Quick verdict
- What it is
- Store information collected; independent summary not yet available.
- At a glance
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- Free to download
Categories and search queries
Official categories
- Maps & Navigation
- Navigation
AppCorpus categories
Key functions
| Function | Availability | Access | Scope | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free app | Yes | Free | — | Store published |
Screens
10 store screenshots
6 store screenshots
Pricing & paywalls
- Free
- Free to download
Ratings & reviews
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5/5It Rescued Me!
A few weeks back I was hiking ‘Little Purgatory’ in Leeds, Utah. It’s a hike I’ve done many times because it is close by, beautiful, quiet, and a great workout. As I was near the end of the trail I must have hit a muddy stepping stone. I was immediately on my back wit my left leg twisted like a pretzel. I immediately knew to hit the SOS on my Garmin InReach mini2. I was stuck between two boulders, a hill behind me. I was able to get the Garmin on top of the rock to my right. I heard a ping and was never more happy. I then got a message from them, was able to help them find me (I was alone). The comfort I felt in knowing that I was going to be rescued. It took a bit of time, but they were able to contact a friend who was with me up to the hospital. I have a broken knee and the recovery will be long and laborious. But, I was never so grateful for the investment I made in my Garmin.
suslovesparks · 31 Jul 2026
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4/5Initial experience
4 Stars right now. This was my second trip using Garmin Explore from my iPhone 12Pro Max: screen set to always on; 2 mile increments visible; also paired with Epix Gen 2 Pro. First trip Simple rural bike trail with family. Second trip deeper in the valley trails also added Garmin Series 2 Cadence and Speed trackers to road bike. Unfortunately I was unsuccessful in getting their Information to show up on the Explore app. Both trips experienced no lag or loss in tracking. Next, as soon as I’d reach the end of chosen 2 mile view distance (using pinch to zoom) I’d simply touch and slide the screen to where I was currently located on the far right off phone and keep going. In reviewing/comparing information from Garmin Connect I’m not seeing any surface discrepancies, Great work! What I like: Playback feature; Various views to choose from; Simplicity of connection to phone and Garmin Connect; Sharing; Battery usage (2nd trip: Screen set to always on/ Phone w/40% battery at start/ Rode for about 1-1/2 hours traversed 15ish miles and still had 5% battery upon return to starting point). Possible improvements: Route reorienting itself with direction I’m going facing up/away/or in the direction I am traveling; Visual tracking would automatically shift the visible map upon reaching the end of viable increments (especially when area map has been downloaded and no updates present); Improved way to identify Garmin tracking accessories ie cadence and speed sensors (neither ble or ant - however both were viable on Epix Gen 2 Pro watch and were actively connected). Overall keep up the GREAT WORK!!! Looking forward to deeper dives into the Total functionalities of Explore and associated Garmin apps and products. Thank You Highly Recommended
SemperGumby00 · 31 Jul 2026
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4/5Nice platform but….
I am all in on Garmin so the interoperability between my devices is great but…. Non garmin is an issue. Example. I was back country with a friend. We got separated. He had a different satellite service. I couldn’t reach him because explore with an Inreach device is required in the non cell/internet world. I had to reach a remote friend who then had to copy and manually paste into OnX then reach my friend with my coordinates. Garmin being the best should be the leader in interoperability. They should not worry about losing market share. The triangle rule of “faster, better, cheaper—- pick two”. Will eventually bring them customers. Garmin is not cheaper—- it’s faster and better— always. I repeat do better, lead by example, drive interoperability among your peers. Lives are on the line in the back country. All systems should work to save them. The SAR community needs a leader…. Be it.
Gryphon8969 · 31 Jul 2026
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2/5Counterintuitive, but slowly improving.
