| ▲ | bhauer 18 hours ago |
| I switched to T-Mobile at the last upgrade interval because of this. My family looks forward to no longer relying on Garmin InReach devices when out hiking. |
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| ▲ | jebarker 18 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| Initially I thought the same re: hiking, skiing etc. The only issue I see is that cellphone battery life is terrible compared to inReach like devices. Not sure I'd want to depend on it for longer than a few hours. |
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| ▲ | schiffern 15 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Good news: people who pay more still get all those benefits. And now, other people have some access (if non-optimal) to rescue services, despite the fact that they didn't (or couldn't afford to) pay more for inReach. I see this as an unqualified win. | |
| ▲ | blinded 18 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Same. Done a few trips to alaska and had to coordinate pickups and food drops via garmin inreach. Battery life on those is way better and more durable. | |
| ▲ | Mashimo 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Modern smartphones can hold the battery for over a week with minimal usage. You could just turn data on when every few hours or so. It's not automated though. At least my work S24 says ~16 days in airplane mode + power saver. Not tested. | |
| ▲ | njarboe 17 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Yea. My inReach device stays charged for months when it is off. | |
| ▲ | rcpt 11 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | I take my inreach kite surfing and I don't have to worry about it getting wet. | |
| ▲ | kortilla 17 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Turn off your phone? | | |
| ▲ | jebarker 17 hours ago | parent [-] | | With an inReach I have the option of periodically tracking my position and uploading that to a site my loved ones can check. Even whilst doing this I can leave the device on for a multi-day trip without worrying about battery drain. I'm not saying you couldn't do this with a cell phone, but the inReach is just a more robust solution for a safety critical application. |
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| ▲ | nordsieck 18 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | > The only issue I see is that cellphone battery life is terrible compared to inReach like devices. Not sure I'd want to depend on it for longer than a few hours. I think it depends on the application you're using it for. If you're constantly using the gps - yeah, I'd definitely agree with you. But if you're using it purely for emergency communication, you can just turn off the cell phone, and it should be fine. It's also possible to pursue a hybrid approach by bringing a battery to change the phone. | | |
| ▲ | threeseed 15 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | > you can just turn off the cell phone, and it should be fine Cell phones are far more sensitive to temperature issues than dedicated devices. And when you do have an issue no external battery is going to help you because they are also sensitive. | |
| ▲ | PaulDavisThe1st 17 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | > It's also possible to pursue a hybrid approach by bringing a battery to change the phone. Or, as I have done on multi-day trips, a solar panel and a battery. | |
| ▲ | greenie_beans 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | ah yes, let me just trust a glass screen with a cold sensitive battery during an emergency |
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| ▲ | rootusrootus 18 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Why switch carriers for that, you can get the same functionality built-in to iPhones and it's not dependent on carrier. |
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| ▲ | neilalexander 17 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | If you aren't on an iPhone already, switching carriers might be easier. | | | |
| ▲ | kortilla 17 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | iPhone sos does not allow you to just text random stuff to arbitrary people. It’s emergency only and a preselected “family group” | | |
| ▲ | vl 17 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | If you have zero signal, modern iPhone allows you to connect to satellite and text using iMessage. I just used it this week multiple times during massive Pacific Northwest blackout. Works surprisingly well. You have to be outside and hold iPhone in the specifics position pointed at satellite, it tells you where to turn iPhone to to get signal. | | |
| ▲ | kortilla 17 hours ago | parent [-] | | Did they get rid of the limitation of having to setup a special family group in advance? | | |
| ▲ | mbrubeck 14 hours ago | parent [-] | | You can initiate a conversation with anyone while you are connected via satellite. But you do need to set up an emergency contact and/or Family Sharing Group if you want to connect via satellite and receive messages that were sent to you while you were offline. (I’m referring to the "Messages via Satellite" feature that launched two months ago in iOS 18. This is different from the "Emergency SOS via Satellite" feature that has been around since 2022.) |
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| ▲ | LeoPanthera 17 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | That is not true. If you don't know, don't guess. https://support.apple.com/en-us/120930 |
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| ▲ | hipadev23 18 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| I'd still carry an old-school PLB (not a satellite messenger subscription service) for the enduring battery-life, ruggedness, and reliability when it matters. And use LTE-Starlink for the basic non-urgent but super convenient communication needs. |
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| ▲ | scottwd9 17 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
| The inReach is basically indestructible. A cell phone, not so much. |
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| ▲ | greenie_beans 15 hours ago | parent [-] | | this is how i feel. especially in the cold. for a lot of the stuff i do, i'm not gonna trust my life on a glass screen with a battery that doesn't work well in the cold. |
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