SPOT / sattelite trackers for safety

InReach Mini2 user here – had it a few years. Bought it after an outdoor first aid course kept on saying “you’re a couple of hours away from the road / no phone signal and you find a casualty – what do you do?”

My answer when I requalify is “press the button”

The wife was doing a lot of ultra training, typically out in the middle of nowhere – I will routinely go out on my motorbike for the day “no idea where I am off to – will be back for tea” – the lad uses it now when he goes hill walking, so lots of opportunity to use it actively.  Garmin plan is now £8 a month, 10p per tracking position sent – so a day out on the bike costs about £6 – if/when we are at busier times of the year then we take a more expensive plan from Garmin with more bells and whistles. Each to their own – the major benefit for me is that the Mrs can put the kettle on when I’m 10mins from home….

Stupid question – does location sharing via satellite on an e.g. iPhone 16 cost? And if so, how much?
I’m not entirely sure, it looks like they give you two years for free on an iPhone if it is an option on that model, and appears to be Apple software rather than 3rd party.

When the emergency text facility was first introduced, it was free for the first two years of ownership of the phone. However, its now over two years of those original phones and so far Apple aren’t introducing any charges, and there’s no indication yet of them giving any date. Apple have just given another big cash donation for further expansion of the facility, and it’s been expanded to full messages instead of brief responses to given questions.

So far there’s been a number of reports of the system actually saving the lives of people in remote locations.

Sadly, Garmin have discontinued that (the ‘Freedom plan’)

@Greybeard, thanks for pointing that out, I hadn’t noticed. I last used the subscription in August this year for our summer hols in the French Alps. Not sure what I paid at the time as it is all automated. No idea how it compares to other services now, but as I own the actual bit of kit, the start stop subscription still seems reasonable for peace of mind..