I use explore strictly to transfer waypoints and courses drawn on my phone to my Garmin while offline. I am grateful to be able to do this offline, but wish that Explore were more intuitive for this purpose. Explore has “collections” which isn’t very intuitive for my purposes. Meanwhile, when I go to sync, I have two options: Sync everything or sync a specific collection. What I would like to do is to just add a new waypoint or course to my device after I draw it. The problem is that I can either “sync everything” (which takes half an hour because then we have activities and other stuff syncing that I don’t need to sync (that is what Garmin Connect is for)… or I can sync a “collection”. Unfortunately, the process of organizing your collections to sync is quite tedious. For example, if you check the new course to be uploaded but forget to check the other ones that were already on your device, the app will delete all of your old waypoints from the device! Now, they have renamed collections to “saved” which is better from a nomenclature standpoint, but if all you want to do is get a course or waypoint transferred to your device, it is still too many steps. Perhaps there is another use case for this app, and it performs well for that purpose? For my purposes, it is klunky. There is a ConnectIQ app called grouteloader that is also super klunky, but it actually works better for this purpose. I hope that Garmin will eventually either improve Explore or write a standalone app that makes transferring waypoints and courses to the device a swift and easy process.
janetito_2 · 31 Jul 2026
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1/5Failed When I Needed it Most
Update: the app is even worse after new updates. It crashes constantly, the new ui is a serious downgrade, and can’t rely on this app the way I used to (it’s completely unreliable now). The app is usually good but logged me out while I was in the wilderness and required me to have cell service/internet connection to log back in. This left me without access to the app and the resources it provides (messaging and navigation) for 5 days while trekking through the mountains. If I didn’t have a paper map I would have been completely without navigation. There is no reason an app designed to be used in places without cell service should log you and out and require cell service/internet once you have logged in and registered your account and satellite device with it. I used to view this product very highly but now I cannot trust this tool knowing that it can leave me stranded. For a company and product that you are supposed to trust with your safety this is unacceptable. (I reached out to customer support about this issue and have yet to receive a response a week later. For a complete failure of their product, Garmin has shown zero concern.)
C Fazio · 31 Jul 2026
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5/5
great so far
Stan Swope · 29 Jul 2026
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2/5
Why is this app now checking Google Play Integrity on my phone? There is no reason for this Garmin app to be spying on devices. Plus, Google Play Integrity is monopolistic and anti-competitive. If Garmin wants to verify devices, they should use hardware-based attestation features that are a standard part of the Android Open Source Project.
Sean M · 29 Jul 2026
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5/5
good
Nilaksh Rabha · 29 Jul 2026
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5/5
For the 2nd time this week, I could program a route from start to finish while sitting on the BART train to the starting point. The route planner with popularity map plus my course preferences made it very easy. Thanks Garmin!
Joel Winter · 29 Jul 2026
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4/5
Sync to my Garmin Instinct 2 works really well, and this app is great for pulling out mid-run or -hike to get a better map view. Unfortunately, the cartography on the basic map is pretty bad: overused pattern fills on things like forested areas and low contrast on contour lines are examples of it being frustratingly hard to read, esp. compared to competitors like Gaia or OnX.
Evan · 29 Jul 2026
Privacy & accessibility
Privacy
- Data Linked to You — App Functionality — Contact Info — Email Address Developer declared
- Data Linked to You — App Functionality — Contact Info — Name Developer declared
- Data Linked to You — App Functionality — Contacts Developer declared
- Data Linked to You — App Functionality — Identifiers — User ID Developer declared
- Data Linked to You — App Functionality — Location — Precise Location Developer declared
- Data Linked to You — Contact Info Developer declared
- Data Linked to You — Contacts Developer declared
- Data Linked to You — Identifiers Developer declared
- Data Linked to You — Location Developer declared
- Data Not Linked to You — Analytics — Usage Data — Product Interaction Developer declared
- Data Not Linked to You — App Functionality — Diagnostics — Crash Data Developer declared
- Data Not Linked to You — App Functionality — Diagnostics — Other Diagnostic Data Developer declared
- Data Not Linked to You — App Functionality — Diagnostics — Performance Data Developer declared
- Data Not Linked to You — Diagnostics Developer declared
- Data Not Linked to You — Usage Data Developer declared
Accessibility
No accessibility labels collected yet.
