Earthmate App Reviews

This application is DeLorme’s token effort to enhance the navigation functionality of the InReach products. It’s poorly executed and buggy, and utterly fails to take advantage of the InReach’s potential. The one and only purpose this application serves is making it somewhat easier to text using an InReach device. In this regard, it performs well, and would be a 5-star app if that was all the application was marketed for. DeLorme, however, markets this application as a navigation tool. It’s no such thing. The maps available for download are inferior. Don’t bother. Instead, pair your mobile device with the InReach and use the GPS input to power a different mapping application. You can even create free geospatial PDF maps and use one of the apps that allows for the display of such maps on your mobile device to create far better background maps than you could ever obtain commercially. And, due to the accuracy of the InReach GPS signal, location services are going to be far more precise than when using the phones’ internal GPS. This is where the InReach truly shines: no other device comes close to this level of functionality. Unfortunately, DeLorme is either unable or unwilling to develop an application that fully utilizes the InReach’s potential. As an additional consideration, each and every waypoint I have synced to the app via the DeLorme website is unusable through the app. No matter where the waypoint is located, selecting it results in the map displaying the location of Yarmouth, Maine—the location of DeLorme’s headquarters. I contacted DeLorme about it: they told me resolving this was a key priority for their developers. Two months later, and I’m still waiting for a workable update. In sum, download this app so you can use the keyboard on your mobile device to type texts. It’s useless for anything more.

The app works great for me as a SE owner for messaging. Cant speak for the explorer features as the software for that model are rather limited compared to gaia gps linked to the inreach with airplane mode. In my case, the app works perfectly on my iphone 4.

I use the DeLorme InReach 2-way communicator paired with this app, and it works very well. I believe InReach coupled with the iridium satellite system offers better and more reliable connectivity that found with other systems (SPOT for instance). My family/friends can follow my travels via the web site as I drop crumbs, and I am confident that I can reach out for help if ever needed. Great device for “off the beaten track” hiking. but want the option of communication with the outside. I also use another app for navigation (ViewRanger), and these two apps coupled together provide all I need to go wherever I like with confidence (I do also carry a compass and map as backup, but have never needed use them). The InReach with this app and the ViewRanger app have never failed.

The app works fairly well. Cannot post messages to Facebook using app. Please fix. Maps working well, take up less space.

Ive been a user of DeLorme Street Atlas and older programs for twenty (20) years.... And have been hoping they would provide such a program for the IOS devices. This isnt it. Although the maps are good, having to use a website to setup a route, and not being able to search while using the ipad is a show-stopper. Add to that the fact it is expensive and also is a subscription service. For me, Earthmate is unusable and annoying. PocketEarth does a better job of what I want and is excellent! And no, I have no stake whatever in PocketEarth.

Ive also had Delorme products for years. Several Topos, PN20, 40 and 60, and cant believe they would release this uncompleted app! No search bar to find POIs or citys or anything searchable. Cant create a route within the app!!! Very Very lacking!!! And a yearly subscription of $14.95 gets tacked on. DO NOT PURCHASE until they upgrade many of its ill thought out, non features! I will be calling for a refund!

Like other reviewers here I have been using Delorme products (hardware and software) for many years and have been satisfied. Their iPhone app is very lacking though. To use the app you are required to purchase a login package thats vaguely defined on their website that turns out to be a yearly subscription at $29.95. For this you get maps and terrible routing software that is only web based, has no search tool to start your route or find *anything*. Theres no way to start a route besides using a pan and zoom tool. This is pretty much 90s technology. I have numerous non-subscription topo apps each with their strengths and weaknesses and all of them much better than this app.

Like others who have written reviews, I was a long-time DeLorme user. I even ran a Windows virtual machine on my Mac only to use DeLorme products. Once there was something that called itself a standalone IOS mapping app from DeLorme, I took the leap. Watch out for that last step, it was a doozy. This is a terrible app. You cannot search for something in the app. Read that again. No search. How you can release a mapping app that cant search for a place is beyond me. The user interface, what there is of it, is unfathomable. Map display is strange and glitchy. It begs the question whether they even handed the app to someone outside of the development team and asked them to try it because, if they did, I cant imagine they listened to the response. I do hope they read the reviews, though, and get this fixed soon because, despite this, I still want an actual DeLorme IOS app. Just not this one.

I also have been a long time DeLorme user. When I got an email announcing the Earthmate App, I signed up. Ive never been able to use it! Despite several chat sessions. No way to search for addresses, and impossible to use. Ill probably try to get a refund for my $29.99

Very disappointed in the lack of capability to search for a location by name or by coordinates. Most free mapping software has this feature.

