iMessage Satellite coming this fall

feanor

WKR
Joined
Aug 15, 2018
Messages
1,224
I didn’t hear anything about a cost, so I’m assuming it comes with the update. That’s going to be a big hit to Garmin.
Now to see what else they are going to sneak in the update package…
 

feanor

WKR
Joined
Aug 15, 2018
Messages
1,224
In the video, he aligned himself with the satellite to get a cleaner signal, so maybe it would find it faster and use less battery versus sending a message and keeping it on until it finds the signal in a more random way.
 
Joined
Jul 6, 2018
Messages
555
I won’t trust it for a while but I hope they’ll have the bugs worked out when my inreach mini 2 reaches end of life. If it makes Garmin lower their costs, I’d probably still keep an inreach anyways for redundancy
 
Joined
Jul 6, 2017
Messages
658
Location
Boise
A couple thoughts:
1) Will this work when the phone is in Airplane mode? Like most, I put my phone in airplane when I'm out of cell service to prevent the phone from searching for signal (heavy drain on battery life).

2) Do you have to point the phone at a satellite to receive messages or will it be able to push messages if the phone is in a pocket?
 

BBob

WKR
Joined
Jun 29, 2020
Messages
4,469
Location
Southern AZ
2) Do you have to point the phone at a satellite to receive messages or will it be able to push messages if the phone is in a pocket?
I’m guessing it will work somewhat not aimed directly at the satellite but if you base the use off the current emergency sat messaging protocol it might be better and quicker if you use the aiming feature. I’m partly basing this off of using Garmin sat messengers. Thrown in a pack pocket they’ll usually pick up messages but they tend to work better if you stick them out in an open area.
 

walleyes

FNG
Joined
Feb 8, 2017
Messages
58
Location
saskatchewan
I update my location with my iPhone via satellite now. It it works the same way you just have to point at satellite and away it goes. Pretty slick. Still carry a inreach but can’t wait to leave it behind. I don’t think it would be to hard on battery
 
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