Cgeo: Introduce The public API of Munzee in To Live Map

[Rynee]

after speaking with mucek4 after receiving an update to the Cachesense app where Munzee was added it was suggested to me to open this issue. Munzee will give access to the Public API as well as CSV files needed to display Munzee geolocations. Cgeo is by far the one of the top Geocaching apps and with introducing Munzee API is can be the one app to rule them all

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[Rynee]

http://www.imgur.com/eb5qj.png

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[Rynee]

screenshot is of Cachesense using the Munzee public API to display on live map along with geocaches

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[SammysHP]

See https://github.com/cgeo/c-geo-opensource/issues/1482. Feel free to implement support for connectors and create one with the Munzee API (that converts the data into a geocache representation).

[Rynee]

you tag this as feedback yet move it to closed how is it to get any feedback.when its closed

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[SammysHP]

Well, I don't think that any feedback is necessary. We are aware of the fact that there are many interesting additional data sources. And we decided many times that we won't implement any of them at the moment.

[Lineflyer]

But I also think all of these requests for connectors should stay open as feature requests. Its only logical they cant be implemented right now before an Interface has been created.

[rsudev]

I see this along the lines of integrating the challenges. We decided back then, that we wanted c:geo to be a geocaching app, nothing more. So once we have a real connector interface, such an extension could be.implemented, but as a separate project, not in the scope of c:geo.

[Rynee]

with this mindset I feel we fall behind the curve and like I said to mucek4 Munzee wants to get involved just as they did with zitafarms cachesense app this coming from Scott foster from Munzee they recognize cgeo as a top app

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[Rynee]

so.I'm still confused on why this is still close tags with feature request and feedback and the milestone is connectors I posted on a Munzee facebook about wether this idea is something people would want to see ans they said yeah and have gone to using Cachesense because this is something they have brought to their app and I as well.have been leaning to using cachesense more than cgeo I ve been using cgeo strictly to log caches

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[SammysHP]

These issues are collected in the milestone and will be reopened when we have support for connectors. But at the moment there is nobody who wants to implement it.

[Rynee]

I spoke more with Scott from Munzee and told him about the issue with the connectors and he stated that Bruce from Zitafarms "cachesense isn't using connectors as they don't have a server either the app is making raw API calls

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[rsudev]

A connector has nothing to do with an external server or so, it is just a way to organize the software in a modular and decoupled fashion that allows the user to add the features to the core program that he wants. Connectors are just plugins for cache sources (that could leverage Munzees as well and that could someone implement that is interested in searching them. I personally could/would not take part as I do not want to get me a Munzee account)

[Rynee]

Like I Said Scott recognizes Cgeo as one of the top Geocaching apps and really wants to bring Munzee to it as a all in one app for Geocaching and Munzee and is willing to build an API to fit with how cgeo works

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[mucek4]

Basically he can fork c:geo and munze:geo

[Rynee]

That was actually discuss but can it be pushed to master
On Oct 16, 2012 12:50 AM, "mucek4" [email protected] wrote:

Basically he can fork c:geo and munze:geo

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Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/cgeo/c-geo-opensource/issues/2093#issuecomment-9473797.

[SammysHP]

No. We won't accept a direct implementation. Including munzee requires the connector interface that's not available at the moment and for the next months.

[Rynee]

Cachesense isn't using a connector interface as Scott from Munzee put it
the cachsense app is making raw API call.while using the Munzee.csv file
Scott also stated that cgeo could scrape the Munzee site just as it does
with groundspeak
On Oct 16, 2012 2:56 AM, "SammysHP" [email protected] wrote:

No. We won't accept a direct implementation. Including munzee requires the
connector interface that's not available at the moment and for the next
months.

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Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHubhttps://github.com/cgeo/c-geo-opensource/issues/2093#issuecomment-9475943.

[Rynee]

one thing I do want to mention is this has been asked for by others on the cgeo facebook page and on Munzee facebook groups people that use cgeo have switched to cachesense because they've added this people are paying for and using a 5$ app because they offer both geocaches as well as munzees

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[samueltardieu]

@Rynee: you don't seem to understand the issue. When c:geo was created by carnero, its original author, it was designed to support only geocaching.com caches by scraping the site, thus making it hard to integrate with more open APIs such as the one from opencaching.

