Satellite Texting in the Mountains

[Packer9037]

Last check it was just iPhone with android slated for later this spring/summer but that could have just been on Verizon.

 

[jrs1087]

Following.

 

[dfish]

I didn’t realize this was even a thing. Might have to cancel the inreach at some point.

 

[MTriplett]

I looked up some of the recent conversations on the new satellite texting feature but convos seemed to be varied around service provider or InReach/Zoleo devices. My buddy has ATT and is on a cruise in the Caribbean, seems to be working pretty well. Any guys with experience using it in the mountains? If so, what service?

I used my AT&T iPhone in Nebraska for texting and seemed to work pretty good. Took me a minute to figure out the icon in the top right of the phone tho. I’m not to tech savvy


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[TheDeathWind]

Both is the answer… for now.

 

[AZP]

Used satellite texting and sold my inreach the following week.

 

[Packer9037]

Following up on this thread from my montana hunt. I was able to use iMessage on my iPhone via satellite, probably better than my ZOLEO on previous hunts.

My brother in law paid some amount of money to T Mobile and was able to use some different apps and FaceTime via WhatsApp. I’m officially retiring my ZOLEO.

 

[txsportsman]

Starlink roam

 

[Britt-dog]

I used it exclusively for a couple hunts this fall. iPhone 14 and Verizon. Worked great even from inside a tent. I imagine the tech will quickly evolve and other satellite services like Garmin will be unnecessary. Voice cant be far behind.

 

[grfox92]

I wouldn't be selling Zoleos and In Reaches just yet.

I got a brand new phone specifically for sat texting after my Zoleo shit the bed in October. The sat texting works great, as long as it's not an overcast day, snowing, or cloudy. I realized now I should have just bought an inreach.

The manager at the Verizon store did tell me that it was going to only get better and better though. Pictures and group messaging within a year. Voice calls within 2 years.

Sent from my SM-S931U using Tapatalk

 

[Adam Gibbs]

I have android and Verizon. Satellite messaging came online this summer at some point. I didn't buy a messenger device, hoping to just use my phone. Buddy had a zoleo so I wasn't too worried. Hunted in Colorado. South of the interstate, my android wouldn't send satellite messages. North of the interstate it would. I brought my work iPhone just in case and that worked in both spots. Unless tech drastically changes before my next hunt, ill end up with an Inreach just to be safe.

 

[Tilzbow]

I’ve sent a couple dozen satellite texts using my iPhone this year without any trouble. From eastern NV to northwestern NV. That said it does take a while to locate and connect to a satellite. I’ve been using the In Reach on my Garmin Alpha 300i to send my location to my wife when on solo chukar hunts and message her since that’s a little easier.

 

[DougR67]

I used it on an Alaska hunt this summer and it worked great. One hint I offer to to save your battery, like others have said switch to airplane mode to prevent the phone from constantly searching for cell service and draining the battery. Our hunting party set check-in times several times every few hours throughout the day to stay in touch.

 

[Juancho]

I rarely post on here, but thought I'd check back in to see how folks are using the new(ish) satellite messaging from Iphones vs. In reach and found this thread. I built a little tool that the SMS service through textbelt cost $.015/text ... for my case I'm hunting a harvest objective unit this year, so without service I need to know daily the # of bears killed in a certain unit so I know if I can keep hunting (i believe other hunts/states this might be useful). We may be up there ~8 days, so need daily alerts without needing to trust the wife will check the website and send them on time.

This workflow would maybe work even easier though inreach just changing a few of the nodes to email instead of text. Gives a quick weather update as well that you can enter your GPS coordinates into. Anyways here is the code if anyone is interested.

I'm just learning this stuff, so don't judge ha

GitHub - Juan-G08/2026-Hunt-Alerts: 2026 Hunting SMS - N8N

2026 Hunting SMS - N8N. Contribute to Juan-G08/2026-Hunt-Alerts development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

I'm going to be playing with the SMS a lot through Iphone. Just to see what I can make useful for cheap, i'm tired of carrying around my inreach. Next I'll be trying to make a similar SMS service that I can basically text questions or ask for weather or harvest for a unit (just more flexible) and it'll run it through claude and return me answers, think of it like a satellite based Google... We'll see how it goes. If anyone else trying to figure out little things like this, please PM me. I'm interested what people are building for hunting/outdoors utilities.

 

[dylanvb]

I have been testing the new iPhone every time I’m at a job with no service or out in the mountains for small day trips. Works like a charm. Until they start making you pay for it which idk if they ever will I will keep using it.

 

[The_Dinkmaster]

Its okay. Depends on your use case.

For me, I hunt in heavy tree canopy areas as well as some areas that will occasionally have cell service, and iphone will not allow you to use the satellite feature if it detects any cell service, even if the service still isnt good enough to send a message.

I ran into this issue last fall with trying to text my wife. Was in a steep draw and hadnt been able to text out to give my wife a status update. Tried connecting to satellite and got the message "Satellite service not available in your area." I had one bar of cell service, but messages wouldnt go through and failed to send.

Ended up having to climb the mountain 3/4 of the way up just to send a text, then sit and wait on replies for a few minutes.

Also, if you have an emergency situation you have to point your phone at the satellite to get it to connect. Might not be the most plausible thing to do if your have a broken leg or some other health emergency.

Ill be getting a Zoleo for my hunts this year.

 

[doc holiday13]

I was with a friend last year who had the satelite text and it was chewing through his phone battery and was unreliable for speed.

I just have necessary contacts download teh garmin app

 

[mtnbound]

T-Mobile's T-Satellite has been very good for me; it still doesn't quite replace my InReach, but it is getting closer and closer.

 

[swavescatter]

T-Mobile's T-Satellite has been very good for me; it still doesn't quite replace my InReach, but it is getting closer and closer.

Starlink direct to cell with Tmobile is the gamechanger for me. My buddies use the GPS texting still and it's functional, but the Starlink feature is basically flawless for me. Texts are basically normal, including photos. Allows weather app data refresh and even Google Maps navigation. I also get little notifications for my Ring/Arlo cameras at home, but you can't stream video or browse the internet. Yet.

 

[Macintosh]

Have not tested since early this past winter (dec 2025) but I found the sat texting to be unreliable—half the time it worked great and the other half it didnt work at all regardless of time, where you pointed it, etc. Heavy tree cover, heavy cloud cover, with just a hint of cell service (but not enough to even send a text) are typical conditions. Under precisely the same conditions my inreach messenger worked fine. Imo sat texting is still not race-ready enough to rely on.