If you are involved in GeoCheckpointing or Geocaching and own an android powered smartphone, you can choose from many applications suitable for these outdoor GPS games. There are available both, free and paid apps. In this article, we will have a look at the most popular free applications and their features.
One of the most used apps is c:geo. It allows to import Geocaching or GeoCheckpointing GPX files (you can generate the GPX file which contains GPS coordinates and other information about the caches or geocheckpoints on the GeoCheckpointing/Geocaching website). C:geo has very intelligent feature for searching GPX files stored in your smartphone. It is able to find all GPX files in your phone, no matter if they are located in the c:geo directory or elsewhere. It can also connect to the Geocaching server and download the nearest caches, so if you have an internet connection enabled, you do not need to download GPX file for Geocaching. C:geo can navigate you to the target using a compass (default navigation) or you can choose another app (e. g. Google Maps).
Another free solution for GeoCheckpointing and Geocaching users is Locus. This software can also import GPX files and navigate to the target using a compass. In addition, you can use different map providers. The maps can be saved in different zooms for offline use. This may be very useful when you are traveling abroad and the data roaming would be too expensive.
There is also an online navigation app called GeoCheckpoint Finder. It can be launched in any browser and used for the navigation in the same way like the apps from Android Market. There is a compass navigation feature and you can simply let you navigate using another app like Google Maps. You can enter the coordinates manually or automatically download the nearest GeoCheckpoints. The advantage of this app is the possibility to use it even if your phone is not equipped by the GPS.
If you need to navigate to a single target, you can use GPS Status. The strength of this apps is not in the navigation features (which are very basic), but in lots of useful information provided. You can e. g. see the satellite map or use it to speed up GPS by downloading a-GPS data.
Active users, who place new GeoCheckpoints or caches for others, may like simple but very useful application called GPS average. This software makes number of readings and average the coordinates. This way, you can get more accurate coordinates.
Discover nice places with GeoCheckpointing, an outdoor activity and enjoy your trip.
Check out also the knowledge base to find out more about GPS coordinates averaging and other useful topics.