People have been working for one year on c:geo trying to decouple the core of c:geo from the geocaching.com specific parts, in order to allow for alternate data sources. This change needs to be completed before we add more data sources to c:geo, and the last (but important) step is to build a connector interface so that new modules corresponding to data sources can be plugged without disturbing the core functionalities.

Implementing a Munzee interface right in the core of c:geo before the connector interface is written will increase the bloat in the codebase, and make decoupling even harder. One should not compromise the long-term quality of the software and increase the technical debt of c:geo as a whole to get a short-term functionality increase.

[samueltardieu]

one thing I do want to mention is this has been asked for by others on the
cgeo facebook page and on Munzee facebook groups people that use cgeo have
switched to cachesense because they've added this people are paying for and
using a 5$ app because they offer both geocaches as well as munzees

Well, so I guess it's good that we aren't trying to win a popularity contest then.

[Rynee]

can Munzee build a plugin to work with cgeo like go4cache did

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[samueltardieu]

can Munzee build a plugin to work with cgeo like go4cache did

What do you mean? go4cache was certainly not implemented as a plugin.

[Lineflyer]

Is there any possibility here now we have something like connectors?
I am asking because of user requests on FB and via support mail.

If possible we could at least leave it open as a feature request.

[SammysHP]

Why keep it open when Munzees aren't geocaches and c:geo is a geocaching app? :-1:

[Rynee]

Why ignore feature requests
On Jun 1, 2014 4:26 PM, "SammysHP" [email protected] wrote:

Why keep it open when Munzees aren't geocaches and c:geo is a geocaching
app? [image: :-1:]

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[SammysHP]

We can think about implementing it once Munzees are a physical container with a logbook.

[Rynee]

And why is it that just because you say no that it's no this was reopened
by a lineflyer who I thought was part of the development team but in a team
I thought all involved had an opinion on a subject

[Rynee]

@sammyshp these are your words from a year ago

SammysHP https://github.com/SammysHPover
https://github.com/cgeo/cgeo/issues/2093#issuecomment-9417308 1 year ago
https://github.com/cgeo/cgeo/issues/2093#issuecomment-9417308

These issues are collected in the milestone and will be reopened when we
have support for connectors. But at the moment there is nobody who wants to
implement it.

lineflyer reopened it as there are connectors in the the app now

[SammysHP]

Well, first of all I haven't closed this issue yet, but only told my opinion. Second, c:geo is a pure geocaching app. Let's wait for the opinions of @Bananeweizen, @samueltardieu and @rsudev (the most active devs here).

If (argh, now comes the if clause...) this would be implemented, I would request an implementation for OpenStreetMap Notes as I use them frequently while caching.

PS: Nope, there are no connectors at the moment. Only internal, not as third party apps.

[Rynee]

Pure Geocaching too me it appears that many other Geo based location games
are included

[Rynee]

http://imgur.com/uY92cSD

That doesn't look pure Geocaching

[SammysHP]

That doesn't look pure Geocaching

Not sure what you mean, but I can see only geocaching services. (Except for GCvote, but that's only for rating of caches, and send2cgeo, which sends caches from a computer to the phone.)

[Lineflyer]

I do see Munzee more or less as the same as e.g. "Virtual Caches" on gc.com and oc.
So I do see Munzee as possible source also for c:geo if there is someone willing to implement it.

[Bananeweizen]

I'm fine with having a Munzee connector. After all, that is not much different from virtual caches. And we already support waymarks. However, I guess that none of the core developers is planning to implement something for Munzee, so this would be a task for some external contributor. If someone can implement that, have all the necessary unit tests and is willing to also rework an initial contribution according to review comments, then go ahead.

That said, I'm also in favor of closing the issue with exactly that statement. An issue should not be left open for eternity "just because it could be implemented". The issue state should somewhat reflect the actual planning of the project. If someone is then stepping up, we can easily reopen it. And voting is of course also possible on closed issues.