Privacy
- Data collected — Account management — Personal info — Email address Developer declared
- Data collected — Account management — Personal info — Name Developer declared
- Data shared — Analytics — App activity — App interactions Developer declared
- Data shared — Analytics — App info and performance — Crash logs Developer declared
- Data shared — Analytics — App info and performance — Diagnostics Developer declared
- Security practices — Your data is transferred over a secure connection — Data is encrypted in transit Developer declared
- Security practices — The developer provides a way for you to request that your data be deleted — You can request that data be deleted Developer declared
Accessibility
No accessibility labels collected yet.
Versions
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4.0.3
- Our new map engine is here, bringing you advanced features and capabilities. - Access streaming maps if you have an internet connection. - Download offline maps for specific areas so you can access them when you are off-grid. - Perform searches for locations, points of interest and other data both while online or offline. - Plan and customize your outdoor adventures with our improved Course Creator. - Library page (now called Saved) has been redesigned to simplify the review and edit of waypoints, courses, activities and collections. - Check the new onboarding flows with improvements to sign in and device pairing flows.
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4.0.4
• Satellite and USGS layers are now available for streaming and while downloading an offline map. • Fixed iPad crash when exporting GPX files • Fixed map layers selection issue • Fixed issue with batch selection on Unorganized Items ----------------------------------------------------------------- • Our new map engine is here, bringing you advanced features and capabilities. • Access streaming maps if you have an internet connection. • Download offline maps for specific areas so you can access them when you are off-grid. • Perform searches for locations, points of interest and other data both while online or offline. • Plan and customize your outdoor adventures with our improved Course Creator. • Library page (now called Saved) has been redesigned to simplify the review and edit of waypoints, courses, activities and collections. • Check the new onboarding flows with improvements to sign in and device pairing flows.
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4.1
• Added ability to do online search for addresses • You can now create a Course directly from the details pages of map points (POIs, Waypoints) • Saved items are now visible when creating new offline maps • Various bug fixes and improvements ----------------------------------------------------------------- • Our new map engine is here, bringing you advanced features and capabilities. • Access streaming maps if you have an internet connection. • Download offline maps for specific areas so you can access them when you are off-grid. • Perform searches for locations, points of interest and other data both while online or offline. • Plan and customize your outdoor adventures with our improved Course Creator. • Library page (now called Saved) has been redesigned to simplify the review and edit of waypoints, courses, activities and collections. • Check the new onboarding flows with improvements to sign in and device pairing flows.
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4.10
Various bug fixes and improvements
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4.10.1
Various bug fixes and improvements
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4.10.2
Various bug fixes and improvements
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4.11
Various bug fixes and improvements
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4.12
Find and explore Garmin Trails by name or by area such as city names, mountain peaks, national parks or lakes Record your reviews while offline after finishing the trail and Explore will upload it for you when it finds a connection Added a My Reviews section where you can go back and find all the reviews you have submitted and modify them if desired
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4.13
Various bug fixes and improvements
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4.14
Various bug fixes and improvements
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4.14.1
· 2 Jun 2026
Various bug fixes and improvements
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4.2
• You can now create circular courses! • Introduced playback button in collections • Added outage banners to notify about connection issues • Various bug fixes and improvements ----------------------------------------------------------------- • Our new map engine is here, bringing you advanced features and capabilities. • Access streaming maps if you have an internet connection. • Download offline maps for specific areas so you can access them when you are off-grid. • Perform searches for locations, points of interest and other data both while online or offline. • Plan and customize your outdoor adventures with our improved Course Creator. • Library page (now called Saved) has been redesigned to simplify the review and edit of waypoints, courses, activities and collections. • Check the new onboarding flows with improvements to sign in and device pairing flows.
