GeoCache
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This is a simple GeoCache utility for all models of the Instinct – (m800 owners should read the post). Get up, get out and GeoCache some!!!
Price: $1.99 One Time FeeVisit geocaching.com for information on the sport of geocaching, create a free account to locate geocaches in your area.
For a more robust app, please see our GeoCachePro app. If you buy or have purchased this app – you can also buy GeoCachePro for $1.99 – so you get both apps for $3.98 and save a penny.
This app allows you to input the lat/lon coordinates of the geocache and then provides you with a compass heading (Azimuth To) and distance from your current GPS location to that cache.
As you are moving towards the cache, your speed and direction are also shown. There is a static map showing the location of the geocache, but no route or turn by turn directions are provided.
ATTN: Instinct m800 owners: This app works fine on the Instinct m800 – some are just more finicky about it than others.
Sometimes it helps to load the built-in Navigation app first before starting this app – Tap Main | Navigation | Maps & Traffic – let it acquire your location, then tap the Home key at the bottom, then load GeoCache. Sometimes, removing the battery for 10-15 seconds will help. Many m800 owners have issues at first, but find the app will start working and once it does, it seems to be fine.
I’m always open to suggestions for improvement.
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Rawge
wrote on
Aug-24-2009
at 4:52 pm
Thanks for the update! Everything worked great. It was easy to input data and the change to show feet once you get close was really nice. The best change was the addition of the compass graphic. That makes it pretty easy…point the phone north and go XX feet in the direction of the needle. That should get you close enough to start searching visually
This is a very useable program and should appeal to anyone that wants to check out geo-cashing.
Dallas1701D
wrote on
Sep-17-2009
at 4:19 pm
Seems like a great app, but I have the original Instinct M800, and even with the new update, and following the posted directions about loading the Nav app first, I still can’t get the GPS to acquire anything. Seems like the nav app is closing and not minimizing like I was expecting it to. Is there some sort of setting I need to have chosen that I am not aware of, or am I just misinterpreting the instructions? Run Nav-get GPS-hit Home-run GeoCache….right?
admin
wrote on
Sep-17-2009
at 4:35 pm
the only other things i can think of –
1) be sure you have the MR-7 update from Sprint installed
2) be sure that under Main | Settings | General – that Location is On (blue)
some times it may help to power cycle the phone before doing the Nav app
and in the Nav app – hit Maps & Directions and let it acquire your signal before leaving
admin
wrote on
Aug-25-2009
at 10:02 am
thanks – here’s a list of things I am thinking about for this app – I’ll post them here for any comments
1. ability to enter/track multiple caches – this would entail a screen to setup a cache with a name, lat/lon, date added, date of last attempt, date of finding it – maybe a small notes field (I’m limited to 250 chars) – then the main screen would be a list of caches that you have setup, you pick one to get the screen we now see.
If you have used my Weather app then you can see where I am going.
2. change compass graphics to a button so you can press it to get a larger version of it.
3. fine tune the ‘distance to’ field to be yards when under 1000 feet, and then feet when under 100 feet. So when the distance drops to 999 feet, it would display as 333 yards and change to feet when you get within 99 feet.
I’m sure there is more that could be added to this – I am open to suggestions.
fishingtexas81
wrote on
Aug-23-2009
at 7:08 am
Any chance of being able to get a version of this application for the original Instinct?
admin
wrote on
Aug-23-2009
at 10:36 am
I can tell you that the MR-6 update opened up the location API, but it still didn’t work on the m800. I just hope when they re-release the update, they get that working.
admin
wrote on
Aug-23-2009
at 10:35 am
hopefully – we’re waiting on Sprint to update the m800 phone – once they do, I will test it to be sure it works and modify the listing accordingly.
Rawge
wrote on
Aug-19-2009
at 3:44 pm
Thanks for the update! The app appears to be working. It still does not always aquire a signal, but when it wouldn’t, I also tried my built-in navagation program and it didn’t connect either. So my guess is that it is related to the sattelites or to the phone and not related to the app.
With the update I was able to input the lat/lon coordinates without a problem and the status indicators are very nice.
Now that it is working, how do I locate the target? Your decscription mentions following a compass heading. Where is that? Is it the “azimuth to” field?
admin
wrote on
Aug-19-2009
at 7:46 pm
I should clarify that really – this all started out to be a compass app. When I discovered that orientation was not supported, I started thinking about what the app could do. I’ve been familiar with geocaching for years but never tried it – reading about the sport, and writing this app – then testing this app has now got me re-interested in geocaching.
admin
wrote on
Aug-19-2009
at 4:06 pm
Yes – I may have used a poor choice of words there – that is the wording in the Java documentation for the Location API – “Azimuth To”, described as “the azimuth relative to true North between the origin and destination points specified”
You and your phone are the origin, the GeoCache lat/lon is the destination – if you had a compass in your hand, you could set it to the azimuth given and go the miles as indicated in the Distance field and you would be at the GeoCache – or close to it – keep in mind the H/V Accuracy (in meters) as reported farther up on the screen.
