{"id":36514,"date":"2016-09-07T13:36:26","date_gmt":"2016-09-07T20:36:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/?p=36514"},"modified":"2016-09-15T10:03:20","modified_gmt":"2016-09-15T17:03:20","slug":"moving-forward-our-plans-for-geocaching-mobile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/moving-forward-our-plans-for-geocaching-mobile\/","title":{"rendered":"Moving Forward: Our Plans For Geocaching Mobile"},"content":{"rendered":"

We Hear You<\/span><\/h3>\n

Since introducing the Geocaching\u00ae app\u2019s new name and icon<\/a> earlier this year, we have received and read thousands of questions, comments, and survey responses from geocachers about our mobile apps. We take this feedback seriously and have spent a lot of time contemplating and debating next steps.<\/span><\/p>\n

First things first: We\u2019d like to acknowledge and thank you for the feedback\u2014both positive and negative\u2014that many of you have expressed. In the post below, we\u2019ve collected and responded to some common themes, and laid out our plans for both the Geocaching\u00ae and Geocaching Classic apps in the near future.<\/span><\/p>\n

Community Questions and Suggestions<\/span><\/h3>\n

The following questions and themes are the most common responses collected from the survey, as well as from emails, social media, and forum posts. <\/span><\/p>\n

Offline geocaching is a must-have in the Geocaching\u00ae app.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Offline maps is the most requested feature by far. Geocaching happens outside after all! Building Lists and the ability to save them for offline use was our first step towards adding offline maps to the app. See \u201cMoving Forward\u201d below for additional information. <\/span><\/p>\n

I need the option to award Favorite Points and submit different log types.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Geocaching is a community game that\u2019s about more than a find count. We depend on geocachers to let each other know when a geocache needs maintenance or if there\u2019s a great geocache worth trekking to. We agree that these features are essential. See \u201cMoving Forward\u201d below for additional information. <\/span><\/p>\n

Did you really need to end support for\u00a0the Geocaching Classic app?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Decisions like this are tough and we wish we didn\u2019t need to make them. But we are a business. We don\u2019t have unlimited resources. Retiring the Geocaching Classic app\u2014an app we built and love\u2014is not an easy decision, but it will free up resources to continue doing the work we believe is most important to helping the game thrive, which includes making improvements and adding new features to the Geocaching\u00ae app.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Geocaching Classic app was developed in 2008. Mobile phone and app technologies have changed significantly since that time. The Geocaching\u00ae app was designed first and foremost to modernize the technology underlying our mobile products. We committed to making a better app built on more sustainable technology and that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to do. <\/span><\/p>\n

The app doesn\u2019t do what I need it to.<\/strong><\/p>\n

At Geocaching HQ, we consider it our responsibility to build products that serve as many people in as many places as possible all over the world. Sometimes that\u2019s limiting. Because there are many different ways people like to play the game, we support geocaching partners\u2014like Cachly, Looking4Cache, GSAK and Project-GC\u2014who tap into the listing service we maintain to provide services we\u2019re unable to at this time.<\/span><\/p>\n

You said it and we agree: There\u2019s still work to do. So what\u2019s next?<\/p>\n

Moving Forward<\/span><\/h3>\n

We originally planned to shut off the Geocaching Classic app in September 2016. If it\u2019s not clear already, you\u2019ve convinced us otherwise.<\/p>\n

While the Geocaching\u00ae app is not yet complete, we are very proud of our sustained commitment to quality throughout its development. Since launch, we created a better way to find geocaches of all types, as well as trackables. We added 18+ languages to the app to be more welcoming to players around the world, and we added Message Center to make it easier for players to communicate. We also designed the app to better support outdoor play, including a live search for geocaching on the go. Most recently we built Lists, a feature that allows you to plan your geocache outings seamlessly between Geocaching.com and the app.<\/p>\n

That all being said, the Geocaching\u00ae app is missing some of the most requested features: offline and trail maps, log types, draft logs and Favorite Points. We are working to complete these features by March 2017. Until we get there, the Geocaching Classic app should continue to function. However, we are unable to make updates or bug fixes, since the app is no longer available in Google Play and Apple’s App Store.<\/p>\n

For now, that\u2019s the plan. We promise to keep you updated as we know more\u2014and of course, \u201cmore\u201d will include many of the features you requested.<\/p>\n

Thanks for taking the time to read this far. We hope that by sharing this, we at least communicated that Geocaching HQ is made up of folks who share your love for geocaching and always want to do the right thing for the game.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/span><\/p>\n

Your friends at Geocaching HQ<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Update for iOS users: <\/b>If you update your iPhone to iOS 10, the “Sign in with Facebook” feature on the Geocaching Classic app will no longer work. Fortunately, there is a workaround for this. <\/span><\/p>\n

First, you\u2019ll need to request a password. To do so, go to Geocaching.com and log out of your account. Then, <\/span>recover your password here<\/span><\/a>. You’ll receive an email with a link to create a new password. Then, you can log into the app using your username and new password.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We Hear You Since introducing the Geocaching\u00ae app\u2019s new name and icon earlier this year, we have received and read thousands of questions, comments, and survey responses from geocachers about our mobile apps. We take this feedback seriously and have spent a lot of time contemplating and debating next steps. First things first: We\u2019d like…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":34601,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[137],"tags":[159,147],"series":[],"class_list":["post-36514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-geocaching-hq","tag-geocaching-tools"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/d3mo08i005h0zn.cloudfront.net\/blog\/uploads\/2016\/03\/App_Rebrand_ET_Live_Search_vFINAL_030416-1.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.geocaching.com\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/inside-geocaching-hq-podcast","embedCode":"

Moving Forward: Our Plans For Geocaching Mobile<\/a><\/blockquote>