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4.2.1
• You can now create circular courses! • Introduced playback button in collections • Added outage banners to notify about connection issues • Various bug fixes and improvements ----------------------------------------------------------------- • Our new map engine is here, bringing you advanced features and capabilities. • Access streaming maps if you have an internet connection. • Download offline maps for specific areas so you can access them when you are off-grid. • Perform searches for locations, points of interest and other data both while online or offline. • Plan and customize your outdoor adventures with our improved Course Creator. • Library page (now called Saved) has been redesigned to simplify the review and edit of waypoints, courses, activities and collections. • Check the new onboarding flows with improvements to sign in and device pairing flows.
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4.3
• You can now create circular courses! • Introduced playback button in collections • Added outage banners to notify about connection issues • Various bug fixes and improvements ----------------------------------------------------------------- • Our new map engine is here, bringing you advanced features and capabilities. • Access streaming maps if you have an internet connection. • Download offline maps for specific areas so you can access them when you are off-grid. • Perform searches for locations, points of interest and other data both while online or offline. • Plan and customize your outdoor adventures with our improved Course Creator. • Library page (now called Saved) has been redesigned to simplify the review and edit of waypoints, courses, activities and collections. • Check the new onboarding flows with improvements to sign in and device pairing flows.
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4.3.1
• Multiple selection for collections management • Improved download mechanism for offline maps • Course points no longer snap to nearby map items when ‘Direct Routing’ is enabled • Various bug fixes and improvements ----------------------------------------------------------------- • Our new map engine is here, bringing you advanced features and capabilities. • Access streaming maps if you have an internet connection. • Download offline maps for specific areas so you can access them when you are off-grid. • Perform searches for locations, points of interest and other data both while online or offline. • Plan and customize your outdoor adventures with our improved Course Creator. • Library page (now called Saved) has been redesigned to simplify the review and edit of waypoints, courses, activities and collections. • Check the new onboarding flows with improvements to sign in and device pairing flows.
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4.4
• Map data error reporting is now available in Map Layers screen • Various bug fixes and improvements ----------------------------------------------------------------- • Our new map engine is here, bringing you advanced features and capabilities. • Access streaming maps if you have an internet connection. • Download offline maps for specific areas so you can access them when you are off-grid. • Perform searches for locations, points of interest and other data both while online or offline. • Plan and customize your outdoor adventures with our improved Course Creator. • Library page (now called Saved) has been redesigned to simplify the review and edit of waypoints, courses, activities and collections. • Check the new onboarding flows with improvements to sign in and device pairing flows.
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4.5
• Garmin Trails - New Map Layer Available! • View and explore Garmin Trails by panning the map • Configure filters in the Garmin Trails Map Layer to limit results displayed on the map • View Trail Details and Trail Reviews • Save Garmin Trails to your library and sync it to your device • Add Garmin Trails as customizable courses to your collections ----------------------------------------------------------------- • Our new map engine is here, bringing you advanced features and capabilities. • Access streaming maps if you have an internet connection. • Download offline maps for specific areas so you can access them when you are off-grid. • Perform searches for locations, points of interest and other data both while online or offline. • Plan and customize your outdoor adventures with our improved Course Creator. • Library page (now called Saved) has been redesigned to simplify the review and edit of waypoints, courses, activities and collections. • Check the new onboarding flows with improvements to sign in and device pairing flows.
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4.5.1
• Garmin Trails - New Map Layer Available! • View and explore Garmin Trails by panning the map • Configure filters in the Garmin Trails Map Layer to limit results displayed on the map • View Trail Details and Trail Reviews • Save Garmin Trails to your library and sync it to your device • Add Garmin Trails as customizable courses to your collections ----------------------------------------------------------------- • Our new map engine is here, bringing you advanced features and capabilities. • Access streaming maps if you have an internet connection. • Download offline maps for specific areas so you can access them when you are off-grid. • Perform searches for locations, points of interest and other data both while online or offline. • Plan and customize your outdoor adventures with our improved Course Creator. • Library page (now called Saved) has been redesigned to simplify the review and edit of waypoints, courses, activities and collections. • Check the new onboarding flows with improvements to sign in and device pairing flows.
