Change by Groundspeak makes API import crash [updated]

Update: kuddos to Groundspeak, they reversed the change that broke the import. Should be working fine again.

Unfortunately something seems to be changed on Groundspeaks side of the API. Now most API imports make iCaching crash.

I was notified about this by several users (thanks for that!). I’ve made a hot fix and will submit that as soon as possible to the App Store.

For now, the only workaround is to import old-fashioned GPX files.

Issues with Google Maps, replacement with Apple Maps

Unfortunately there are reports coming in about problems with the Map in iCaching.
Apparently Google changed something on their servers that makes the map sometimes not appear. Users tell me that it spontaneously starts and stops working.
Because this is an issue on their side, I can’t solve it right now. But at the moment I’m rushing to replace the Google Maps with Apple Maps which doesn’t have this issue. And moreover, the map will be faster and behave more smooth when zooming, panning etc. And it will have more features.

After a few days of hard work Apple Maps in iCaching is nearing completion.
If you want, you can download a beta versioniCaching Apple Maps and let me know what you think of it.

It’s been too long…

It’s been way to long since the last post here. But I can assure you, it’s not because nothing happened…

Last month I released iCaching 6.0 (and two smaller fix updates) featuring a vastly improved logging window. It’s now easier than ever to log all your geocache finds (and yes, also your DNFs :-). Start by importing the finds log from your GPS (most paperless GPS have such a file), or by dragging geocaches you found into the list.

Edit your logs with a nice description and the right log type. You can edit multiple logs at the same time by selecting multiple logs in the list.

Add pictures to your logs on the Images tab.

And conveniently log your travelbugs in the Travelbug tab. There you see the TBs available in the cache you visited, to log them as ‘discovered’ or ‘grab’. And you also see the TBs in your inventory, to log them as ‘visited’ or ‘dropped’. You can also log as ‘auto visit’ and the TB will automatically visit all the other logs in your list.

Next to the logging feature, I also improved the way to import your found and owned caches into your library with two items in the new Library menu.

So I hope you all enjoy (i)Caching!

Logwindow_v6.0.2

 

Issue with login to Groundspeak API

Several users contacted me reporting not to be able to log in to the Groundspeak API from within iCaching.

I started an investigation, but even an older version of iCaching (that did work for sure previously) cannot log in any more. So it was not a code change on iCachings side that broke the login.

Currently I’m in contact with Groundspeak to solve this problem.

Excuse for the inconvenience.

Update June 17, 2016

The friends at Groundspeak were able to figure out that the issue is related to login and user language. They are working on a fix.

In the meantime there is a workaround:  temporarily change your user language in your Geocaching account to English. Then login in iCaching and after that you can change your language back to whatever you want.

Geocaching language settings

iCaching 5.0.6

While waiting for the approval of iCaching 5.0.5 with bug fixes for the export bug and crash on sorting on coordinate, we fixed a lot of other issues. Because it will take a little while before those fixes can be in the App Store because of the (way too long) approval period Apple takes, I make this update available again for direct download from here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gklu8qouxuenfwh/iCaching%205.0.6%20Beta.zip?dl=0

This version fixes the following bugs (compared to 5.0.5):

  • The pocket query dialog was broken on Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks
  • Updating Favourite points didn’t work
  • The Favorites folder wasn’t updated
  • The sort order in the cache list could get lost
  • Loading Photos could crash in Mavericks
  • Only new logs are imported on application start, instead of all logs of the last month
  • The split view in the log and waypoints tab was wrong on application start while these tabs were open
  • Fixed export to CSV
  • The table header on the logs tab looked weird in Mavericks

iCaching 5.0.5

Last Thursday we released the long awaited version 5.0 and received a lot of enthousiast reactions.
Although we tested a lot and had a beta period, there appeared to be a few issues with this version.
Fortunately the database conversion issue we reported here before seems to be contained to just a few cases. We were not yet able to reproduce that issue.
But there are two other known issues:
1. The application can crash on startup if you have sorted on the Coordinate column in the cache list.
2. Export to all non-GPX file formats and older GPS devices doesn’t work.
Both issues are solved in version 5.0.5 that is send to Apple for review. In the meantime you can download a (temporary working) fixed version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/q163qja545yo37k/iCaching%205.0.5%20Beta.zip?dl=0
There are a few other, more minor, issues that are currently investigated and will be solved later on. If you find anything, let us know.

