December 7, 2013

Locus Map - Android GPS App.

I had recently read a raving review about an Android mapping application called, Locus Map, and decided to check it out. It comes in two versions: Free and Pro. The Pro version costs $8.27 (as of this writing), and offers a wealth of features not available in the free version. What I found really impressive was the number of background maps that are available, both for online and offline use - over 20; although most of them are eastern European maps. But the one map I really liked was the USGS topo map, as it, of course, includes trails.

Even though this app. is primarily built as a GPS navigation tool, I was really only interested in testing out the geocaching features. The app. did a great job of pulling caches live from geocaching.com and displaying them over the topo map background. It also allows you to save the geocache information to your device's memory, either from the live screen, or even from your downloaded pocket queries; which is handy in case you find yourself outside of cell range.

My only complaint is that the free version does not allow you to upload your field notes to geocaching.com - you have to fork out the money for the Pro version in order to enable that feature. And since that is primarily what I use my device for when I'm caching (since I have a separate Garmin GPS device for cache navigation), I find myself sticking with c:geo for most of my geocaching adventures. But for people who hunt caches primarily with their Android phones, this may be the ideal app.

Cache On!