Garmin Explore™

5.67K reviews
Content rating
PEGI 3
1M+
Downloads
Content rating
PEGI 3
Users Interact, Shares Location
Learn more
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About this app

PAIR, SYNC AND SHARE
With Garmin Explore, you can pair your smartphone or tablet1 with your compatible Garmin device2 to sync and share data for off-grid adventures. Use downloadable maps for navigation anywhere.
• Garmin Explore needs SMS permission to allow you to receive and send SMS text messages from your Garmin devices. We also need call log permission to display incoming calls on your devices.
• Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.


OFF-GRID NAVIGATION
When paired with your compatible Garmin device2, the Garmin Explore app lets you use your mobile device for outdoor navigation, trip planning, mapping, and more — with or without Wi-Fi® connectivity or cellular service.


SEARCH TOOL
Easily locate geographic points — such as trailheads or mountain summits — associated with your adventure.


STREAMING MAPS
For pre-trip planning, you can use the Garmin Explore app to stream maps when you’re within cellular or Wi-Fi range — saving valuable time as well as storage space on your mobile device. Download maps for offline use when venturing outside cellular range.


EASY TRIP PLANNING
Plan your next trip by downloading maps and creating courses. Specify your start and finish points, and automatically create a course you can sync with your compatible Garmin device2.


ACTIVITY LIBRARY
Under the Saved tab, review and edit your organized data, including your saved waypoints, tracks, courses, and activities. See map thumbnails to easily recognize your trips.


SAVED COLLECTIONS
The collections list allows you to quickly find all data related to any trip — making it easy to sort and locate the course or location you’re looking for.


CLOUD STORAGE
The waypoints, courses, and activities you’ve created will automatically sync to your Garmin Explore web account when you’re within cellular or Wi-Fi range, preserving your activity data with cloud storage. A Garmin account is required for storing your data in the cloud.


LIVETRACK™
With the use of the LiveTrack™ feature, loved ones can follow your location in real time3 and see data such as distance, time and elevation.


What You Get with Garmin Explore
• Unlimited map downloads; access topographic maps, USGS quad sheets, and more
• Aerial imagery
• Waypoints, tracking and route navigation
• High-detail GPS trip logging and location sharing
• Unlimited cloud storage of routes, waypoints, tracks, and activities
• Online trip planning


1 See compatible devices at Garmin.com/BLE
2 See a full list of compatible devices at explore.garmin.com/appcompatibility
3 When used with your compatible smartphone, the Garmin Explore® app and when used with your compatible inReach-enabled Garmin device.

The Bluetooth word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Garmin is under license.
A complete mobile trip planning solution for compatible Garmin devices
Updated on
Sep 28, 2026
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Data safety

Safety starts with understanding how developers collect and share your data. Data privacy and security practices may vary based on your use, region, and age. The developer provided this information and may update it over time.
  • This app may share these data types with third parties
    App activity and App info and performance
  • This app may collect these data types
    Personal info
  • Data is encrypted in transit
  • You can request that data be deleted

Ratings and reviews

5.45K reviews
NTRIP RTK
July 30, 2026
There are significant limitations to creating a route. Plot any route anywhere and you will discover in time that the algorithm applied follows snap-to line technology. This will frequently choose an illogical route when you encounter a section on the map deemed to be inaccessible by the algorithm. It will snap elsewhere or refuse to accept your dropped waypoint. This fault is both irritating and limiting to the products usefulness.
3 people found this review helpful
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Richard Walker
July 19, 2026
This was as a great App when paired with my Fenix watch, but recently it's really starting to do my head in. The settings are overly complicated. Creating a course on the Map is becoming frustrating as you try to link up say 2 paths that are 100m apart & it will inexplicably add 5km to your course with a convoluted loop. And now, all of the labels (place names, POIs, etc) have just vanished. Gone though all the Garmin suggested options & still nothing!!!
2 people found this review helpful
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Roberto Lopez
February 14, 2021
I've really enjoyed using this app as it's a great accompaniment to the watches. I've been able to quickly plan a long walking/hiking route in about 20 minutes. Only a few times have I have found the paths it says I have right of way (through a farmer's field for example) to be incorrect. Two big drawbacks for me are how limited the amount of way points you can add to a single route are. Also the map has no legend/key so for some of the more obscure paths it's unclear what they are.
34 people found this review helpful
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What’s new

🏃‍♂️View activities older than 7 days as activity points on the map
🗺️Use “Show on Map” to display an activity full line
☑ Added ability to filter out activities from main map
🐛Various bug fixes and improvements