Garmin Explore™

Name: Garmin Explore™
Rating: 4 (823 reviews)
Author: Garmin

Explore with a Garmin device

Free

823 Ratings
Ages

13+
Years
Category

Navigation
Developer

Garmin
Language

EN
+ 35 More
Size

480.4
MB

OFF-GRID NAVIGATION When paired with your compatible Garmin device(1), the Garmin Explore app lets you use your mobile device for outdoor navigation, trip planning, mapping and more — with or without Wi-Fi® connectivity or cellular service. SEARCH TOOL Easily locate geographic points — such as trailheads or mountain summits — associated with your adventure. STREAMING MAPS For pre-trip planning, you can use the Garmin Explore app to stream maps when you’re within cellular or Wi-Fi range — saving valuable time as well as storage space on your mobile device. Download maps for offline use when venturing outside cellular range. PAIR, SYNC AND SHARE With Garmin Explore, you can pair your smartphone or tablet with your compatible Garmin device to sync and share data for off-grid adventures. Use downloadable maps for navigation anywhere. EASY TRIP PLANNING Plan your next trip by downloading maps and creating courses. Specify your start and finish points, and automatically create a course you can sync with your compatible Garmin device. ACTIVITY LIBRARY Under the Saved tab, review and edit your organized data, including your saved waypoints, tracks, courses and activities. See map thumbnails to easily recognize your trips. SAVED COLLECTIONS The collections list allows you to quickly find all data related to any trip — making it easy to sort and locate the course or location you’re looking for. CLOUD STORAGE The waypoints, courses and activities you’ve created will automatically sync to your Garmin Explore web account when you’re within cellular or Wi-Fi range, preserving your activity data with cloud storage. A Garmin account is required for storing your data in the cloud. LIVETRACK™ With the use of the LiveTrack™ feature, loved ones can follow your location in real time(2) and see data such as distance, time and elevation. What You Get with Garmin Explore • Unlimited map downloads; access topographic maps, USGS quad sheets and more • Aerial imagery • Waypoints, tracking and route navigation • High-detail GPS trip logging and location sharing • Unlimited cloud storage of routes, waypoints, tracks, and activities • Online trip planning 1. https://explore.garmin.com/appcompatibility 2. When used with your compatible smartphone, the Garmin Explore® app and your compatible inReach® technology-enabled Garmin device. The Bluetooth word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Garmin is under license.

Ratings & Reviews

4.0

out of 5

823 Ratings

Awesome! With one flaw.
12/13/2020

Jamison2808
So my family does amateur paleontology, and because of that we tend to stick to public land and avoid private property like the plague unless we have express consent to be there. When I heard that this had public land marked out on the maps on this app I got super excited! I own a tactix delta and it’s my daily driver, but as I looked at these highly detailed maps...there’s no key. No where to be found. Now maybe in some submenu that I can’t find it’s there, but it’s certainly not apparent. If I have one gripe with this app it’s that it would be wonderful if there was a bright and clearly marked button to present the map key so that I can actually see visually the difference between public and private land on each map. Aside from that this app is a rockstar! It lets us make fuel calculations since we can watch our boating activities live, drop down for a dive when we tie off and switch activities, mark positions of fossil beds, and track back to the boat and the launch all in one app! It’s awesome! But please guys...a key would be amazing! Thanks for all the hard work though that went into building such an awesome app!
Awesome! With one flaw.
12/13/2020

Jamison2808

So my family does amateur paleontology, and because of that we tend to stick to public land and avoid private property like the plague unless we have express consent to be there. When I heard that this had public land marked out on the maps on this app I got super excited! I own a tactix delta and it’s my daily driver, but as I looked at these highly detailed maps...there’s no key. No where to be found. Now maybe in some submenu that I can’t find it’s there, but it’s certainly not apparent. If I have one gripe with this app it’s that it would be wonderful if there was a bright and clearly marked button to present the map key so that I can actually see visually the difference between public and private land on each map. Aside from that this app is a rockstar! It lets us make fuel calculations since we can watch our boating activities live, drop down for a dive when we tie off and switch activities, mark positions of fossil beds, and track back to the boat and the launch all in one app! It’s awesome! But please guys...a key would be amazing! Thanks for all the hard work though that went into building such an awesome app!
Wonderful Hiker’s Tool
05/24/2022