PS: Regarding what and what not the app should be: I see it completely neutral what one can find with it, as long as it fits the existing architecture and doesn't need lots of special code. What I myself don't want to have in the app is all the stuff, that you can do with caches while you are not actually caching. E.g. statistics, creating new cache listings and similar stuff. Do that on the PC or with a browser...

[samueltardieu]

What Munzee public API are we talking about? Is there a documentation for it?

[Lineflyer]

Good question. While searching the net I stumbled upon one website, stating that they removed their munzee connection as munzee stopped offering data to 3rd partys.
However CacheSense seems to support it.

[SammysHP]

AFAIK there is no public API available (anymore).

[Bananeweizen]

I also only know of an announcement in their forum stating that there is a public API which is used by CacheSense. However, they have not given any link or description of that API there, so I believe it is "public on request/invitation" only.

[blafoo]

I've been in contact with them a month or two ago.

The summary is:

• there is a basic public API (brower API) at the moment. To use it _every_ client ip has to be added to a whitelist.
• it's quite easy to use, the responses are in JSON format
• there is a second kind of API: " mobile apps do not use the publicapi. They use a more secure method of getting the information."
• to use the basic public API they want to get paid because of the increase in bandwith and server load
• as an alternative they could "create a csv file nightly and upload it to our CDN for free so that you can grab it and process it"

At that point i stopped my plans. In my spare time i don't implement and support solutions that i consider to be worse.

[Lineflyer]

Hi blafoo. Nice to read you!
This sounds like ot does not make any sense.

[SammysHP]

Ok, thanks for the information, @blafoo. To support the API we have the following requirements:

1. It is free (at least free as in free beer).
2. Everybody who request access to the API must be allowed to use it. Why? Because c:geo is compiled by many people (developers, f-droid, etc.).

So I'll close this issue. If they changed something and a) everyone can get access to the API and b) someone is willing to implement it, then you can reopen the issue.

[Lineflyer]

Reopening this (too long) thread as we have new information and the last statement was, that we can reopen if some conditions are met.

Still we need someone willing and able to implement it if the below mentioned is technically compatible at all.

---

Howdy xxx,

My name is Scott xxx and I am the Co-Founder and VP of Technology for Munzee. We had talked briefly last year about integrating Munzee within c:geo and unfortunately, at the time, we weren't able to provide good documentation or implementation. We have spent the past few weeks working to solve that problem so that Munzee information can be integrated within c:geo.

We have an easy to use OAuth 2.0 API that can be used to get munzees within a bounding box (lat/lng), munzee information, player information, leaderboard information, etc.

You can start reading more information at the following links

http://www.munzee.com/api
http://www.munzee.com/api/bearer/
http://www.munzee.com/api-docs/

Please let me know what I can do for this to happen.

Thank you,
Scott xxx

---

[SammysHP]

And I'll still request integration of OSM notes when we integrate Munzee in the c:geo core (as usually I'm mapping while geocaching).

Oh, and http://confluence.org/ of course.

@Bananeweizen wrote:

After all, that is not much different from virtual caches. And we already support waymarks.

Where can I access Waymarks data in c:geo? It might be possible to import a GPX file, but that's already possible with Munzees.

[Lineflyer]

And I'll still request integration of OSM notes when we integrate Munzee in the c:geo core (as usually I'm mapping while geocaching).

Oh, and http://confluence.org/ of course.

Might be you are a little sarcastic? But honestly...people are different.

I think the judgement of whether we want something like that in c:geo should be focussed on "Its a game" and "It is using GPS to find a target and log it (on site and) online"

So, that would be: Munzee: OK, OSM notes: NOK, confluence.org = OK (if they have an API)

[SammysHP]

Then "c:geo - Geocaching for Android" won't be correct anymore. Maybe "c:geo - Geogaming for Android". ;)

[Lineflyer]

Then "c:geo - Geocaching for Android" won't be correct anymore. Maybe "c:geo - Geogaming for Android". ;)

Maybe.... and does not sound so bad.
Anyway for me Munzee integration is nothing really important from my perspective...but If someone comes around offering to implement it, I would not say No (and at least @Bananeweizen seems to also agree, not sure about others from the team).

[SammysHP]

Well, I can live with with Munzee integration, but we need someone who will maintain it (for more than a month or two).

