Globalstar on iPhones
Starting with iPhone 14, Apple has added a radio and associated iOS software to allow a direct connection to Globalstar satellites. Globalstar operates a constellation of 48 low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites that can provide voice and low bandwidth data communications. With an iPhone, voice communication via Globalstar is not included.
This service is automatically enabled, in fact it cannot be turned off. But it only kicks in when you don’t have a cellular connection (including Starlink, more on that below). When Globalstar communication is enabled, in the top right corner you will see SOS and a Satellite icon, in place of the usual signal strength bars and 5G indication.
Initially this was only available for emergencies, including car breakdowns. When not connected via cellular “dialing” 911 will, instead of connecting to the local 911 dispatch, connect you to an Emergency Relay Centre (ERC). You communicate with the ERC via the screen keyboard, not voice. You will be asked some short multiple-choice questions, and your GPS coordinates will be sent automatically. An ERC operator may then ask you follow-up questions as to the nature of your emergency. They will then phone local 911 dispatch on your behalf, and relay your information to them. Once local responders are dispatched, the ERC keeps monitoring the text channel and keeps you informed. Hopefully you will never need this service, but if you do, it is fantastic that you can now request help even when outside of cell coverage. See also: canmoreseniors.org/emergency-functionality-iphones/.
When you attempt to connect to a Globalstar satellite with your iPhone, this message will pop up:
You may get a subsequent message to Turn Left (or Right) to Find Satellite and/or Keep Pointing at Satellite. You won’t be able to get a connection when you are inside a building or your car, but if you are outdoors it is not too hard to connect and stay connected.
Apple has provided a safe demo to practice connecting to a satellite, and you do not need to be outside of cell coverage to try this demo. You will of course need to step outside to try the demo. You will actually connect to a Globalstar satellite, but emergency services will not be contacted. Open Settings > Emergency SOS, and click Try Demo:
Apple has now added other, non-emergency, capabilities. If you have driven through areas with no coverage (e.g. much of Highways 93 and 942), you may have noticed this pop up on your iPhone when you open the Messages app:
When you click Use Messages via Satellite, you will get the messages described above including Try to Get a Clear View of the Sky, plus Turn Left/Right, Keep Pointing. You can send simple text messages to anyone, and if they reply you will see their text. When you use this feature, your GPS coordinates are automatically included in your text message.
Starlink with Rogers
Very recently, T-Mobile in the USA and Rogers in Canada have added an optional Text-to-Satellite feature to their phone plans, initially free and then $10/month after October 31.
They have made this feature also available to non-Rogers users; in this case you need to sign up for a Rogers Text-only plan, and you will need to activate their eSIM on your phone. No payment is required unless you keep the service after October 31, in which case the plan is $15/month. Most newer smartphones are compatible with this text-only plan, if they are eSIM-capable.
This feature makes use of the Starlink satellites. There are currently close to 10,000 Starlink satellites in orbit, with more to come. Only 700 or so of these satellites, though, are equipped with the cellular radios necessary to support Text-to-Satellite. That is still many more satellites than Globalstar, and as a result coverage is better – it is easier to connect to a Starlink satellite than a Globalstar satellite.
Once you have activated this on your phone, the interface is nearly seamless. If you are outside of normal cellular coverage via cell towers, your phone will automatically try to make a cellular connection to a Starlink satellite. If you are outdoors, this connection is usually made easily. Even inside a car it might work. You can tell you are connected if you see SAT in the top right of the display, in place of LTE or 5G:
The bars represent signal strength, as they do with cell tower connections.
If you were already a Rogers customer and have now added this service, nothing additional needs to be done to enabled texting, you use your Messages app as you normally would. The messages come from your regular phone number. You are limited to simple SMS text messages, though. It will take longer (20 seconds?) to send a text via satellite, but as with regular texting via a cell tower you will be notified if the text did not go through.
If you were e.g. a Telus customer and then subscribed to a text-only plan with Rogers, activated with an eSIM, then it isn’t quite as seamless. In this case it works the same as if you travelled outside of Canada and added a second SIM. Texting with dual SIMs requires you to specify which SIM/line you want to use. The choice is given to you when you click on the From: field of your message:
(The default name for your second SIM/line is Secondary, but I changed mine to Starlink.)
A significant downside of this dual SIM approach is that the second SIM is associated with a new phone number. This is important to remember – if you send a friend a text asking for help, you need to make it clear who you are, as the friend probably won’t recognize the phone number, and may ignore the text or even block the number.
Note that with a text-only plan from Rogers (currently free until October), you can send texts any time, not just when you are out of range of any cell tower. The text will be sent, with your new phone number, via their cell towers instead of by satellite if your phone is able to connect to a cell tower.
You won’t be able to make phone calls via Starlink satellite, including to 911. However Rogers has a text-to-911 (T9-1-1) plan that allows you to text to an operator who relays your message to a local 911 call center. Normally you need to declare that you are deaf or hard-of-hearing to subscribe to T9-1-1, but apparently this service is automatically enabled if you are connected to Starlink. (I haven’t tried this.) Note that your location is not automatically included in the text message, the way it is when you connect using Globalstar.
If You Have Both
If you have an iPhone 14 or newer you will automatically have access to Globalstar satellites, so you may not want/need to subscribe to Rogers Starlink satellite service. These are two very different mechanisms with different user interfaces. What happens when you have both?
If both services are enabled, and if you are outdoors in a location out of range of a cell tower, your iPhone will most likely connect to a Starlink satellite (via Rogers cellular), and that will block your iPhone from connecting to Globalstar satellites, since it sees that you have a cellular connection. So texting will automatically go through Rogers/Starlink.
And if you are connected to Starlink, “dialing” 911 won’t work, it won’t connect you to Apple’s emergency service. You would need to first turn off satellite connectivity in your Rogers phone line to enable the iOS Globalstar services, which you can do through Settings. > Cellular > [your Rogers SIM]:
NOTE to Apple users: I have yet to test this, because I am not on Rogers, but if you have an iPhone and have subscribed to the Rogers Starlink satellite plan, there is a chance you won’t see replies from your satellite texts if you messaged another Apple user. Their phone will automatically choose iMessage for the reply, and it is unclear (t0 me) whether your iPhone can receive iMessages when connected to Starlink.
InReach
Do these smartphone satellite services make devices like Garmin’s InReach obsolete? Not exactly. The InReach has much better battery life than a cell phone. It includes tracking (“breadcrumb” live tracking), waypoints, and weather forecasts over satellite. So it is more suited to backcountry travel.
InReach connects with Iridium’s constellation of 66 low-earth-orbit satellites. Unlike Globalstar and Starlink, Iridium satellites provide full global coverage, including polar regions.