29 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to hmart316's comment
hmart316

DOH!, My comment was in response to the first poster, Brian and TUAWSteve. Oh well.

hmart316

April 03 2009 at 4:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
XLive

I happily paid $9.99 for the Geocaching app and it was well worth it. I've got 750,000 real adventures waiting for me all around the world for $10. In my book, that is a bargain.

I've already deleted the free Gowalla app because it really isn't much fun at all since there is simply no content in my area.

April 03 2009 at 3:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
XLive

The new version of the Geocaching app is incredible! I absolutely love the integrated maps and it has not crashed at all for me.

April 03 2009 at 1:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ian

Well, 1.2 crashed every time I loaded it and I thought I'd thrown $10 down the drain.

Let's hope this update works on my 1st gen iPhone. I have a proper GPS, so I only need this app to identify and log geocaches.

April 03 2009 at 1:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Ian's comment
Jeremy

Unlocked phones had issues with previous versions but it has been verified that it works now with 2.0 (Winterboard was the culprit). Also a simple fix for previous versions is to delete the application and reinstall it. You don't need to re-buy the application.

The contact@geocaching.com address has great support too, so use it if you need help.

April 03 2009 at 2:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ian

Thanks for the tip, Jeremy! Uninstalling and reinstalling made it work.
We're going back on the hunt this weekend.

April 03 2009 at 5:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jon Crawford

Gowalla +1!

Who wants to pay $9.99? Gowalla is free and way more fun!

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=304510106&mt=8

April 03 2009 at 1:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Jon Crawford's comment
Justin

While it is a "similar game", I just don't see GoWalla and geocaching as quite the same thing. Furthermore, geocaching.com already has a whole lot of global caches and a giant community behind it, whereas GoWalla is still in it's infancy. As someone who has already been doing caches via geocaching.com for 3+ years I think I'll stick with it for now. $10 isn't a lot to pay for how much I will get out of the app.

April 03 2009 at 2:49 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
J D Latham

The only thing i ever found in belltown was a used syringe and empty condo conversions.

April 03 2009 at 1:02 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Justin

I've already located 2 caches with this and played around looking at others in my area and areas that I visit regularly. Due to the iPhone 3G's GPS and this app I don't think I'll be using my Garmin Nuvi for geocaching anymore. I also think I'm going to buy and register a Travel Bug, but I have to figure out where it wants to go first. Maybe London...

April 03 2009 at 12:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Specialized

Sweet update! No crashing on my iPhone - didn't even have to restart it. I love this app now and I bought it when it was 2.99! They still need to allow for the maps to be cached on the device.

April 03 2009 at 12:04 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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