Version 5.0 is out! [update: please report conversion issues]

warningThis morning we could finally release version 5.0! The update is available in the app store.
Explore the new features like the location picker to insert coordinates, the photos tab and the improved performance.
Happy caching!

WARNING!

There are some reports coming in about databases that are not correctly converted to version 5.0. We’re researching the issue.

Fortunately there is a backup of your original database. It is located in the same folder as the database and its name ends on .iCaching_DataModel 5.0. The database is located on a somewhat hidden location. Instructions to reach that location: https://www.icaching.eu/support/#toggle-id-4
If the conversion fails on your machine, I’d really like to have a copy of the backup to find out what went wrong. Please mail it using weTransfer.com to info at icaching dot eu

Excuse for the inconvenience!

Groundspeak API changes lead to broken logs download

OAngryn March 16, Groundspeak has changed some API limits without notice to developers. Unfortunately this breaks some functionality in iCaching. Loading your last logs, or logs for caches now returns an error message instead of logs.

We’ll fix this ASAP.

How about that version 5.0 you’re talking about?

That’s a good question. Let me explain.

The major features I planned for version 5.0 were a Yosemite look and feel, a geocache images tab and a location picker (to choose a location for corrected coordinates, API searches and home locations. See screenshot).

LocationPickerTo implement these features I had to make major refactorings in the existing code. For example, for the location picker I needed the Apple Maps API, which is only available for Mavericks and higher (so that will be the minimum OS for version 5.0). That made it possible to replace a lot of legacy code by more modern APIs Apple is providing. Or another example; to add the photos, I need to do a database version migration. That provided the opportunity to make the data model more efficient (loading at startup with big databases!), and prepare for new properties (user waypoints). The extra work involved was to create a migration process from the old to the new version, keeping your old data work in the new version.

These refactorings make the groundwork of the application more stable, faster and better maintainable. But they cost a lot (yes, I mean a lot!) of time. And in the meantime there is still some maintenance work on version 4.x…

To make this version ship in a not too distant future, I will cut some of the planned features (probably photos too) for the first 5.x version. But a lot of groundwork has been done, so those extra features can be added soon after the first release.

Public beta

All these changes in the foundation of the application, might introduce new issues, and that’s not what you and I want. Therefore I want to do thorough tests upfront. I also want to do a public beta within a few weeks (just like Apple does
these days).
If you want to participate, please send a mail (using the contact tab on this site) and mention ‘Public beta’ in the subject field. But keep in mind that the first beta will not work with your current database, and the final version will probably not be able to use the data from the beta version too. The main goal of the beta is to gather feedback and find bugs, not (only) to make you enjoy ‘the latest greatest’.

Export blues

While working on version 5.0 (which unfortunately takes more time than expected), I still want to do some maintenance on version 4.x. Once in a while I also like to add a few features in that version too.

Recently some users asked if it were possible to add attribute names to the cache description when exporting them, so you could see them in the field. This seemed a pretty trivial programming excersise, so I added it in version 4.97. But unfortunately, this feature has caused a lot of crashes. This week version 4.97.2 (yes, I want to reserve 5.0 for the next big thing, so coming up with a proper versionnumber becomes more difficult every time) was released, fixing the glaring main issue in the export code.

But after that update, some users still had issues. One was caused by a new attribute type (GeoTour) not yet supported in iCaching, and another for caches with an empty description. Both situations were not present in my test data, so everything went fine here.

Today version 4.97.3 is submitted to Apple for review. That one should finally fix the export issues. My apologies for the inconvenience these issues have caused. And a big thank you for the users that helped me providing crash reports and example files. This helped me to solve this quickly.