[Bananeweizen]

I believe it is actually really easy to just query for munzees and to display them (in lists and maps). What will be way more complex is actually making the user able to do munzee specific stuff, e.g. scanning the QR code, logging, displaying different types of munzees and so on.

Therefore I would only start with integrating the query and display part, just like we do it for all kinds of connectors right now.

[Lineflyer]

Therefore I would only start with integrating the query and display part, just like we do it for all kinds of connectors right now.

I totally agree. The whole logging part with camera support and QRcode reading is way too special for the first step and need good thoughts about whether it makes sene at all to integrate this into c:geo itself (or just refer to another app or a plugin).

[Rynee]

As far as capturing that would still probably need to be handled by the
actually Munzee app a capture icon could be included to display and when
pressed a call to open the Munzee app would be made
On Apr 16, 2015 5:01 AM, "Lars" [email protected] wrote:

Therefore I would only start with integrating the query and display part,
just like we do it for all kinds of connectors right now.

I totally agree. The whole logging part with camera support and QRcode
reading is way too special for the first step and need good thoughts about
whether it makes sene at all to integrate this into c:geo itself (or just
refer to another app or a plugin).

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Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub
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[rsudev]

I would prefer to have such a support rather as a plugin, as I see this at least as sensitive as Contacts or Calendar interaction. Munzee explicitly states that they capture, record and analyze location information and may disclose that even to third parties for example for their advertisement business.
Something like that should be very explicit opt-in and therefore be best supplied through a separate plugin.

[mattdbr]

@rsudev I agree. Munzee is a very commercial game (I don't 100% agree with their leadership or practices). That said if cgeo was to implement it (as many people want) then plugin would be a better option imo - it also helps seperate cgeo for Geocaching and "cgeo for geogames"

[Rynee]

I have to ask what's wrong with the leadership and practices ?

On Jul 16, 2016 11:43 PM, "Matthew Brener" [email protected] wrote:

@rsudev https://github.com/rsudev I agree. Munzee is a very commercial
game (I don't 100% agree with their leadership or practices). That said if
cgeo was to implement it (as many people want) then plugin would be a
better option imo - it also helps seperate cgeo for Geocaching and "cgeo
for geogames"

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[mattdbr]

They made a huge cash grab and stuffed up a large portion of the game's dynamics. You've now got a huge issue where Mystery virtuals yield more points than most other stuff and they're virtual and able to be deployed anywhere. The amount of points you can get is only limited by the size of your wallet- Munzee was initially intended as a physical game. Groundspeak made the right choice grandfathering virtuals - a game's gotta make up its mind. Continuing on the way it's going I'd almost place money that in 3 years Munzee won't be around - there's gotta be huge changes.

Cgeo is open source so if data is used by someone else for commercial purposes that's a bit iffy. Needing to open an external app to actually scan makes the function a better fit for a plugin.

Each to their own though but @rsudev 's proposal is the best IMO - it gives Munzee players an option for implementing it with cgeo (which when I played actively was a feature I would've found fun) as well as keeping cgeo in its roots a geocaching app.

[Rynee]

Have to say I'm amused at the fact that in your opinion they won't be
around in 3 years funny thing is people said that about them not even
lasting a year and here they are celebrating their 5th birthday

On Jul 17, 2016 12:58 AM, "Matthew Brener" [email protected] wrote:

They made a huge cash grab and stuffed up a large portion of the game's
dynamics. You've now got a huge issue where Mystery virtuals yield more
points than most other stuff and they're virtual and able to be deployed
anywhere. The amount of points you can get is only limited by the size of
your wallet- Munzee was initially intended as a physical game. Groundspeak
made the right choice grandfathering virtuals - a game's gotta make up its
mind. Continuing on the way it's going I'd almost place money that in 3
years Munzee won't be around - there's gotta be huge changes.

Cgeo is open source so if data is used by someone else for commercial
purposes that's a bit iffy. Needing to open an external app to actually
scan makes the function a better fit for a plugin.

