Android phones + c:geo

[jackrob]

I love the app c:geo with my Droid phone! It's free on the Droid market and is absolutely fabulous.

Typical day -- leave the house with my phone, ZERO preparation. Turn on the phone's gps, open c:geo. Then you get options to find caches by your gps location (I always use this), by coordinates, by address, or by geocode. Finding nearby, you get a list in a couple of seconds (see images on the link below). Click on one and you get the whole cache description and logs (you can control what you see). I love the "turn-by-turn" directions for driving in the car navigating with Google Maps. Once close by, I like to switch to "radar" mode with a couple of finger-clicks. I have found the Droid's gps is actually more accurate than my Garmin HCx. Once you find the cache, you can also log it right on the spot.

All that for FREE.

some screen shots: http://bit.ly/avSYdw

Happy caching!! :D :D

[Gaddiel]

Thank you for posting this. I'm in the market for a new phone and that little app looks very interesting...

Wayne

[jackrob]

I think you would really love it if you have done some caching. I had used a Garmin Vista HCx, and later added an old Palm III with Cachemate to try to get away from the paper. I have never really liked having to deal with pocket queries and loading all the data into GSAK and onto my HCx. I travel a lot, so I have a few different chips that I have different sections of the country loaded onto, but still dealing with the download/upload is a pain. Didn't get ALL of the cache info in there either and that occasionaly lead to some problems.

It's SO nice to just have the phone handle all my caching effortlessly with no paper. I always have it with me anyway. There's been more than one occasion that I've been somewhere and had no plans to cache, but found myself with some unexpected time. I just pop open the program and go!

[cfd29]

I agree about the c:geo, for the Droid, I had first used the geo beagle and it was OK but a lot of the time it didn't know where you were, after I downloaded the c:geo, I took out the geobeagle because the c:geo works so good, really easy to use, you can find out last min logs on caches you are trying to find, really bad to look for a cache only to come home and find out it was disabled or archived after you did your PQ... :oops:

[majii]

c:geo for the Droid is really nice, but it definitely hasn't been perfect for me. I've had issues with it not knowing where I am causing me to reboot the phone in order to reset it. But it definitely is handy and convenient when it's working.

[jackrob]

c:geo for the Droid is really nice, but it definitely hasn't been perfect for me. I've had issues with it not knowing where I am causing me to reboot the phone in order to reset it. But it definitely is handy and convenient when it's working.

Sounds like an issue with your phone's GPS that could be caused by different issues.

There's another really nice and free app called "GPS Status" that I would recommend downloading. Great interface and shows how many satellites you are connected with, plus you can also use it from c:geo as the "radar" screen if you wish. You can read it about it at the following link, and there is also a pointer there about getting your phone's GPS to get more accurate readings. http://eclipsim.com/gpsstatus/

[majii]

Well, I've had the same issue with two different Droid phones while using c:geo and no such problems when using navigation apps, so I don't see how it could be the phone.

I downloaded GPS Status and ran it for a few minutes, and it chews up the battery in a hurry. It's mildly interesting, but not worth the battery power it uses.

[jackrob]

Maybe you need a new battery?...or maybe you are running something else that is the problem? I have run for hours with no problems. My battery is just the OE regular battery that came with the phone. I understand that you can also get an extended life one now.

One thought....there is an app called "Spare Parts" for free that will show you how your battery is being used. Google for info.

As for the GPS and c:geo vs navigation apps....doesn't make sense as nav apps and c:geo both use the same gps in the phone, so if it works for one, it must work for the other as well. Likely a difference if you are on the open road or under tree cover...as with any GPS unit.

[majii]

I checked the battery usage on the phone, and it told me that GPS Status had used almost half of the battery power since the last charge. I ran GPS Status for a few minutes, and the last charge had been more than 12 hours previous. Like I said, I don't think what I got from GPS Status is worth the used battery power.

When I've had problems with c:geo not getting the GPS signal I have been out in the open with no tree cover. Sometimes it works perfectly and quickly, and other times not at all. Don't get me wrong. I really enjoy the app, but it's far from perfect, and it's probably best to keep another GPSr around for when/if c:geo starts acting up.