Overall, a good app, but plenty of room for improvement. I like the huge database of maps that can be downloaded for desired regions around the world. If you have an inReach Explorer then this doesnt cost extra. I also like the Bluetooth connectivity to my inReach as it allows me to message and change settings and synchronize waypoints and contacts. So much easier to do this on my iPhone rather than on the inReachs few buttons and small screen. Things Id like to see improvement on however are push notifications when a message is received; for some reason I dont get notified if the app is in the background. As others mentioned, the map feature is somewhat limited in the fact that you cant search using coordinates, keywords, or addresses. Instead, youd have to navigate the map manually and tap on the landmark that you want to create a waypoint on. Also, the maps are limited to topo and marine maps. I would like to be able to switch to aerial and road views (when a data connection is available). Most of the things you can do on the inReach you can do in this app EXCEPT for the Trip info (resettable odometer, timer, etc). Currently I can only do that on the inReach itself. In future releases I would like the app to permit non-inReach users to initiate messages to inReach subscribers directly (because currently they can only be initiated through the subscribers MapShare webpage which is harder to do on smartphone browsers). Overall, not a bad app. It would be great with the suggestions mentioned above!

This app pales in comparison to what else is out there. Doesnt have good trail database. Offline maps are huge file sizes and difficult to figure out how to download and how to tell what you downloaded. Not what I would expect from Delorme...this is a dog with fleas! Gaia gps is 100 times better. Put your money towards that instead.

I had the free version of the Earthmate app, synced to my inReach SE and really liked the combination (Ive got the app installed on my iPad mini, so the maps are a decent size). In learning the app, I found out that in order to create a waypoint, you have to have the upgraded $30 version of the app. After contemplating it for a few days and being sold on other additional features of the upgraded app, like the world comprehensive map database,I bought it. So far, I think I wasted $30. The maps don`t seem any more comprehensive or detailed than the free version. You can even kind of create your own waypoints with the free version by simply turning on the tracking feature and then turning it off again after it has marked a tracking point. You just can`t label it, like marking a good fishing spot or the likes. You also can`t creat a waypoint in a different location than where you happen to be at with the free version (at least as far as I know anyhow). All in all, I`m not so disappointed that I`d ask for my money back but I am disappointed in the map detail and so far it looks like the only feature I will use that isn`t on the free version is the ability to label waypoints.

Im actually in shock at how Delorme has ruined their product. I have not paid attention to the change to the new map engine until this morning, as I get ready for a trip to Costa Rica this week. I had the old map loaded, which was fine. The app update wiped out the old map. When I went to restore the map today, I find that when zoomed any closer than 100 mile scale, everything disappears. The new map has no roads, no trails, no streams and rivers, the ocean isnt even blue, so you cant tell where the coastline is. It has contour lines--and thats it. It is completely 100% absolutely useless garbage. Im stunned at why Delorme has chosen to destroy their business, and I am not joking. My inReach for smartphones + Earthmate was useful for two things: communication, and offline GPS mapping. Period. Half of that utility is now gone, and its time to start shopping for a replacement. Why, Delorme, Why?

This app has been a lifesaver for me! A few weeks ago my wife and I are on vacation in another country and the directions that she had printed off end up being wrong. We didnt have any cell service, we didnt have a map available, and we didnt speak their language. We were toast. We were lost without any idea where to go. Now what?! Thankfully a few weeks earlier I had downloaded this Earthmate app. I pulled the app up even without any cell service and my wife, who doesnt like using maps or really know how to use one well, navigated us easily out of the city through side streets and shortcuts and got us back to where we needed to be without any problems at all! Secondly, I do a lot of hunting but I normally go by myself and I normally leave the house before my wife is awake. With this app I can set up my hunting spots as Waypoints so my wife can see where Im going to be in case of an emergency or if something were to happen. My hunts normally take me hiking back to the woods to get to a certain location which would be impossible to explain to my wife. Thankfully with this app she can see where I am wherever I go. Not only is this an incredibly helpful app but it has the potential to save my life on a hunting trip if I ever have an accident. Great work, Delorme!

Use this app to pair with my Inreach. Works great and the mapping is very powerful. One of the best gps navigation apps out there but the ability to pair with Inreach and send messages is great.

Used the app on a recent campout/hike in the Ruby mountains and found the topo features are of poor quality. They are mostly straight lines with sharp angles, nothing like the terrain. Roads and trails are not displayed. Additionally, the app crashed my iPhone. I had to restart the phone to regain functionality of this app and others. Has difficulty connecting to the inReach Explorer on occasion, even though it indicates that both devices are connected.

I use this app with my Delorme inReach. I typically use some other app to plot my course, then export as gpx and upload it to the Delorme map on the web. I use Earthmate to navigate and it works pretty well. It doesn’t use up too much battery and has gotten me back to the car in some pretty nasty conditions. I also use this to text message via the inReach, since it’s much faster to use the iPhone’s keyboard. If you have an inReach, downloading this should be a no brainer.

I have a IPhone 6 with ISO 9.1 the update today crashes the program makes it unusable !

Delormes decision not to support track uploads with more than 500 points makes this app very limited in its use for long distance driving adventures.