Hi Garmin team,
I’m writing to share my experience as a long-time inReach user (GPSMAP 66i) with both the Explore and Messenger apps. I recently spent hours trying to edit my preset messages (including recipients), and I ran into a frustrating problem I now realize many others have faced.
Years ago, I was able to set up my preset messages using Garmin Explore — no issues. At the time, I had both Explore and Messenger installed on my phone, and everything worked together fine. But recently, after reinstalling Messenger, I lost the ability to edit preset message recipients in both the app and the website. It took me a long time to realize that Messenger had silently taken control of the messaging system, which blocks Explore from managing presets at all.
To make things worse:
- Messenger only shows the 3 preset messages, but doesn’t let you edit recipients.
- Explore loses access to presets entirely when Messenger is active.
- There’s no warning or option to switch control back.
- You have to uninstall Messenger just to restore functionality in Explore.
It’s not clear to users that messaging control can silently transfer between systems. And it’s not acceptable that one app lets you use preset messages but not configure them, while the other can configure them but not use them unless the other app is deleted.
This needs to be addressed. Please:
- Make this handoff between apps transparent
- Add preset message editing to Messenger
- Or let us choose which app controls messaging
I rely on this system in the field, and preset message management should not be this confusing or fragile.
Thank you.
Hakim Schepis
Device: GPSMAP 66i