[jackrob]

I checked the battery usage on the phone, and it told me that GPS Status had used almost half of the battery power since the last charge. I ran GPS Status for a few minutes, and the last charge had been more than 12 hours previous. Like I said, I don't think what I got from GPS Status is worth the used battery power.

When I've had problems with c:geo not getting the GPS signal I have been out in the open with no tree cover. Sometimes it works perfectly and quickly, and other times not at all. Don't get me wrong. I really enjoy the app, but it's far from perfect, and it's probably best to keep another GPSr around for when/if c:geo starts acting up.

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. I'll check it on mine and see what I get.

[jackrob]

I checked the battery usage on the phone, and it told me that GPS Status had used almost half of the battery power since the last charge. I ran GPS Status for a few minutes, and the last charge had been more than 12 hours previous. Like I said, I don't think what I got from GPS Status is worth the used battery power.

When I've had problems with c:geo not getting the GPS signal I have been out in the open with no tree cover. Sometimes it works perfectly and quickly, and other times not at all. Don't get me wrong. I really enjoy the app, but it's far from perfect, and it's probably best to keep another GPSr around for when/if c:geo starts acting up.

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. I'll check it on mine and see what I get.

I had some time today, so I turned on my Droid at 12:15 pm and the battery indicator said I had 80% left. I turned on the phone's GPS, and then started up GPS Status, and went outside with it for maybe 10 minutes. Left the GPS on and GPS Status running. Checked it several times, and at 1:52 I hit 70%. I kept repeating this every once in a while. I hit 60% at 3:50 pm. Right now (right at 5:00 pm), I still am showing 60% battery left.

I noted a couple of things. First, I have my screen brightness set about 20% up from minimum on the slider (main screen, menu, settings, sound & display, brightness). I've found in the past that screen brightness rapidly drains the battery, and you don't really lose much usability by turning it down. I don't have a lot of other running services - Astrid, Weather Channel, Battery Status, CallLogService, Assistant (paid app that monitors financial accounts), Shapewriter keyboard, and live wallpaper.

The Home screen for me uses the most battery, probably because of the "live wallpaper" I have installed (maybe I'll take that off...!).

I know when I am actively caching, the battery drains faster than this, but I am sure because I also use the phone as a turn-by-turn GPS in the car with Google Maps, and because I have the screen on for longer periods of time.

[DEEZER]

Just got a droid eris & was really looking forward to trying out c:geo. But as of today, c:geo is not working. Hope they get it fixed soon.

[DEEZER]

Checked it again this morning. Looks like they got it fixed. Can't wait to try it!

[jackrob]

Yes, the author is really responsive to any problems. I just tried it and it is working as it had been. Have fun!

[TheRascals]

Just loaded the c:geo app on my droid. It seems to work great for me. The new update just came out. Another cool thing is http://go4cache.com/
if you have this on in c:geo it will show you live on a world map.

[photojunky]

I had been so tied to my iPhone I was worried about my new droid, but after seeing how well the gps worked I was thrilled. I just loaded the programs mentioned now can't wait to try them out. Thanks for all the input.

[Spice]

A while back I noticed this line on the Geocaching.com web site:


We will be introducing a version of the application for Android in Q2 of 2010.

It was on their page for the iPhone geocaching app.

I saw on another page it was discussed that the geocaching.com app for the Android should be out soon.

[Spice]

I just bought a Droid X and put the g:geo app on it. It is FREE and so far looks like it is working well. There have been some revisions of the app since this thread was first started. I plan on taking it along with my GPSr this weekend to find a few caches and see how it does. I will report back...

[melissafred]

I love this app & can't imagine not having it. However, for the past week or two, the "radar" option has been freezing up frequently. I've exited the app & re-opened it and even tried re-booting. It eventually gets going again but it's quite frustrating to be within the general area of a cache, ready to narrow down the search, and then have the gpsr freeze up. Still, it's definitely worth the headaches & I highly recommend it to those who don't have it.