bioquant
Recent updates are a substantial improvement! After a year of use, I have found this app to be a reliable and powerful tool to plan hiking and kayaking trips. However, the Course Creation functionality was previously rather clunky. I was pleasantly surprised by the new interface that defaults to routing along known trails. Rather than dozens of points to (usually poorly) approximate a route, I was able to plan out a winding course with only a few intermediate waypoints. Had a perfect time on that route, navigating from a fēnix.One feature I’d hope to see added in the future is a way to set a default Collection for recorded activities. Maybe I’m missing something, but recordings currently default to “Unorganized” which becomes such a mess on my local map if I don’t visit the app frequently (weekly) and assign these to a Collection…one by one. Even better would be if the Save step on devices showed some awareness of possible Collections to which to save.I highly recommend this app. Hats off to the dev team!
Wonderful Hiker’s Tool
05/24/2022

bioquant

Recent updates are a substantial improvement! After a year of use, I have found this app to be a reliable and powerful tool to plan hiking and kayaking trips. However, the Course Creation functionality was previously rather clunky. I was pleasantly surprised by the new interface that defaults to routing along known trails. Rather than dozens of points to (usually poorly) approximate a route, I was able to plan out a winding course with only a few intermediate waypoints. Had a perfect time on that route, navigating from a fēnix.One feature I’d hope to see added in the future is a way to set a default Collection for recorded activities. Maybe I’m missing something, but recordings currently default to “Unorganized” which becomes such a mess on my local map if I don’t visit the app frequently (weekly) and assign these to a Collection…one by one. Even better would be if the Save step on devices showed some awareness of possible Collections to which to save.I highly recommend this app. Hats off to the dev team!
Nice platform but….
08/25/2024

Gryphon8969
I am all in on Garmin so the interoperability between my devices is great but…. Non garmin is an issue. Example. I was back country with a friend. We got separated. He had a different satellite service. I couldn’t reach him because explore with an Inreach device is required in the non cell/internet world. I had to reach a remote friend who then had to copy and manually paste into OnX then reach my friend with my coordinates. Garmin being the best should be the leader in interoperability. They should not worry about losing market share. The triangle rule of “faster, better, cheaper—- pick two”. Will eventually bring them customers. Garmin is not cheaper—- it’s faster and better— always. I repeat do better, lead by example, drive interoperability among your peers. Lives are on the line in the back country. All systems should work to save them. The SAR community needs a leader…. Be it.
Nice platform but….
08/25/2024

Gryphon8969

I am all in on Garmin so the interoperability between my devices is great but…. Non garmin is an issue. Example. I was back country with a friend. We got separated. He had a different satellite service. I couldn’t reach him because explore with an Inreach device is required in the non cell/internet world. I had to reach a remote friend who then had to copy and manually paste into OnX then reach my friend with my coordinates. Garmin being the best should be the leader in interoperability. They should not worry about losing market share. The triangle rule of “faster, better, cheaper—- pick two”. Will eventually bring them customers. Garmin is not cheaper—- it’s faster and better— always. I repeat do better, lead by example, drive interoperability among your peers. Lives are on the line in the back country. All systems should work to save them. The SAR community needs a leader…. Be it.
Failed When I Needed it Most
May 26

C Fazio
Update: the app is even worse after new updates. It crashes constantly, the new ui is a serious downgrade, and can’t rely on this app the way I used to (it’s completely unreliable now). The app is usually good but logged me out while I was in the wilderness and required me to have cell service/internet connection to log back in. This left me without access to the app and the resources it provides (messaging and navigation) for 5 days while trekking through the mountains. If I didn’t have a paper map I would have been completely without navigation. There is no reason an app designed to be used in places without cell service should log you and out and require cell service/internet once you have logged in and registered your account and satellite device with it. I used to view this product very highly but now I cannot trust this tool knowing that it can leave me stranded. For a company and product that you are supposed to trust with your safety this is unacceptable. (I reached out to customer support about this issue and have yet to receive a response a week later. For a complete failure of their product, Garmin has shown zero concern.)
Failed When I Needed it Most
May 26

C Fazio

Update: the app is even worse after new updates. It crashes constantly, the new ui is a serious downgrade, and can’t rely on this app the way I used to (it’s completely unreliable now). The app is usually good but logged me out while I was in the wilderness and required me to have cell service/internet connection to log back in. This left me without access to the app and the resources it provides (messaging and navigation) for 5 days while trekking through the mountains. If I didn’t have a paper map I would have been completely without navigation. There is no reason an app designed to be used in places without cell service should log you and out and require cell service/internet once you have logged in and registered your account and satellite device with it. I used to view this product very highly but now I cannot trust this tool knowing that it can leave me stranded. For a company and product that you are supposed to trust with your safety this is unacceptable. (I reached out to customer support about this issue and have yet to receive a response a week later. For a complete failure of their product, Garmin has shown zero concern.)

Various bug fixes and improvements

Version 4.10.2

5d ago

Data Linked to You

The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
- Location
- Contact Info
- Contacts
- Identifiers
Data Not Linked to You

The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
- Usage Data
- Diagnostics