I downloaded the latest version of the Explore app on my phone. I downloaded maps and synced with my 935. The courses I had on my watch synced and I can view them in the Explore app. Now what? I was under the assumption that if I downloaded maps of my area, I could create a course on my phone using the Explore app without internet access and then download that created map to my 935 using Bluetooth. Was my assumption wrong? If it's suppose to work that way, what am I missing here? If it doesn't work like that, what is the purpose of the Explore app? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Yes, that's how it should work. Unfortunately I'm having syncing issues with Explore and my 935, so it doesn't work for me at all, except that I can see my device's locations in Explore (but not courses).
But I think the way it's supposed to work is:
1) Pair device (e.g. 935) with Explore. A new "collection" will be created (e.g. "My First Collection") that will sync with your device 2) Create routes and waypoints on the map. 3) Tap on Library and select Routes or Waypoints. 4) In the list of Routes/Waypoints, press Edit and select the items you want to send to your device 5) Press Add To and select your collection (it should say that it's synced with your device) 6) Tap Devices and press the sync button (circular arrow) next to your device.
All should work as you expect, If you think of Collections in Explore the same way as Playlists in iTunes, and then remember that only the one Playlist/Collection will sync to the watch, then things will click in to place. So it’s likely you’ve the created the route and it’s in your Library on Explore, but it’s not been added to the Collection that syncs with 935 yet.
This is where it’s a shame that some of the Explore tutorial videos that Garmin briefly posted on YouTube last September, were taken down and have not reappeared. As I recall, all of this was shown in one of those videos.
I will add that while your device will have the one “active” Collection in Explore which also syncs new device data (*) back to Explore, it’s also possible to create secondary Collections to sync between your device and Explore. Multiple “playlists” so to speak. That way if you have multiple devices, it’s easier to share some (but not necessarily all) routes and locations between them.
(* Courses and waypoints created on the device itself or synced from GC)
Of course I can’t actually test any of this because syncing isn’t working for me, but that’s what I gather from the help in the app.
Like Crispin said, the unintuitive part is that when you create new routes and locations in Explore, they don’t get automatically added to your device’s collection. You have to do that manually. I think the app should at least prompt to do this for you. Instead of having a tutorial video, I think the app should either be so intuitive you don’t need one, or it should have a built in tutorial / hints. Especially because, unlike apps on the watch, a phone or tablet app has a lot more possibilities for explaining things to the user or simplifying complexity.
Pretty sure that when you create a new route in Explore for the first time, there’s no hint at all that you need to add it to a Collection for something to actually happen. But maybe I missed it or forgot.
Crispin_Ellisdon and WillNorthYork Thanks. The issue was with the "collections" and I got almost everything figured out. The one thing I can't figure out how to name my course. Once downloaded to my 935 it just says "route" and I can rename it once it's on the watch. If there's a way to name it prior to downloading, I can't seem to figure it out.
Just tested on both my iPad and iPhone and I can rename the courses (Explore app version 1.6). Assuming the app is up to date on your device, are you on Android? Maybe it’s a bug there.
TMK17 All I can suggest is raising a support ticket via the Garmin Customer Support portal; unless one of the app dev team pick this up (they do drop in on this forum from time to time).
