With geocaching you search for hidden treasures all over the world. These five geocaching apps for iPhone make searching for caches more fun and easier.
Treasure hunting with your iPhone
Geocaching is a fun activity for those who like to be outdoors. On the basis of GPS coordinates you search for a hidden treasure. Once you’ve found it, check it off and look for the next one. That sounds easier than it is. Many geocaches are well hidden and require the necessary thinking and puzzle work.
Originally, geocaches were tracked with separate GPS devices. But now that everyone has GPS in their iPhone, applications are available that immediately add useful extra functions. These are the geocaching apps for iOS that are indispensable while treasure hunting.
1: Geocaching
The official app from the creators of geocaching is a great place to start. Suitable for both the novice treasure hunters and the advanced. Through the app you can search for over 3 million caches in the whole world. As soon as you start Geocaching, you will immediately see which caches are located near you. The app provides additional information about the type of cache and hints about the location. Once on site, the search can begin. If you have found a cache, you can immediately ‘log’ it in the app.
The Geocaching app can be downloaded for free and can also be used for free with a basic account. A premium account costs 5.99 euros per month or 29.99 euros per year. This gives you access to additional functions. The app then shows exclusive premium caches, you can use offline maps and you have more options to filter caches so that you can search more precisely.
2: Cachly
The Cachly app is a paid alternative to the above Geocaching app. It uses the same platform and you also need an account with geocaching.com. So with Cachly you will find the same treasures. Still, it offers some additional features and benefits that may come in handy especially for the more experienced user.
For example, Cachly lets you choose between Apple Maps or OpenStreetMap. With a basic account at Geocaching you can also download maps in this app to use them offline. Cachly also has an Apple Watch app available in addition to its iOS app. With it you can find geocaches, get hints and log found caches without taking your phone out of your pocket.
Because Cachly works with your Geocaching account, you do not have access to all functions with a basic account. For example, you can only load three geocaches per day in the app and you will not find any premium caches. For that you need a premium account at Geocaching.com.
3: Geocaching Buddy
A favorite of many seasoned geocachers is Geocache Buddy. This app is full of little tricks, which make it especially easy to track down so-called multi-caches. Think, for example, of caches that can only be found if you have first found clues in other caches. The app saves found hints and guides you to the hard-to-find treasures. The app also has a built-in ‘formula interpreter’, which automatically translates frequently used codes.
Geocache Buddy also uses Geocaching.com. In addition, this app allows you to find caches from another platform: openCache. This open source platform has thousands of caches, for example in the Netherlands, Germany, England and the US. So you can search for treasures that cannot be found with the two apps above.
4: GCTools
While geocaching you are sometimes looking for challenging mystery or multicaches, which you can only find with the necessary thinking or math. Unlike in the above apps, you cannot look up caches in GCTools. Think of it more as a kind of Swiss army knife for geocaching. For example, if you need to decipher an encoded message, convert units or combine coordinates, GCTools will help you with that.
By entering different coordinates, the app calculates, for example, what the distance is, where routes intersect or what the radius is around a certain point. Another important part is some sort of translation option for all kinds of code. From Braille and Morse code to the semaphore alphabet or binary code. It can also convert measures of length, weights, speeds and much more to other units.
5: TBS Scan
A nice addition to geocaching are trackables: small vignettes that are taken and left behind by treasure hunters from one geocache to another. That way they travel all over the world. If you find a trackable, you can use the code on it to find out who made this trackable. This way you get a good idea of ​​the journey this trackable has made, before you leave it behind somewhere else.
The TBSScan app uses the camera to recognize the number code on a trackable. This works with both geocoins and Travel Bugs, the two different variants of trackables. Scan a code and you will immediately receive information about the trackable on your screen. You can also immediately log that you have found it. If you find multiple trackables in a geocache, this app allows you to log them all at once before continuing your treasure hunt.
Looking for more? Also check the extensive app page on iPhoned for more cool apps and lists!