Is Garmin Explore Web the same as the Garmin Explore App?

As you know, the Garmin Explore app is a mobile phone app. You must download and install the free app from your app store.

Garmin Explore web is a web site with similar functionality. There is nothing to download. Simply navigate to explore.garmin.com with your favorite browser. Sign in with the same credentials you use to sign into the Explore app on your phone.

There is no mobile version of the web site. It is best visited using a desktop browser. 

In general, the functionality on the web site is comparable to that of the mobile app. The mechanics differ because of the platform. Some things are easier on one platform or the other. For example, route planning on the map is easier in the app.

I have a related question... I currently have an inReach mini, and an instinct watch. I think i understand how the tracks / routes / waypoints work with the inreach, i am however getting lost with how the instinct data works. I can't seem to figure out where the important data is kept. If I make a course in Connect, then upload it to my watch using connect, that works as i'd expect, however it gets a little murkier when using the explore ios app... which i guess actually kind of makes sense too... it's where this all connects to the Explore web app that i get lost... is there a way for me to manage all of the courses i send to my instinct through just the Explore web app?

I've noticed that if i delete courses from the web app, at next sync (from the explore ios app?) that it is removed from my watch... however i can't seem to add a "course" to the web app, then have it upload... or am i missing something...

sorry for the length and the level of confusion, but man, this is circuitous at best...

On the Explore web site (and in the app), "courses" are known as "routes".  If you create a route on the web site or in the app, it should sync to the watch (assuming the watch is on the same account and the route is in an appropriate collection - see below). 

You can also import data into the web site and turn it into a route, which will then sync to the watch and/or the Mini. You can import GPX, KMZ or KML files either as routes or tracks. Tracks are different from routes. What you can do with a track varies by device. Routes can always be followed. If the imported data has more than 200 points (at least, I THINK 200 is the current limit), the data will be "thinned" to fit the limit. Depending on the track, this may result in loss of detail in the resulting route. This is particularly noticeable on tracks that contain switchbacks or similar topology. You can also import courses direct from your connect account. 

Routes only sync if they are in a collection which syncs to the device. That is, the active collection for the device or what the web site currently calls a "synced collection".  

i get most of that. With Courses (which is what the Instinct calls them), they apparently need to be what the inReach would consider a Track. I can't directly upload "Routes" that i've seen. 
I've basically decided to detach my instinct from the explore website and instead manage it through the Connect app. It becomes very confusing to have a Track and a Route in the same library that is the same thing. And then, on top of all that, it seems that through some of the syncing, some of the tracks (courses) double up, they duplicate... they have the same name, creation date, data, etc (this shouldn't be possible in a database). 

Basically I'm trying to use my inreach to display current tracking info, and some backup navigation, and i'm trying to use the instinct to be a quick on trail reference, and it also buzzes when i get off the course. It can all be managed if i keep them all separated. It's just confusing what controls what, like i said, i'm not sure if i'm into bugs, or if i'm into expected behavior. 

The course vs. route terminology is something which is specific to the inReach line. The Garmin watches (and the rest of the Garmin Connect ecosystem) call them courses with no confusion. 

On inReach devices, courses (as they are known on the watch) are known as routes. The Explore web site and app have adopted the inReach terminology. So they are called routes there, regardless of the device(s) with which you use them.

On the iR devices, tracks and routes are not actually the same thing. Tracks are just what they sound like - a recording of where you've been. Some (but not all) inReach devices can "follow" a track. A route is something which all iR devices can "follow".

You can upload a track (recorded on some other device) to the Explore web site. You can upload it as either a track or a route (course in watch terminology). You can sync either one *track or route) to an inReach device. You can certainly sync a route (aka course) to the watch. I believe you can also sync a track to the watch, but I am not sure what you can do with it once you get it there.

You can also import your Garmin Connect courses directly into the Explore web site. I've never done it, but am virtually certain that it will come across as a route (aka course), which you can then sync to either the inReach or the watch.

While you may end up with a track and route that are "the same thing" in your mind, they aren't entirely the same thing on the device. The fundamental distinction is that the route (aka course) is always routable on the device. That is, the device can "follow" it. Whether or not a track can be "followed" depends on the device. Also, if you imported a track as a route, the resulting route may well have (a lot) fewer points than the corresponding track.

I believe that duplication of data on sync is a known bug. It seems to have to do with having an item with the same "name" on two different devices. You know it's the same thing. But the ecosystem treats them as different things (because each has a different internal unique ID, which is what really controls the sync process). This problem has been around for a while without a fix.

Yeah, that's where i think there's confusion... I've tried using Routes with the instinct, it will upload to the watch, but then when the watch does another sync, i will now have a track with the same name. This is something that happens that I do not make happen. 

Again, i was trying to have this all in one window to deal with, but honestly, this Garmin ecosystem around the Explore app is really confusing... it seems like it's taking things that should be very easy and needlessly complicates it by having it a separate thing. I understand the inReach is probably causing all kinds of problems integrating with the rest of the Garmin environment, so I'm willing to be patient, but I can't believe that any of this is something that someone would actively design as a good way to "manage" these devices. 

Like I said, for now, i'm just not entangling my watch with the Explore app... perhaps someday the Explore app will replace the Earthmate app for the inReach, and it will start to work better together. 

Generally I'm very pleased with the devices, it's the software that is driving me crazy.

I'm new to all this and I'm trying to figure out the functionalities of Explore via both explore web and the explore app. For me as a newbie, both seem very different.  E.g.:

- Converting a track to a route, it something that I can only find in the app. Also, deleting a track can only be found in the app.

- The collection "Sent to MapShare" on the other hand, is something I can only find in the Web-version. This is annoying, because it contains a useless track that I cannot delete because of the above.

(I've used the web-version via both Chrome and Safari, on a Mac. I'm using the app on an iPhone).

Any clues? Do I really seem to miss different functionalities in both versions?

You are correct, that the website and app are not exactly the same, just mostly similar. You have pointed out some of the differences, but there are others. So if you want to accomplish something, check all 3 platforms (device, app, website) to determine which one is most efficient.