How does this feature work. When I click on this button on the share.garmin.com website it says it will send a message to the Mini which I will receive before transmitting the location back. It also says it can take up to five days.
Family or friends or whoever you shared your MapShare link to, hits that button to see your exact location. Garmin inreach servers send a location request to your device. I think you have the option to send your precise location right then and there, or ignore it and let the tracking interval you've set do its thing. This is how I understand it. I could be wrong though.
That's how I understand it as well but I don't get any request or notification on my Mini. It sounds like I have to approve the request before it goes through .
No confirmation is required from the user of the device. AFAIK, there is no indication on the device that a locate request was received and processed.
Once the location is returned to the web site, it will appear as a blue circled star on the map (similar in appearance to the button with which you requested the location, except blue). If the device is not moving, you may not see the location because it will appear "behind" the large blue triangle marking the last known location of the device.
The pop-up box which appears on the web site when you ask to send a location request refers to two times: 20 minutes and 5 days.
20 minutes refers to the situation where the device is turned on and has a clear view of the sky. In theory, such a device will receive the location request and send a response within 20 minutes. In practice, it may take longer than that. There are lots of moving parts in the whole message reception thing. As I currently understand it, the message might be received via a passive "listen" operation - but it's unlikely. These used to be more reliable, being synchronized with the server at 20 minute intervals - which is where the 20 minute figure comes from. These days, they're less reliable. Other changes in the way messaging is handled eliminated the syncrhonized 20 minute feature. You should not depend on delivery via passive listen. The device periodically does an active check for messages even when it has nothing to send. I believe this happens at one-hour intervals. Otherwise, the device checks for messages when it sends something (outbound message or sent track point) or when you actively check for messages via the "check for mail" widget. So worst case when the device is on and has a clear view of the sky should be one hour. Less if you're sending track points at intervals of less than an hour, if you're sending messages, or if you actively check for messages manually.
The 5 days refers to the situation where the device is off, does not have a clear view of the sky, or does not receive the request for some other reason (see above). In this case, the Garmin servers will periodically send the locate request again, for up to 5 days. If there has been no response within 5 days, the servers give up.
I believe it should. However, the response is likely to be delayed, perhaps for quite some time. Message checking is disabled in extended tracking mode. As a result, the device will not see the locate request until it sends something (including a sent track point) or until you do a manual message check.
