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Location in Explore App not Updating unless I Force Quit App Each Time

Colin Southern
4 months ago

I've recently purchased an inReach Mini 2 - installed the Explorer & Messenger apps on my iPhone - and everything is syncing as it should.

I am having an issue manually adding waypoints in the Explore app though; the app isn't updating my current location.

 I would have thought that the solid blue triangle would always reflect my current location - or at least tapping on the red triangle under the magnifying glass in the top right corner of the screen would center the map on my current location, but neither of these things happen.

If I force quit and then restart the app then the blue triangle immediately moves to my current location and I can accurately create a waypoint from there - but as I carry on walking it doesn't update until I force quit the app and restart it again. Currently the only ways I have to save an accurate waypoint for a current location is to force quit the app & then restart it, or create the waypoint on the inReach Mini 2 and then sync it with the phone.

- Phone has a perfect view of the sky.

- I've checked to ensure background app refresh is on

Is what I'm experiencing the expected app behaviour? And if not, any idea what I can try to fix it?

Many thanks,

Cheers, Colin 

  • +1 4 months ago

    It's not expected app behavior. I would delete the app and power down the phone. Turn phone back on and download app again.

  • 0 4 months ago

    Does the Explore app have permission to access your location? You can check on the iPhone via Settings > Privacy & security > Location Services. It should be set to either When Using the App or Always. Toggling this setting may help as well.

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to Like2Hike

    Many thanks; I "gave that a go" and for the first time, I can see the location pointer "dancing around" a bit - so it's looking hopeful.

     I'll give it a proper test & report back.

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to JungleJim

    Many thanks for the reply Jim. My apologies - I neglected to mention that I'd already done what you suggested.

    I'd pretty much ruled that out anyway, on the basis of it being able to access the location as soon as the app was launched; it just never updated from there.

  • 0 4 months ago

    Follow-up question folks:

    If recording and plotting my current position is the norm for the app, what determines when it does and doesn't do this?

    eg if I go for a hike then I'd want it to track me, but I wouldn't want it to record my day-to-day commutes to and from work etc.

    I can't see any "start tracking now" control, so does one have to remember to just force quit the app when tracking isn't required? Or does it mirror the Garmin inReach Mini 2 tracking mode?

    Many thanks,

    Cheers, Colin 

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to Colin Southern

    A few things to be aware of.

    The Explore app uses your phone's GPS. If you go to "Layers" (the map layers symbol, upper left of map page) which is actually called Map Settings (Garmin should have used the cog wheel settings symbol) you will see a "switch" called "Prefer Device Location". With that switch off, the app is using the phone's GPS, when on and your Mini 2 is blue-toothed, it is using the M2 GPS. If using the M2 GPS, the blue triangle should have a bluetooth symbol within it. My app doesn't work as it should, maybe yours will.

    So you should determine which GPS you have been using and possibly rule out the other, but most likely it is neither GPS, it is the app.

    The app should mirror the M2 tracking.

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to Like2Hike

    Thanks for that - it's very helpful.

    My app was set to "Prefer Device Location", so I'm guessing that that's the default. Probably a sensible choice given that the phone is probably only GPS whereas the M2 is GNSS (I've selected that mode).

    So - in summary - regradless of the setting of the "prefer phone" vs "prefer device" switch you mentioned, although the app constantly shows my current location, it only records tracks when tracking is turned on from either the device itself or from the messanger app? (thus if the M2 isn't turned on then there's no way for the Explore app to turn on tracking?)

    Cheers,

    Colin

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to Colin Southern

    Yes, you are correct it only records tracks when it is blue toothed to the device and the device is recording tracks. If you are not blue toothed, even if Prefer Device Location is turned on, it will use the phone GPS, since it's not getting a device signal.

    I don't use the Messenger app, due to other problems I've experienced with it and the Explore app. If the Messenger app allows you to initiate track recording, it would only actually initiate it, if it is blue toothed to the device. The device is doing the work, and the apps just provide an easier interface to communicate with the device.

    Since your app was set to "Prefer Device Location", did you see a bluetooth symbol inside the blue triangle?

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to Like2Hike

    Thanks again - it's all starting to make a lot more sense now. I've driven into work and the app is now correctly displaying my location - so looking like the reinstall/restart did the trick.

    I can't recall ever seeing the bluetooth symbol, but I haven't had the M2 turned on since reinstalling the app and ensuring that the app is set to "prefer device" - so it's possible that (a) it's never been displaying correctly, or (b) it was previously set to prefer phone GPS - can't be 100% sure. I'll do some testing and update this thread.

    Off memory, do you know if there's a way to delete errant points from a track? The GPS miscalculated one point on a walk last night (by several kilometers) and thus "makes a bit of a mess of things"; would be great to be able to just delete that point.

  • 0 4 months ago in reply to Colin Southern

    You can't delete errant points from within the Garmin products. You would need to use third party gpx editor software. I don't have experience with any, but you can do a search for "gpx editor" and see that they are available. 

    If what you recorded may have been recorded by others previously, you can also download other's recordings on various third party community websites. This won't be an option if you're trying to keep your recordings only your own, of course. But if you simply want an accurate track, someone else may have uploaded one on a pertinent website.