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Character Limits of Messages in the Garmin Messenger App

There is a character limit to each message sent and received in the Garmin Messenger™ app. Once the character limit has been surpassed, Inbound and Outbound Messages will be broken up into as many messages as it takes.

Character Limits

  • 160 characters per message when paired with most compatible inReach® satellite communicators

  • 1,600 characters when connected with an inReach Messenger Plus device, or when no inReach satellite communicator is paired in the app1

    • Recipient will receive this larger message in their default messaging app.  See related for Photo or Voice Message requirements

The limits are the same whether the message is sent to or from an SMS phone number, an email address, another inReach® communicator, or to a MapShare™ page.

IMPORTANT: Some symbols and letters will reduce the character limit of the message by approximately half due to SMS coding.

Common examples of characters that require special SMS coding include, but are not limited to:

  • Emojis within composed messages: Smiling Emoji, Winking Emoji, Kissing Emoji, Laughing Emoji, Crying Emoji, etc.

  • Languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, or Cyrillic alphabet languages

  • Accents, such as: û, ÿ, â, ç, ê, ë, ï, î, ô

When a message contains letters or symbols like this the entire message will be coded, which can cause a seemingly short message to be split up into multiple messages. This is particularly important if your inReach plan does not include unlimited text messages. More details on character counts, including a "Try it out" tool to test character counts, can be found by visiting our message provider.

General Character Count Guide

Use the following information to estimate how many characters you are using when sending or receiving a message. 

The following count as 1 character toward the limit:

  • ! " # $ % ' ( ) * + , - . / : ; < = > ? @ _ ¡ £ ¥ § ¿ & ¤

  • 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

  • A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

  • a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

  • Ä Å Æ Ç É Ñ Ø ø Ü ß Ö à ä å æ è é ì ñ ò ö ù ü Δ Φ Γ Λ Ω Π Ψ Σ Θ Ξ

The following count as 2 characters toward the limit:

  • | ^ € { } [ ] ~ \

Including any of the following will reduce the character limit of the message by approximately half due to SMS coding.

  • Â, â, Ā, ā, Ą, ą, Á, á, Ã, ã, À, Ă, ă

  • ɑ, ɒ, ɐ, ʙ, ɔ, ʗ

  • Č, č, Ć, ć, ç, Ċ, ċ, Ĉ, ĉ

  • Ď, ď, ɓ, ɕ, Ð, ð, ʤ, đ, ʣ, ɗ, ɖ, ʥ

  • Ė, ė, È, Ě, ě, Ĕ, ĕ, Ê, ê, Ë, ë, Ē, ē, Ę, ę

  • ɛ, ɘ, ɜ, ɝ, ɚ, ə, ɞ, ʚ, ʩ

  • Ĝ, ĝ, Ğ, ğ, Ġ, ġ, ģ, Ģ, ɡ, ɠ, ɢ, ʛ

  • Ħ, ħ, Ĥ, ĥ, ɦ, ɧ, ɥ, ʮ, ʯ, ʜ, ɣ, ɤ

  • Í, í, Ì, Ï, ï, Ĩ, ĩ, ɩ, ij, IJ, İ, Ĭ, ĭ, Į, į, ɫ, Î, î, Ī, ī, ı, ɨ, ɪ

  • Ĵ, ɟ, ʄ, ĵ, ʝ, ĸ, ʞ, Ķ, ķ

  • Ľ, ľ, Ĺ, ĺ, Ļ, ļ, Ŀ, ŀ, Ł, ł, ʟ, ʪ, ɭ, ɮ, ɬ, ʫ, ɱ, ɰ, ɯ

  • Ń, ń, Ņ, ņ, ʼn, Ň, ň, Ŋ, ŋ, ɴ, ɳ, ɲ

  • Ò, Ŏ, ŏ, Ő, Ó, ó, Ô, ô, Ō, ō, ɵ, ɷ, Õ, õ, Œ, ő, œ, ɶ, ɸ, ʠ

  • Ř, ř, ɼ, Ŕ, ŕ, Ŗ, ŗ, ɾ, ɹ, ɺ, ɻ, ʀ, ʁ

  • Š, š, Ś, ś, Ş, ş, Ŝ, ŝ, ʂ

  • ʃ, ɿ, ʅ, Ť, ť, ɽ, ʆ, ſ, ʇ, Ţ, ţ, Ŧ, ŧ, ʧ, ʨ, ʈ, ʦ

  • Ú, ú, Ù, Ŭ, ŭ, Û, û, Ū, ū, Ũ, ũ, Ű, ű, Ů, ů, ʉ, ʊ, Þ, þ

  • Ų, ų, ʋ, ʌ, Ŵ, ŵ, ʍ

  • ʏ, Ý, ý, ʔ, ʡ, Ŷ, ŷ, Ÿ, ÿ, ʎ, Ź, ź, Ž, ž, Ż, ż

  • ʕ, ʢ, ʐ, ʑ, ʒ, ʓ, ʖ, ʘ, ʬ, ʭ

NOTE: Any other symbols (e.g. emojis) or letters not listed will reduce the character limit of the message by approximately half due to SMS coding. This is also true for languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, or Cyrillic alphabet languages.

Additional Character Limit Information

Any optional information added to an SMS text message in the SMS Message Configuration section of the inReach Account page do not limit the number of characters available for a message as they are added to the SMS message after the inReach sends it. This optional SMS Message Configuration information includes: 

  • Include my latitude and longitude as text in the message.

  • Include a link to an online map with my location.

  • Include my name as a signature (otherwise, your name is not shown to the recipient).

Some smartphones may show this additional information as the second part of the SMS text message but is still only counted as one message in a limited message monthly subscription.

Contact Character Limit Information

The amount of characters that are taken up by a contact depend on how the contact was entered:

  • Contact Entered in Garmin Explore™ Website: Only use one character for each entry.

    • Must be synced to the inReach.

    • Can be email address, phone numbers, or inReach addresses.

      • Example: sending a message to four email address and six SMS phone numbers that have all been added as contacts and synced to the inReach would leave 150 characters for the message.

  • SMS Numbers Entered Manually or Selected In the Garmin Messenger App: Each character of the phone number and country code reduce the number of characters available for the message.

      • Example: When sending a message to a US or Canadian phone number, the message would be limited to 148 characters.

  • Email Addresses Entered Manually or Selected In the Garmin Messenger App: One character for each letter, number, or symbol.

      • Example: To send a message to product.support@garmin.com, the message would be limited to 134 characters.

  • Multiple Contacts: Each use one extra character in addition to the number of characters in the phone number or email address.

    • The number of contacts that are selected reduce the number of available characters in a message, and is dependent on how the contacts are added to the message.

      • Example: If a US phone number and product.support@garmin.com are both added manually, the message would be limited to 122 characters.

  • MapShare™ page as a Contact: Reduces the available character limit of a message by two.

  • Contact Phone Numbers or Email Addresses Saved to an InReach Without a Name: Use the same number of characters as manually-entered contact info.

1 Messages can only be sent or received when Wi-Fi or cellular data is available if no inReach satellite communicator is being used with the app.

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