Apps Geocaching

[TrCeaAstTer]

Hey! I guess i'll be the first! I cannot wait! But i was thinking, i love geocaching and i know these phones will be GPS equipped and i also know that android developers have already acknowledged the idea of caching programs but wouldn't it be spectacular if there was an integration with the geocaching.com website where it would automatically DL the cache pages and set them up for you! Save everyone an extra pocket! Anyway i love the buddy finder and social apps involving GPS!

 

[CaseyB]

That's the next app I am going to work on! I am going to have it contact the geocaching website and download the caches in your area and show them on the map. You will be able to click on the cache icon and it will display the cache page and then you can navigate to that cache and it will show a typical GPS screen! I have already started, but I'm doing it in my free time so progress is a little slow.

 

[CaseyB]

I worked on this over the weekend and made some good progress. I haven't gotten permission to connect directly to the Geocaching server, so I added the ability to load in pocket queries. These are queries that are done at the site and then saved to your computer so you can upload them to your gps. It shows the geocaches on the map and when you click on them it gives you the option of seeing the cache page or navigating to the cache. Both of these work though I am not 100% sure about the navigation option since I don't have real hardware to test it on. Anyway, here are some screenies so you can see how it's looking.

 

[CaseyB]

 

[grlindsay]

Looks great! Can't wait to give it a try!

 

[sleebus.jones]

Man, nice work! Geocaching + G1 = <3

 

[ryaninc]

VERY excited about this program! Since the G1 has both GPS and a real compass, Geocaching would totally rock on it. Here's hoping the program is released sooner rather than later!

 

[RyeBrye]

Any more words on the development of this?

Are you planning to open source this and host it somewhere like google code? I wouldn't mind helping out a bit to add in some functionality that I'd like...

I was planning to write my own from scratch - but it looks like you've done a bunch of work so far anyway - so maybe if I just tag along and add some other stuff that would be cool.

http://nerd.grablr.com/283799

I think adding in the ability to use something like the RADAR intent would be kind of cool.

Ryan

 

[SnoWake]

This looks very promising, indeed. While I can't offer any coding skills - I'm a competent tester who's good at documenting use cases and results.

 

[ryaninc]

Any word on the progress of this app? I realize that software development takes time...I'm just really excited about it. And, as SnoWake said, I would be very honored if you allowed us to help beta test it for you before a final release. Definitely looking forward to it!

 

[Tyrell]

That's the next app I am going to work on! I am going to have it contact the geocaching website and download the caches in your area and show them on the map. You will be able to click on the cache icon and it will display the cache page and then you can navigate to that cache and it will show a typical GPS screen! I have already started, but I'm doing it in my free time so progress is a little slow.

Looking forward to it. Lots of possibilities with the G1 so a basic app that works well but has room to grow is a good approach.

Real-time access to Groundspeak's data is probably out of the question (they generally don't allow it) so preloaded pocket queries plus real-time links to maps and cache pages will have to do. The challenge with queries is designing a searchable database that can handle thousands of caches with frequent updates and provides for creating waypoints, projections and notes.

I've used CacheMate and GeoNiche on the Palm OS with an attached GPS receiver. These apps show some of the functionality that is needed. I'm sure Android can do a much better job of it eventually. Good luck and good coding!

 

[RyeBrye]

Tired of waiting, I decided to start building one today.

I have it parsing the entire GPX format now, and I think I'm going to build an app that will let you load up pocket-query files and then have it display them either on a map view of in a list view where you can select based on criteria on the phone itself...

(i.e. you are out on the road and you want to traditional caches that are a 2 or lower in difficulty, and within 3 miles of where you are - and pull up the whole cache description etc)

The pocket queries are not huge files - and they include everything that you want to know about the cache (and then some) - so avoiding having to hit the network (which, on edge, really sucks) would make the app much more responsive.

I've still got a lot of work on it - so you might still beat me to the punch. I was out and about doing some basic geocaching using the GeoBrowse app - and the speed of the EDGE network in my area made me want to poke my eyes out - so I think relying on a pre-fetched pocketquery file would be smart - especially since it has everything that you would see on the cache page in the pocket query any way.

I'll probably store all the stuff from the gpx into a sqllite database to make it fast to retrieve stuff and do queries - in particular stuff like sorting the list of them to show caches that are closest to where you are... etc.

 

[RyeBrye]

Real-time access to Groundspeak's data is probably out of the question (they generally don't allow it) so preloaded pocket queries plus real-time links to maps and cache pages will have to do. The challenge with queries is designing a searchable database that can handle thousands of caches with frequent updates and provides for creating waypoints, projections and notes.

Groundspeak's whole data access thing is extremely annoying. Also, why do you have to have permission to get it? Do they use some kind of encrypted tunnel to their iphone application? If not - why not just sniff out how their iphone app pulls the data directly and then mimic that exactly? If you do it exactly like an iPhone - I don't see how they would block your app.