Each to their own though but @rsudev https://github.com/rsudev 's
proposal is the best IMO - it gives Munzee players an option for
implementing it with cgeo (which when I played actively was a feature I
would've found fun) as well as keeping cgeo in its roots a geocaching app.

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[mattdbr]

Be my guest to believe what you want. In their first year they weren't cash
grabbing. Many of the communities on Facebook etc have gone sour.

This is an issue thread, not a whinge thread so let's return to the
implementation of Munzee Api

On 22 July 2016 at 07:37, Ryan Rokey [email protected] wrote:

Have to say I'm amused at the fact that in your opinion they won't be
around in 3 years funny thing is people said that about them not even
lasting a year and here they are celebrating their 5th birthday

On Jul 17, 2016 12:58 AM, "Matthew Brener" [email protected]
wrote:

They made a huge cash grab and stuffed up a large portion of the game's
dynamics. You've now got a huge issue where Mystery virtuals yield more
points than most other stuff and they're virtual and able to be deployed
anywhere. The amount of points you can get is only limited by the size of
your wallet- Munzee was initially intended as a physical game.
Groundspeak
made the right choice grandfathering virtuals - a game's gotta make up
its
mind. Continuing on the way it's going I'd almost place money that in 3
years Munzee won't be around - there's gotta be huge changes.

Cgeo is open source so if data is used by someone else for commercial
purposes that's a bit iffy. Needing to open an external app to actually
scan makes the function a better fit for a plugin.

Each to their own though but @rsudev https://github.com/rsudev 's
proposal is the best IMO - it gives Munzee players an option for
implementing it with cgeo (which when I played actively was a feature I
would've found fun) as well as keeping cgeo in its roots a geocaching
app.

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[Rynee]

What Facebook communities are you in

On Jul 21, 2016 5:26 PM, "Matthew Brener" [email protected] wrote:

Be my guest to believe what you want. In their first year they weren't cash
grabbing. Many of the communities on Facebook etc have gone sour.

This is an issue thread, not a whinge thread so let's return to the
implementation of Munzee Api

On 22 July 2016 at 07:37, Ryan Rokey [email protected] wrote:

Have to say I'm amused at the fact that in your opinion they won't be
around in 3 years funny thing is people said that about them not even
lasting a year and here they are celebrating their 5th birthday

On Jul 17, 2016 12:58 AM, "Matthew Brener" [email protected]
wrote:

They made a huge cash grab and stuffed up a large portion of the game's
dynamics. You've now got a huge issue where Mystery virtuals yield more
points than most other stuff and they're virtual and able to be
deployed
anywhere. The amount of points you can get is only limited by the size
of
your wallet- Munzee was initially intended as a physical game.
Groundspeak
made the right choice grandfathering virtuals - a game's gotta make up
its
mind. Continuing on the way it's going I'd almost place money that in 3
years Munzee won't be around - there's gotta be huge changes.

Cgeo is open source so if data is used by someone else for commercial
purposes that's a bit iffy. Needing to open an external app to actually
scan makes the function a better fit for a plugin.

Each to their own though but @rsudev https://github.com/rsudev 's
proposal is the best IMO - it gives Munzee players an option for
implementing it with cgeo (which when I played actively was a feature I
would've found fun) as well as keeping cgeo in its roots a geocaching
app.

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[ghost]

If you guys would like to have a phone/skype call to discuss how Munzee and cgeo can work together, I'm all for it. You can also directly email me at [email protected]. I have certainly done a lot with the API to help the app MunzStat be a much better app and fill the gaps that the main Munzee app cannot due to our limited resources. I'd love to help out cgeo too.

[mattdbr]

@coolant is the API still paid? If so that would be incompatible with c:geo. Would be nice to have as a plugin - should help join the games together, not split them.

Not too sure if anyone here's willing to build in the functionality at present but I'll tag @Lineflyer to make sure he knows and can pass it on.

[ghost]

The API is free up until a point - https://www.munzee.com/api/. We do this so our infrastructure doesn't become too overloaded. Although, we also can make exceptions to the rule 😉

As far as working together, I'm all for it. Let me know how I can help besides code it. I don't know Java. 😄

[Vike91]

I don't know if this would be a justified comment but I'd love to be able to play Munzee in the c:geo app.