It is amazing how the smart phones have become so much a part of our lives. Believe it or not there was a time in the not too distant past when people actually went from coast to coast with nothing more than a road map and sometimes not even that. Now for many of us if we forget our phone at home we turn around and go back and get it before venturing out. We are that attached to our technologies.
I personally have taken the leap from my Blackberry phone recently and purchased an HTC Incredible. An android phone that quite frankly has completely assimilated me. Included in that assimilation are an entire host of useful tools to help while geocaching. I am not talking about the standard geocaching apps themselves. I will be doing several articles about them soon enough. No I am talking about all the other helpful apps out there for Android phones you may not have thought of.
Below are two lists. The first is a list of favorites that I have on my phone right now that I use for geocaching. The second is a list that was provided by fellow geocachers. I hope you find these items useful in your geocaching en devours.
These are in no particular order:
HeadHardHat's Favorites:
Android Flashlight App - No more trying to use your phone for a weak flashlight. This app which comes standard on many androids uses the high powered camera LEDs for a very powerful beam.
Voice Recorder - Sometimes it is just too clumsy to try and type your information while geocaching. Here you have a digital recorder you can just say what you want and it is right there at your fingertips.
Evernotes - For those times you need to type in what you want Evernotes rocks. Not only can you access all sorts of documents on your phone but on your PC as well. Since it is synced in the cloud you always have your documents available.
Loopt - Want to tell where you are via GPS? Loopt is a great application that allows you to check in where you are. Either at a restaurant, watering hole or out in the woods a gps record can show where you at when you want that information to be noted. Sends to twitter, facebook, etc.
Car Locator - You may have seen this application in a car commercial recently. I personally love it. Mark where your car is and then use the application radar to find it when needed.
From The Geocaching Forums:
Android Browser - (Default Installed)
- Connection to Internet information and websites
- Can download .gpx files
Display your GPS and sensor data: Shows the position, number and signal strength of GPS satellites. Check your position, GPS accuracy, speed, acceleration and bearing. A magnetic compass is included which displays both magnetic and true north. Use it as a leveling tool or detect magnetic anomalies in your area.
Plain and simple ROT13 encoder/decoder. Friendly copy/paste buttons. Useful e.g. to decrypt geocaching hints. No ads, requires no permissions.
Browse, open, rename, manage, copy, move, delete or even email files found on your phone. Aware of 100+ registered file extensions.
Create and share your work online and access your documents from anywhere. Managedocuments, spreadsheets, presentations, surveys, and more all in one easy place.
An advanced calculator useful for those tricky puzzle geocaches.
Android client for Wherigo Geocaching game! Core based on OpenWig client (well tested). Enjoy Wherigo hunt.
ScanLife turns your camera phone into a all-in-one bar code reader - one of the only apps that can scan QR Codes and UPC Codes found on products.
Scan regular UPC/EAN barcodes from most products like DVDs, books, and food to see comparison pricing, reviews, accessories local prices (US only) and nutritional information (US only). You can even buy the product right from Amazon or over 25 other retailers.
Also scan any 2D barcode (QR Code, Datamatrix, EZcode) that you find in print, packaging, or business cards to launch specific websites, videos, or contact information.
Perfect your pictures with Photoshop Express on your Android phone. Simply drag your finger to crop, adjust color, apply effects — you name it.
Get Google Maps on your mobile phone for free, and never carry a paper map again. Use your mobile phone to search for local businesses, and then get driving.
Use it to save the location of your house, work, car, finshing, or hunting spot and see how far you are from the waypoint or find your way back. Also serves as a speedometer. 3 waypoints allowed in free. Accuracy depends on your GPS signal and your device.
Fast and useful Online/Offline map viewer.
Allows to save GPS location much more precisely. Great geocaching tool for placing new geocaches. Can be used to precisely pinpoint any location. Altitude support, GPX export.
My Tracks is an application for your AndroidTM phone that enables you to record GPS tracks and view live statistics – such as time, speed, distance, and elevation – while hiking, biking, running or participating in other outdoor activities. Once recorded, you can share your tracks, upload them to Google Spreadsheets and visualize them on Google My Maps.
Calculates sunrise, sunset, twilight, golden hours, length of day, moonrise & moonset times for anywhere in the world. Handy for photography, hunting, outdoor activities, planning holidays and astronomy. Four widgets are included so the information is at your fingertips when you need it.
Look up animal/plant species by scientific or common name, accompanied with pictures, or explore the scientific classification system.
GeoCache: I'm NOT Obsessed... Right?
http://headhardhat-geocache.blogspot.com/
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Twitter me at
@headhardhat
Please don't forget to visit our GeoSnippits Geocaching Tutorial Videos Website at
http://www.geosnippits.com
Anyways if you click on EPISODE 15- Interview: GeoSurvivalGear.com you can listen to the guys talking with the owner of GeoSurvivalGear.com Robert Harwell (Caching Name: Harwell5).
