Tracking a Garmin inReach
Most locations are fixed to an address. A tracked location follows a Garmin inReach satellite device instead, so your alerts travel with a vehicle, a work crew, or a person.
LMKwhen checks the device's Garmin MapShare feed about every 10 minutes and moves the location to its latest position.
Plan requirement
Tracked locations are available on Starter and above.
| Plan | Tracked devices |
|---|---|
| Free | Not available |
| Starter | 1 |
| Standard | 3 |
| Pro | 10 |
| Enterprise | 25 |
A paused device still occupies its slot, so pausing does not free up room for another device. Your current usage is shown on the Locations page when you add one.
Before you start
You need two things from Garmin:
- MapShare turned on for the device. In Garmin Explore, open your inReach and enable MapShare.
- At least one position published. A brand-new MapShare page has no location data until the device sends something. Power the device on outdoors with a clear view of the sky and either start tracking or send a Check In.
You can confirm both by opening your MapShare page in a
browser — share.garmin.com/yourname. If you see a
point on the map, you are ready.
Adding a tracked location
- Go to the Locations page and click Add Location
- Choose Track a device
- Paste your MapShare link
- Enter the share password, if you set one
- Give the location a name — the device, vehicle, or crew it represents
- Click Save
LMKwhen checks the feed immediately, so the location appears on the map at the device's current position right away rather than waiting for the first scheduled check.
Both the share page link and the full feed link work. If your MapShare page is password protected, the password is required — LMKwhen cannot read the feed without it.
How alerts work
Tracked locations work with every rule type. Watches, warnings, and advisories, severe weather outlooks, and forecast thresholds all evaluate against the device's current position.
Alert rules that already target all your locations pick up a tracked location automatically. You can also add it to collections and target it directly, exactly like a fixed location.
When the device moves far enough, LMKwhen re-checks it against active hazards. If it moves out of a warning polygon, that alert closes with an all-clear. If it moves back in, the alert reopens.
The breadcrumb trail
Open a tracked location to see where the device has been. The trail can be shown over the last 24 hours, 7 days, or 30 days.
Next to the trail is a last-fix indicator showing when the most recent position arrived:
- Neutral — recent
- Amber — no new position for more than 2 hours
- Red — no new position for more than 12 hours
A stale indicator usually means the device is off, indoors, without sky view, or outside satellite coverage — not that LMKwhen has stopped checking.
Position history is kept for one year.
Managing a tracked device
From the location's tracking panel you can:
- Pause tracking — LMKwhen stops checking the feed and the location stays at its last known position. Alert rules continue to apply to that position.
- Resume tracking at any time.
- Update the MapShare password if you rotate it, without removing and re-adding the device. The new password is checked against the feed before it is saved, so a typo cannot leave the device silently unreachable.
To point at a different device, add a new tracked location. A feed belongs to one location.
Troubleshooting
"This MapShare feed has no location data yet." The feed is reachable but contains no positions. Send a Check In from the device, confirm the point appears on your MapShare page, then try again.
"We could not sign in to this MapShare feed." The share password is wrong or missing. Check it in Garmin Explore under your MapShare settings.
"That does not look like a Garmin MapShare link." The link must be a Garmin MapShare URL. Copy it directly from Garmin Explore or from your browser's address bar on the MapShare page.
Positions stopped updating. Check the last-fix indicator. If the device is on and sending, confirm MapShare is still enabled in Garmin Explore and that the share password has not been changed — if it has, update it in the tracking panel.
Coverage
Severe weather outlooks and forecast-threshold rules cover the contiguous US. Watches, warnings, and advisories work everywhere the National Weather Service issues them, including Alaska.
If a tracked device leaves covered areas, alerts stop matching until it returns. The trail continues to record positions.