For example, a Azimuth To: reading of 83.7731 with a Distance of 7.027 miles mean that the geocache is located at 83.7 degrees (relative to true North) – so almost due East from where you are at a distance of just over 7 miles.
Also on that screen under the “My Current Coordinates” heading are values for Direction and Speed – these are calculated by the phone and just reported by this app – and they seem to only change when you are moving. I do not know for sure but surmise the phone is using a similar calculation for origin/destination based on some set of previous/current readings.
All these values update every 3 seconds assuming a new valid GPS was acquired, so as you move towards the cache, the distance should get smaller – the Azimuth will vary some since we can’t travel “as the crow flies” so to speak.
Rawge
wrote on
Aug-19-2009
at 6:31 pm
Thanks for the information.
It seems that to really be usuable, it would need an on-screen compas that indicates direction to the terget. It would be tough to translate degrees from north into a compas direction repeatedly and on-the-fly.
Is there any possibility of adding a compass?
admin
wrote on
Aug-20-2009
at 1:10 pm
your movement doesn’t really affect the “azimuth to” value drastically – the farther away you are, the less impact your movement has on the readings.
At 10 miles from the cache – you would have to move a couple of miles on a 90 degree tangent to affect the “azimuth to” reading by few degrees.
If you are real close to the cache, then your movement will have more impact.
admin
wrote on
Aug-19-2009
at 6:51 pm
that’s not really possible in the sense that the actual “direction” the phone is facing is only available if you are moving – and even then it’s not truly the way the phone is facing so much as relative to the last position that the GPS recorded.
Sprint’s implementation of JSR-179 (the location API) does not support “orientation” on the Instinct S30 – maybe on the HD but we won’t know until it comes out and I can test it.
Had Sprint supported “orientation”, a compass would be possible and already done – both as a separate app and as part of this app.
As for being usable, I’ve found 3 different caches in my area using this app – I’d recommend giving it a try and see.
Rawge
wrote on
Aug-20-2009
at 11:51 pm
I wasn’t thinking about a true compass, but rather a graphical representation of the azimuth to reading. It would just be having the phone do the same math that the user will do in taking the degrees from north and converting it to a compass direction. I guess I just can’t easily think in terms of degrees from north. It would be nice to see a needle pointing in a direction.
Again, I wanted to say thanks for the updates. The app now loads quickly, aquires the gps signal and the coordinates can be entered easily. I am going to play around with locating some caches this weekend.
Rawge
wrote on
Aug-18-2009
at 7:08 pm
I thought I would try this out, but I never got the app to work. It never manages to aquire my GPS position. When I change the Geocache coordinates and exit the input screen, the new coordinates never appear at the main screen.
Any ideas?
admin
wrote on
Aug-18-2009
at 7:43 pm
The first acquisition is the hardest and the longest – I’ve waited anywhere from 15 seconds to 15 minutes. You might try power cycling the phone and/or pull the battery for 10-15 seconds – sometimes that works, sometimes not. usually when it doesn’t work, the built in Navigation app won’t acquire a signal either. The screen updates every 3 seconds once your GPS is acquired, until then, those fields won’t update – I can correct that in the next update.
caduceusmedic
wrote on
Aug-18-2009
at 9:33 pm
I can’t get the app to work either. I can’t input the longitudinals and I can’t get it to acquire my gps.
admin
wrote on
Aug-18-2009
at 9:55 pm
Would both of you please look and see what software version your phone has? perhaps that’s the difference – mine is CE19 – goto Settings | General | Phone Information – in the Version area, the last for characters on the SW: line
Rawge
wrote on
Aug-18-2009
at 10:37 pm
My version is CB26.
I’ve tried several times for the aquisition, allowing over 30 mins and still nothing. I just reset it by removing the battary for 15 secs, but still nothing. Is there an indicator on the main screen to indicate that it is working to aquire coordinates?
admin
wrote on
Aug-21-2009
at 9:53 am
I’ve got some other things I want to add/change anyway, so let me see what I can do with that idea – give me a couple or three days. I think there is room on the screen to get a small version in there. As long as we all understand that it won’t point in the right direction in relation to how the phone is oriented – it will be like most maps are viewed – North is always on top – if you point the top of the phone North, then you could go in the direction of the compass.
admin
wrote on
Aug-19-2009
at 10:37 am
That indicates that it’s probably not an issue with the firmware version.
admin
wrote on
Aug-18-2009
at 11:29 pm
ok, I will issue an update in the morning to correct this and to update the geocache coordinates even if the local GPS has not been acquired.
Rawge
wrote on
Aug-18-2009
at 11:19 pm
I just tried again, and it grabbed a signal
Now I have a problem that when I enter the Lat/Long coordinates, the lat works fine, but the Lon opens my phone dialer pad, so I can not get a – (minus) or a decimal.
admin
wrote on
Aug-18-2009
at 11:02 pm
that may very well be the issue here. CE19 was the S30 MR-6 update – I grabbed it when it was available, then Sprint pulled the update. Oddly enough, the m800 does not work even with MR-6. I just started the app on my phone – took almost 5 mins to grab the GPS, after which the screen updates every 3 seconds as designed.