AllTrails and inReach mini

Dear forum partner: I have been using Garmin's outdoor GPS from 15 years ago and I am newbie at Inreach but I can assure at 100 % that the mini will never give you the performance that you are searching. In mini signal comes and goes to save battery . Also you must take care of your phone battery too. My recommendation is that if you can , buy an outdoor GPS and leave the mini just for SOS and communication . I have a 64sx and it has signal where others fails . There are many other more expensive and other cheaper devices . The mini is a great communication device but not a GPS navigator. If you need more information please let me know it . Martin

To answer the specific question, it should work with an iPhone. Probably not with Android. This is because the Mini is exposed to all iOS apps via location services. My understanding is that other apps cannot use the Mini GPS on an Android phone.

That said, you will likely have to experiment with the Mini logging interval to find a setting which gives you an adequately accurate and “continuous” fix. This may involve logging at 30 seconds or less. This causes the Mini to keep the GPS radio on at all times, which really sucks battery power. You will also need to carry the Mini in an “ideal” location, such as high on the shoulder of your pack strap.

In addition to Twolpert post , I will say that the Mini (I love it) is not an outdoor GPS unit, the smart phone (whatever brand it be) is not an outdoor GPS .

So... you will never have the same performance compared to an outdoor GPS , even to a cheap model.

My humble suggestion is buy an outdoor GPS.

If you need more data about models, just let me know it

I'm fairly sure the mini cannot be used to provide GPS data to the iPhone.  The iPhone is a very closed system and the location services cannot be adjusted the way you can on an Android.  The iPhone can use some external bluetooth units (I have  Garmin Glo 2) but even with this, the location services will merge or use what it determines is the more accurate data (there is no way to say "use this source).  I just played with the mini and my iphone along with the GPS data app I use to confirm accuracy, With the GPS Data app you will see the standard 1/sec data from the phone.  It is always possible that the rare mini data gets thrown in there but this is impossible to tell - that and given that it only provides a lock at limited intervals, it would not really do any good.  If you turn off location services on the phone this is across the board so no GPS is provided.

I use my Garmin Glo 2 for mapping and location/track validation (mostly setting up forest orienteering courses).  With the iPhone, again, the location services determine where to get the data from.  I can tell when the Glo gets a lock because the data rate for the phone jumps to 4/sec (the Glo also handles the situation where you stop and the gps wanders all over the place).  With an Android there are a number of apps available to control the GPS source and, with the Glo it will provide 10/sec data points.  Not having an Android I cannot say if this could be used with the mini.

I know this is reverse of what twolpert thought - I can only base my opinion on the experience with the Glo, the Mini and discussions with Android users on how they implement external GPS sources. 

Overall, I agree with the comments that the Mini has a very specific purpose but is not designed nor intended to be a accurate tracker or mapper.  If you don't need to worry about the battery life on the phone (and are not happy with the accuracy of the phone) then try a Glo (the Glo2 has GPS and Glonass). or get a system designed for accurate tracking and mapping.  And always bring along a paper map!

We're both sort of right. The Mini IS exposed to all applications through location services. However, you are correct in that the application cannot specify "which GPS source" to use. It's been a while, but IIRC, the application can specify a general level of accuracy which it requires. Location services then chooses the source to match. 

The OP says that the phone's built-in GPS "isn't reliable" in the back country. As long as the phone has a GPS chip (so that it is not entirely reliant on cell tower triangulation and/or known WiFi access points for location), I can't think of any reason why that would be. The phone almost certainly does use AGPS to speed the acquisition of a fix. That won't work if out of cell coverage. But if you are patient enough, the phone's GPS should acquire and there should be no loss of accuracy.

I can't imagine that any reasonably new cell phone does not have a GPS chip. Some of the early iPads did not include GPS unless you also included the hardware required for cell service. I don't even know of that's still the case for iPads. But certainly, a phone should have the chip.

Agree - it would likely be difficult to find a phone without a GPS chip!  I often have discussionw with people on the purpose of AGPS as they sometimes assume that if they are not around cell towers then the GPS will be lousy. Due to the current situation we (my club) are doing a lot of GPS based orienteering and I have looked at a lot of other peoples' tracks as well as compared my own using my phone, different watches and my Garmin Glo2 when validating control locations for an orienteering course.  i have likely seen more phones go crazy at times (especially in heavy woods) but not a great difference in accuracy between them and watches (and GPS being GPS, none of them are super accurate in heavy woods anyway).  Many times, with the phone, the issue has more to do with power saving settings and application permissions than accuracy, along with where the phone is carried.  Both the watches and phones have a terrible time when stopped as the algorithm used to smooth things does not handle this well.  This does make it difficult when stopped to validate a location for a virtual control as my path is wandering all around!. I've found the Glo2 seems to handle this much better and will hold a position well until I step off again.  That, the 4hz data rate (10 on Android), and that I can wear it in my hat, makes it superb for mapping but I would not see much point for normal navigation - and I prefer a paper map!

Thanks!  I'll take a look at this software.  I must say I am finding the Garmin Glo2 surpassing my expectations in this area as well.

Thanks to all of you for helping me to understand this better.  This saved me a lot of frustration.  I'm going to try the Glo 2 with my phone, and carry a topo map and compass.  I don't mind carrying a battery for the phone since I'm not an ultralight backpacker.  

My experience has been when I use a mapping app such as the one available on AllTrails to keep track of where I've been, my track jumps around wildly.  I'll see if the Glo 2 mitigates that and helps me keep the signal.  

I've found AllTrails is a great way to pick a destination, and easily download selected maps to my phone.  In theory, the Phone / AllTrails / Glo 2 / backup battery combo will give me the complete package and I'll have the map / compass as a backup.