Lack of updates update

Sorry for the lack of updates, but in reality, other than minor bugfixes in most apps there’s not really anything newsworthy of late!!

I’m not really in to posing about point releases for apps, what’s the point as on Android it’s normally automatically updated on your devices anyway!!

Have we already peaked?

Is there a new app around the corner that’ll blow our minds??

I hope so, it’s getting a bit boring on the app front of late!

September 27, 2012 · Craig · Comments Closed
Posted in: Uncategorized

a:Drake

a:Drake is an android Geocaching app that somehow I’ve overlooked until today.

On a whim I decided to download it an have a look, and have to report that it’s pretty good!

It suports both offline importing of geocaches via GPX and also has GC Live access too so you can grab  Groundspeak caches if that’s your thing.

 

The app appears to be under active development and already boasts some nifty features including cache proximity alerts! (something a lot of apps seem to lack, but something I really like as I’m not organised enough usually when I go out for a spot of caching!)

It has a few quirks, such as by default it will use the live API cache details rather than it’s own database (quickly fixed in the settings) and also its map display seems to load tiles at too high a resolution for the zoom level you are at (making loading slower than it should be and har to read any text on the map). The app supports several map sources which is a nice touch.

The map interface is a little cluttered and tapping on a single cache icon in the map view does not bring up that caches detail as you would instinctively think it would but a long press on the map brings up a list of the nearby caches for you to select.

a:Drake makes use of an action bar at the bottom of the screen that takes a little while to get used to.  I think some of the items need to be re-ordered as usually I like to read previous logs for a cache as I look for it, and this is right over the right if the action bar past items I don’t really need , rather than being more to the left near the cache listing and details icons. Minor stuff, but can be annoying.

Its filtering of caches for searching is exceptional, nearly all facets of a cache (size, type, rating, difficulty and more) can be filtered out, leaving you only with the tasty caches!

Selecting a cache from the Search also then has it appear on the Main Screen in the centre for quick call-up to read the listing again or to navigate to the cache.

a:Drake also seems to work ok with non-Groundspeak caches too which we see as a major plus

The best thing about this app:  It’s free and worth a look.

a:Drake is available from the Google Play Market.

Version Reviewed: 1.10

Requires Android 2.1 or up

 

April 27, 2012 · Craig · One Comment
Tags: ,  · Posted in: Apps

CacheSense 2.0 – looking good!

Just a quick post to highlight the upgraded CacheSense 2.0

There’s been quite a reworking of the user interface to better integrate with the Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)  interface and to me it seems to be more intuitive to navigate and use.

I’m having a few issues with the maps and viewing non-gc based cache listings, but that aside it’s a great update!

Have a look at the screenshots!

April 22, 2012 · Craig · Comments Closed
Posted in: Apps, Updates

ITATN Android App

I have noticed that over at the It’s Not About the Numbers blog that they now have an Android app to keep track of all things INATN-ish

See their release notice here

 

 

April 15, 2012 · Craig · Comments Closed
Tags: , ,  · Posted in: Apps, News

Google Earth Mobile now supporting KML feeds

Google Employee and creator of GPS Babel, Robert Lipe today alerted to his followers on Google Plus about this wonderful news!:

(from the Official Google Blog post by product manager Peter Birch):

One of the most powerful features of Google Earth is the ability to view custom maps or overlays, which are also commonly known as KML files. Ever since we introduced Google Earth on mobile devices, users have requested support for custom content. Today, we are proud to announce Google Earth 6.2 for Android and iOS, which includes support for KMLs. Now anywhere you find a “Google Earth file” (KML file) while you’re browsing the mobile web, just click on the link and the Google Earth app will automatically launch and load the custom map.

This is great news. Finally we can get those live feeds from our favorite caching sites in to the Google Earth app!

The downside is you cannot SAVE a link yet, to quote Robert “We did some experimentation in that area but weren’t happy with the experience. We know it needs to be done.” so hopefully it’ll be there in a future release!

It works just fine with the geocaching.com feed if you are a Premium Member (go to http:// geocaching.com/my ) and Geocaching Australia’s feed (click the G.Earth Icon on the main page)

To ‘save’ the links, what I did was bookmark the KML link in my browser, then place a Bookmark widget on my screen using that bookmarked location, so now all I have to do to launch this feed is tap the icon on my phone and it opened up G.Earth and uses that feed.

Brilliant stuff!

Here’s a sample:

Geocaching Australia Feed in Google Earth Mobile

Geocaching Australia Feed in Google Earth Mobile

March 15, 2012 · Craig · Comments Closed
Tags: , ,  · Posted in: Apps

CacheSense for Android

I first heard of this app over at the great It’s Not About The Numbers blog when Cumbyrocks kept on mentioning how good this caching app was on his Blackberry.

I though he might of exaggerated a little about how good it is, but now CacheSense is available on Android I have to say he’s right.  It is terrific!

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January 29, 2012 · Craig · Comments Closed
Tags: , , ,  · Posted in: Apps

Site Specific Apps: ‘GA Cacher’ (beta) by MTRAX

GA Cacher is an app written by Australian geocacher Paul Wilson (caching name mtrax). GA Cacher currently is focussed on delivering live geocache data from the Geocaching Australia listing site.

While currently technically in Beta, it delivers pretty well all you need when hunting a GCA cache.

Although this app is not officially supported by the site, I can confirm that the site developers LOVE and endorse this app wholeheartedly!

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December 11, 2011 · Craig · Comments Closed
Tags: , , , , , , , ,  · Posted in: Apps

Upcoming feature: Site specific caching apps

You may or may not have noticed, but we’ve been VERY deliberately avoiding  reviewing site specific caching apps, both official and unofficial.

This is partly because we like to encourace caching for all, and I’m TRYING to remain reasonably impartial with my reviews. (For those who don’t know, I actually co-develop for a listing site and find it hard to recommend non-free apps that only work in one place!)

I think the time has come for me to review the offerings of Garmin’s opencaching.com, Groundspeak’s geocaching.com, mtrax’s GA Cacher and the Opencaching Network’s ‘Opencaching for Android’ apps

Stay tuned over the next few weeks for a write up on these apps.

Feel free to leave your thoughts about these apps in the comments section of this post too!

December 7, 2011 · Craig · Comments Closed
Posted in: Updates

Opencaching Network now has their own Android App

I’m slightly late to the party on this one, but it appears that the Opencaching Network now has a dedicated caching app that will eventually work with all OC nodes!

Currently supported sites:
- opencaching.pl
- opencaching.us
- opencaching.org.uk

I’ll try to get a review copy (can’t install it form the market because it doesn’t like my country!!)

(Images taken from the Android Market)

Till then, those who can, can get it from here.

December 7, 2011 · Craig · Comments Closed
Posted in: Apps, News

Locus & Geocaching, a perfect match???

A great app for Android that is VERY complimentary to Geocaching is Locus.

It is an excellent mapping tool with geocaching capabilities.

The following is a bit of a tutorial on how to use it as part of your geocaching arsenal.

We are looking at this on a Tablet, but Locus runs just as well on a mobile phone, just with a bit less screen real estate!

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November 19, 2011 · Craig · Comments Closed
Posted in: Apps, HowTo