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4.6
• Refreshed icons and visual styles for Waypoints • New hiking-themed map • Various bug fixes and improvements ----------------------------------------------------------------- • Our new map engine is here, bringing you advanced features and capabilities. • Access streaming maps if you have an internet connection. • Download offline maps for specific areas so you can access them when you are off-grid. • Perform searches for locations, points of interest and other data both while online or offline. • Plan and customize your outdoor adventures with our improved Course Creator. • Library page (now called Saved) has been redesigned to simplify the review and edit of waypoints, courses, activities and collections. • Check the new onboarding flows with improvements to sign in and device pairing flows.
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4.6.1
• Refreshed icons and visual styles for Waypoints • New hiking-themed Topo map • Fixed an issue with user's preferred units not being reflected on the map ----------------------------------------------------------------- • Our new map engine is here, bringing you advanced features and capabilities. • Access streaming maps if you have an internet connection. • Download offline maps for specific areas so you can access them when you are off-grid. • Perform searches for locations, points of interest and other data both while online or offline. • Plan and customize your outdoor adventures with our improved Course Creator. • Library page (now called Saved) has been redesigned to simplify the review and edit of waypoints, courses, activities and collections. • Check the new onboarding flows with improvements to sign in and device pairing flows.
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4.6.2
• Refreshed icons and visual styles for Waypoints • New hiking-themed Topo map • Fixed an issue with user's preferred units not being reflected on the map ----------------------------------------------------------------- • Our new map engine is here, bringing you advanced features and capabilities. • Access streaming maps if you have an internet connection. • Download offline maps for specific areas so you can access them when you are off-grid. • Perform searches for locations, points of interest and other data both while online or offline. • Plan and customize your outdoor adventures with our improved Course Creator. • Library page (now called Saved) has been redesigned to simplify the review and edit of waypoints, courses, activities and collections. • Check the new onboarding flows with improvements to sign in and device pairing flows.
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4.7
• Streamlined GPX import process for a smoother experience • Easily switch map themes using the activity selector • Quickly remove items with swipe-to-delete functionality • Various bug fixes and improvements ----------------------------------------------------------------- • Our new map engine is here, bringing you advanced features and capabilities. • Access streaming maps if you have an internet connection. • Download offline maps for specific areas so you can access them when you are off-grid. • Perform searches for locations, points of interest and other data both while online or offline. • Plan and customize your outdoor adventures with our improved Course Creator. • Library page (now called Saved) has been redesigned to simplify the review and edit of waypoints, courses, activities and collections. • Check the new onboarding flows with improvements to sign in and device pairing flows.
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4.7.1
• Various bug fixes and improvements ----------------------------------------------------------------- • Our new map engine is here, bringing you advanced features and capabilities. • Access streaming maps if you have an internet connection. • Download offline maps for specific areas so you can access them when you are off-grid. • Perform searches for locations, points of interest and other data both while online or offline. • Plan and customize your outdoor adventures with our improved Course Creator. • Library page (now called Saved) has been redesigned to simplify the review and edit of waypoints, courses, activities and collections. • Check the new onboarding flows with improvements to sign in and device pairing flows.
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4.8
Download an offline map of Garmin Trails and head out to the back country where you can transfer a trail from Explore to your navigation device Get online and share your experience in a trail review We have improved the clarity between trail systems drawing and Garmin Trails drawing. Garmin Trails now render as dashed lines. Share links to trails that can launch the Explore app bringing hikers directly to the shared trail
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4.9
Manage your profile details: name, location and photo Various bug fixes and improvements
- 4.14.1 · 27 May 2026
Alternatives
- Gaia GPS: Mobile Trail Maps — Same category + similar ratings
- FarOut: Hike, Bike, Paddle — Same category + similar ratings
Availability by market
- US
Data quality & evidence
- Page completeness
- Live store listing
- Last verified
- 31 Jul 2026
- Sources
- App Store, Google Play
- Independent summary has not been published yet.