I have the Garmin instinct solar. I also use my phone to navigate while in the backcountry. The other day I discovered the Garmin Explore app. I figured out that I can connect the app to my watch and it will display my path as I'm recording. This is super helpful sometimes as I'm often off trail, etc.
The question I have is relevant to managing my phone's battery life. My navigation app (Gaia GPS) can record my track too, but because it is using the phone's GPS it drains my phone battery very quickly so I avoid doing that. I had hoped that Garmin Explore worked in a way where it would be very gentle on the phone battery.
Here is my question: When Garmin Explore shows my current route so far, is it using Bluetooth to retrieve the path so far on my Garmin Instinct watch, rather than using the phone's GPS in real time? In this case the Garmin Explore app should only update my path when I open up the app and look at it on the phone, and this should be very battery efficient. Is that how it works?
I ask because Garmin Explore does seem to deplete the battery faster than I was hoping. If you can explain technically how the sync works that would be helpful.