I still don't think direct network access is the answer, though - since the network is slow, and you can get out caching in areas where you wont have any signal so relying on a network connection to the mothership for data isn't a very good solution.

Regarding performance and such, 1000's of rows is no problem for sqlite. 10k rows might be starting to push it - hard to tell until I get it all built.
I'm trying to decide how much of the data to store out of the gpx files - but as far as inserting the stuff goes and doing updates it's really not hard at all to do - you can just match on waypoint and overwrite the base data - and then keep any custom stuff (notes, etc) in a separate table.

 

[Tyrell]

Tired of waiting, I decided to start building one today. ...

The race is on! The developers of CacheMate and GeoNiche are also looking at Android.

I was out and about doing some basic geocaching using the GeoBrowse app - and the speed of the EDGE network in my area made me want to poke my eyes out - so I think relying on a pre-fetched pocketquery file would be smart...

Not only do I not get G3 in my typical geocaching areas, any cell coverage is spotty. Still, real-time data can be useful, such as when checking on new caches or on places I didn't plan to be. Where I have had coverage I've used Groundspeak's limited WAP feature many times to check on or to log caches.

Groundspeak's whole data access thing is extremely annoying. ...

Yes but they have made it clear that's the way it is. I can sort of understand their position because it puts an additional drain on their servers and takes away some of the reason for people to buy premium memberships.

Regarding performance and such, 1000's of rows is no problem for sqlite. 10k rows might be starting to push it - hard to tell until I get it all built.

I hope the G1 can handle it. I tried importing about 1200 bookmarks into the browser (using RerWare) and it brought the G1 to its knees--roughly a minute just to display them! That's different kind of data but is still ugly performance.

 

[RyeBrye]

The race is on! The developers of CacheMate and GeoNiche are also looking at Android.

Cool. Maybe I should become lazy now.

Not only do I not get G3 in my typical geocaching areas, any cell coverage is spotty. Still, real-time data can be useful, such as when checking on new caches or on places I didn't plan to be. Where I have had coverage I've used Groundspeak's limited WAP feature many times to check on or to log caches.

Yeah, those real-time features would be cool to use.

Yes but they have made it clear that's the way it is. I can sort of understand their position because it puts an additional drain on their servers and takes away some of the reason for people to buy premium memberships.

Well... If I made the app so it would only pull down things that premium-members could retrieve (like the gpx for the individual cache, etc), I can't see any point to them at all. If anything - it SAVES them money and strain because instead of requesting several dozen files for each page hit you are only requesting one. If you access things only paying members can get to, only people who are already supporting their servers are going to be using the app anyway... so if anything you are encouraging more premium members.

I hope the G1 can handle it. I tried importing about 1200 bookmarks into the browser (using RerWare) and it brought the G1 to its knees--roughly a minute just to display them! That's different kind of data but is still ugly performance.

Hmm... I'll do some benchmarking first

Ryan

 

[Tyrell]

Another app that would be useful to geocachers is a set of common calculators used in puzzle and multi-caches. Stuff like encryption, conversion and projection. There are a couple of apps that I use on the Palm and I notice that the iPhone has one called the Geocachers ToolKit. Just an idea in case you need something else to do.

 

[CaseyB]

Sorry for the delay, but I have some updated screenshots. I'm very pleased with how it's coming together. I started from scratch instead of porting from the v0.9 SDK to the 1.0 SDK so it looks a bit different. I also had to write a quick little file browser to be able to load the pocket queries. It's to a point that it's usable, but there is still quite a bit of polishing that needs done. I am going to test drive it this weekend and see how it goes:

 

[CaseyB]

 

[harleyxlc]

This would be great!

 

[incudie]

Wow!

These look rad!

I'm super excited, can't wait to see em on the Market!


Thank you ^______^

 

[CaseyB]

Took it for a test drive this weekend and it's coming together pretty well there is still a good bit of polishing up that needs done. It's mostly just saving and restoring state, the ability to search through loaded caches, to hide and show caches on the map and to mark them found (or dnf) in the application so you can log them when you get home. I am going to put it up on the market as a pay app. Included in the price would be free updates forever, so any bugs get fixed or features get added and you would get them automatically. What do you think would be a fair price?

 

[harleyxlc]

Well, lots of people seem to scream at paying anything...but I come from WM and would expect to see an app like this around $10-$20....if it is polished and relatively bug free.

 

[Tyrell]

I am going to put it up on the market as a pay app. Included in the price would be free updates forever, so any bugs get fixed or features get added and you would get them automatically. What do you think would be a fair price?

Roughly equivalent apps on other platforms range in price from $3 to $25. The high end of the range are fairly comprehensive geocaching apps. For what you are describing $10 to $15 might be reasonable.

 

[CaseyB]

Thanks guys, that's right in line with what I was thinking!

 

[CaseyB]

I'm looking for a good name for the program. I am currently calling it Geocacher which is really boring but I can't come up with anything else. Does anyone have any ideas?