The Caching Bag: Geocaching iPhone Apps: A Visual Comparison

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Geocaching iPhone Apps: A Visual Comparison

I've been asked if I have given Cachly and Looking4Cache a fair chance. Here is part of my answer:

I’m a technology trainer by trade. I gather requirements, advise in the building of new tools, test, document and train our end users. My job is to entice new users to adopt technology (teach old dogs new tricks). I get excited over new tools so I went into Cachly and L4C with great enthusiasm. I willingly paid for them and gave each at least a month’s use before reverting back to Classic and GeoSphere.

Keep in mind that I have a 5-year cache-a-day streak so each tool was minimally a 30-day commitment. And, yes, before you ask, I did supply feedback to the Cachly developer, who was impressively responsive.

Let's be honest here - these apps (including the "Official app") have many of the same features in common. They search. They display caches by lists or on maps. You get cache details, recent logs, and the ability to log. There are offline capabilities and tools for trackables. Some are more responsive than others and some have an easier learning curve.

What is a big differentiater? The visual features of the interface are HUGE! Let's face it - I'm in my mid-40's, and I'm surrounded by 30-, 40-, 50+ year olds. Our eyes are not getting any younger. I prefer the classic app in this regard because the listing pages use colors and frames to section off the cache details and the font/darkness of the cache descriptions are easier to read.

Geocaching iPhone Apps

A SIDE-BY-SIDE COMPARISON GUIDE

Working Reference at Borders and Barnes & Nobles, people often asked which Dictionary or Thesaurus is better. It's a personal preference. Pick one word and look it up in each book - do a side-by-side comparison to determine which format works best for you.

To help you with your iPhone app decision, I've put together a side-by-side visual guide for you. Before you make your final selection, however, visit the App Store to ensure that your selected tool does have the features you want in an app.

The Geocaching "Classic" app is no longer available in the App Store and will return March 23rd. The Geocaching "Official" app is free, but you have to pay for a Premium Membership ($30/year) to get the most out of its features. Cachly is $4.99 with no In-app purchases listed. Looking4Cache has both an Intro (free) and Pro ($6.99 and has in-app purchases). GeoSphere is $7.99 and is no longer actively supported. GCDroid and C:GEO are popular Android apps and not available for iOS. There may be other iPhone apps, but these are the most common.