Geopher Lite FAQ

Question: What is geocaching?
Answer: Read this, it answers that question better than I could.

Question: Why do I have to enter my own target coordinates into Geopher Lite? Why not fill them in for me?
Answer: Geocaching.com's terms of use do not currently allow 3rd party applications to use data from geocaching.com in any way other than through a web page. Auto-filling the coordinates for a geocache would violate this agreement. I have spoken with groundspeak (the company that owns geocaching.com) and they have asked that I keep their standard terms of use agreement until further notice.

Question: Why doesn't Geopher Lite keep me logged in to geocaching.com?
Answer: It can, but it works the same way that a web browser would work. Make sure to check the "Keep me logged in" checkbox when you log in and Geopher Lite will remember your login. (Once you have entered your username and password, zoom out and this checkbox is right underneath the username and password fields)

Question: What format can I use to enter target latitude and longitude coordinates?
Answer: Currently Geopher Lite supports decimal degrees and Hour with decimal minutes. Geocahcing.com's default format is in Hours and decimal minutes. See this link for more details on latitude and longitude formats. Since it can be a pain to enter the ° symbol, geopher uses a space instead. Geopher will auto-format the data in Hours and decimal minutes format. This gives you immediate feedback on what Geopher Lite thinks you have entered. Currently Still a bit confused? Me too! =) Look at the examples below.

Example of hour and minute degrees:
(normal) N 40° 05.849 W 111° 39.395
(in Geopher Lite) N 40 5.849 W 111 39.395

Example of latitude and longitude degrees:
(normal) N 40.097483° W 111.656583°
(in Geopher Lite) 40.097483 -111.656583

Note: Geopher Lite only understands the following characters: ".-1234567890NESW ". Geopher Lite substitutes all characters other than these with a space. If it is more convenient you can use something other than a space when entering coordinates.
**Update: With 1.0.4 Geopher Lite enters a partial latitude/longitude based on your current location to make entering coordinates easier.

Question: Can I change the layout of the compass screen? What about the graphics?
Answer: In version 1.0.4 (now released) Geopher Lite will have a limited number of options to choose from when displaying the compass screen. Support for a general skinning method is being considered.

Question: Where are Geopher Lite's preferences?
Answer: The preferences are under apple's settings app towards the bottom. If there is demand I can put the settings inside of Geopher Lite to make them more easily accessable.

Question: What are some other preferences I can change?
Answer: Currently you can change from metric to standard measurements, toggle on and off previously found caches, and change the appearance of the target screen. More preferences may be forthcoming.

Question: Does the compass point north or just at the top of the screen all the time?
Answer: The compass points to the top of the screen. The iPhone does not contain a real compass. However there are plans to create a preference to rotate the compass in a future update.

Question: What about the arrow?
Answer: The arrow overlay points in the direction of the cache as it relates to north. So if you point your iPhone north, the arrow will point towards the target you have set.

Question: Can Geopher Lite save a list of geocaches for me to reference?
Answer: No. Something like this to a smaller scale is being considered for an update, but may only be implemented in the full version of geopher.

Question: Does Geopher Lite support .GPX or .LOC files?
Answer: Syncing these files to Geopher will be in the full version, but probably will not be in Geopher Lite. Keep an eye on things, you never know.

Question: Do you support more sites than geocaching.com for geocaching information?
Answer: Not currently. I am open to supporting other sites, but in my limited research other sites do not have enough data to be very useful for an on-the-go type of geocaching software like Geopher Lite. If you feel differently, please contact me about it. I'd love to hear of alternatives for tighter integration. (wap.geocaching.com is being looked into, if you have experience with this site and would like to help with the URL formatting please contact me)

Question: Will I be able to upgrade Geopher Lite to the full version when it is available?
Answer: Currently apple doesn't allow this. I am looking into the possibility of doing this in other ways, but for the time being Geopher Lite will stay as a Lite version.

Question: The app doesn't work!
Answer: Apple has a few bugs in their software still. Sometimes applications won't launch or the GPS won't work quite right. Try rebooting your phone (hold down the lock and home button both for 5 seconds to shut it down then turn it on again). If the problems persist try deleting the app off of your phone and re-syncing or re-downloading the app. If all else fails, email me!

This FAQ will be updated as questions are asked. Thanks for using Geopher Lite!