You may have been playing Geocaching for a while, or you may have been only playing for a short amount of time. But you may not have heard of what I am going to talk about (or, in the very least, haven’t done it in a while).
Waymarking
What is Waymarking, you ask?
Waymarking is a way to mark unique locations on the planet and give them a voice.
While GPS technology allows us to pinpoint any location on the planet, mark the location, and share it with others, Waymarking is the toolset for categorizing and adding unique information for that location.[1]
Waymarking can be nearly anything; they can be a supermarket, a fast-food restaurant, a monument, a navigation/landmarking instrument, an interesting location, or even just a great piece of history.
Waymarks have no physical container, so you usually need to take a photo of the location with something to distinguish that the photo hasn’t been copied (most people ask for your GPS device or a part of your body, such as a hand), other waymarks ask you to do something specific to the location. But most of the time, it is very simple to do.
Logging a waymark used to be a tricky thing to do as a beginner (and still is in some cases). Thankfully, for anyone who has an Apple iPhone or iPad, things are going to get easier soon.
A new app is currently being beta-tested worldwide, including here in SA, specifically just for Waymarking. The app is called Waymarkly.
Waymarkly has been made by the creators of Cachly for Apple IOS devices and works similarly to Cachly.
Now I know what your thinking. Only Apple devices can do Waymarking. But this is not the case.
Waymarking can still be accessed by android devices and even on a GPS. All you need to do is head to www.waymarking.com and log in with your geocaching account. The website may be a bit confusing to get around, but with a little help, you can be finding many waymarks and even possibly be placing waymarks in public.
Now back to Waymarkly.
Waymarkly will be available later this year (dates still to be confirmed) and will only be available for Apple IOS Devices.
Since I have been beta testing it, I will give you a taste of what is to come, and remember, the app is still being developed and may look different when it is released to what it looks now.
The Live (Map) Interface:
The map works similarly to Cachly and can still have the great premium offline maps that are available on both apps. The big difference in the interface is the icons. Each icon represents a different waymark that Geocaching has designed. Some screen shows include the Aldi logo, a hospital icon, a blue disc, and many more icons types available to find.
Once you click on a waymark you choose to find, it will display the name of the waymark (though there is a limit on how much you can see from the map depending on the size of the title), the start of the description, the category of the waymark and how far away is it from your location.
The final small thing to note is when you click the triple dotted circle in the top left corner of the map page. You are given 3 options. When you choose to add to the list, you are given three options compared to Cachly; this gives you the option of making your Waymarking find available even when you have no internet as they can be downloaded. And recently, the app developers have decided to make both specific waymarks and the map page able to be exported into a GPX file, which is excellent if you want to do some planning with other apps that take GPX files
There is a funnel button on the top right side of the map that you can filter the map to either show/hide visited waymarks, show/hide owned waymarks, or even only show a specific category of waymark (as of 09/02/2021). Features are continually changing, so this may change before the release of the app
The Lists Tab:
The lists tab is very similar to cachly, and the only significant difference is that you can only have offline lists on waymarkly (probably due to Waymarking.com, but don’t quote me), but all the features of cachly, with proximity warnings, are all in waymarkly, so you don’t have to learn a whole new system for the app.
The Logs tab:
Currently, this tab is being developed, though you can see the structure similar to Cachly. You currently can’t add any waymarks in the logs tab to a list, and the names of the waymarks are instead a specific waymark code, but the logs themselves are there, and they include the photos if you had one in the log itself.
Currently, you can not edit your post or add any additional photos to a specific log, but all the other features like translating or sharing the waymark is there, like in cachly
The Category tab:
This tab is where there is a big difference to Cachly. Waymarks are not simple in their form as they can be represented in many different settings, such as history, geography, culture, and general knowledge. This is why the categories tab is vital to find the waymarks you are specifically looking for, as it would take an eternity to find a specific waymark by hand. This tab is still being developed but is nearly complete, and there are a few minor issues to be fixed later in the building progress.
And Finally, The Waymark Page Interface:
After wading through all the other parts of the app, you get to the waymark interface. This interface has drastically changed compared to Cachly or even the general Geocaching app. You start off with the full name of the cache with photos that can be accessed at the top of the page, then the location both in coordinates and the major center and state it is located in, and finally, the starting of the description and general knowledge of the waymark, you can click to read more about the waymark you are currently standing at whenever you feel like looking.
Right under the interior to the waymark, a new part to the interface is the actual category of the waymark, and specifically, you can click on it, and it will bring up all the other waymarks in the same category around you in a list.
Currently, the app doesn’t give the creator’s name, but an ID instead, though you can click on the id and it brings up the actual waymarkers profile on the app with their name, but it is still being improved. This is planned to be fixed in upcoming beta testing releases before it gets to the public.
Underneath the creator you will find more info on the location that has been designated explicitly by Geocaching HQ when the category was created. Sometimes these are blank and can be fixed by the public (and hopefully, they will be able to do it in the app in the future).
And finally, you have the find logs below that.
Currently, the logging requirements are not in the app as there is no current API call for it, but rest assured the creators have been in contact with Geocaching HQ to have this fixed before release, hopefully.
When you have got all the requirements to log the waymark, or you want to leave a note, you can click on the log waymark button to log either a ‘Visit’ log or a ‘comment’ log. These are the only logs you can do with Waymarking currently at this time.
Now, if you are having troubles with the app or you want to change something about the waymark that is currently not accessible on the app, you can go up to the triple-dot button on the top right and choose to go to the waymark’s webpage itself and deal with the issue there. Or you can also do one of 4 other options once the button has been pressed, including “Find Waymarks Near This” location.
Now I have blabbed on long enough, go out and find a waymark, or even post one for people to find, and if you are from SA, we have a specific waymarking group you can join on the waymarking website, search up “Geocaching SA – Waymarking Group” on the waymarking group search page and choose to join.
All the best
James0116
Waymarkly beta tester