Garmin XT2 - Unable to share routes with older devices via Bluetooth

TonyZZR

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Just been messing around with my new XT2. All looks great until I tried to share routes via Bluetooth with an older device (specifically a BMW Nav 5). There is no longer an option to share via Bluetooth. The only options I get are memory card and the tread App. Sharing via memory card is a faff and the tread app does not support older devices....

So, as we use this highly convenient feature on nearly every group ride (I create the routes and share them to the other riders) I think the XT2 may be going back in exchange for an XT.

Has anyone found a solution to this that does not involve faffing around with memory cards or hooking everyone's GPS up to my laptop in McDonald's carpark?

Thanks in advance.
 
It looks like sharing via the Garmin Tread app (whatever that is) is the only way for the XT2 to share routes, device to device.

A simple sharing method seems to have been removed by Garmin, who really are starting to lose the plot.

I wonder if the device still responds to the Garmin Drive app, which is an easy method to get files from MyRoute into the XT1?

PS I guess a temporary (or permanen) work around, is for you to email the routes to your chums and they load them themselves.

PPS Another work around would be to take your Nav V along, just as a sharing hub. But that is hardly progress. Or try using the Garmin Drive app, perhaps?

PPPS Tread appears to be some sort of whole ‘Lifestyle’ thing, with a similarly named ‘Rugged / off road’ device, with satellite linkage, all very much aimed at the US market. I am getting the whiff of something bad going on. I really do wish Garmin would just go back to basics, instead of adding more and more on. I guess they are pressured by the march of the phone?
 
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The more I look at it, the more Garmin seems to be moving towards a business model which is based around:

A. The owner being ‘connected’ to all sorts of things. Whether that be, weather, other bikers in the party, satellites and feck knows what else besides, seems to be the main aim. That the XT2, with all its ‘connectivity’, cannot connect via simple Bluetooth to another Garmin device to transfer a route simply, is beyond belief.

B. That everyone else in the party, also has the same whizz-bang Garmin devices and app’s.

That being said, it’s hardly surprising. Lots of bods on these pages like all the connectivity stuff. They like knowing where their mates are and, preferably talking to them all the time, even if it’s now only 10:15 and they only last saw them at 09;30 at breakfast. The like to be told what the weather is, with radar maps. They like texts and phone calls, as they ride along. They like to be told ‘windy’ roads (no motorways) from home to wherever it is they are going. So Garmin give it to them. 9/10’s of it is bolt-on garbage, resulting most often in confusion (when bods can’t get it to work) and over bloated devices, linked to phones. The sad truth, which seems to be escaping Garmin, is that the phone that the devices now need to be linked to - if all this bolt-on wizardry is to be used - can do all this and more. Bike manufacturers are realising this but Garmin isn’t.
 
Agreed.... In my view Garmin do not seem to understand their user base very well. Getting from A to B is very straight forward these days using a built in satnav or smart phone app. However, getting somewhere on a motorcycle is for me the main event, I want to be able to make sure I use the best biking roads to get there, with the best views, the twisty stuff etc. To me planning the route is part of the pleasure, using a Michelin map and something like Basecamp. The icing on the cake is to be able to share that route with others so that we all get to experience the journey and I don't have to lead all the time. Sharing can still be done but why have they removed the most convenient way of doing it? I like your idea of taking the Nav5 along as a sharing hub, but having thought about it I might as well just keep it as my main satnav and return the XT2, it doesn't give me much more useful functionality, just some novelty value. I'll find something else to spend my 500+ quid on.
 
This news , re the XT2 is real shyte and will stop me purchasing it. It's a necessary part of my rides to early share routes and waypoints by bluetooth . Bollocks: I was so looking forward to owning an XT2 and not anymore.
 
GrinningGSer said:
This news , re the XT2 is real shyte and will stop me purchasing it. It's a necessary part of my rides to early share routes and waypoints by bluetooth . Bollocks: I was so looking forward to owning an XT2 and not anymore.
Click to expand...
Same here
 
I’ve succumbed and acquired an XT2. Lack of bluetooth route transfers is still a huge oversight, but this is now a world where the app controls the device, which is fixed in place, perhaps in your motor home out of reach . Overwhelmingly people hate GARMIN Treads , just as they also hate Basecamp . Both require ‘getting used to ‘ then it’s relatively simple, especially sending a gpx to anyone anywhere. Treads search and send is so far impressive.
As I type this I’m growing in confidence that my friends and their Garmin Drives, can accept gpx, but early experiments seem to be robust only in waypoints and not in routes . Still learning.
 
I can now confirm that sharing routes and waypoints from XT2 to XT, is a piece of cake . This enables such easy sharing from XT2 (Tread) to XT (Drive) or easier still to another XT2 (Tread to Tread)
Not sure if it can be done in the reverse direction GARMIN Drive (XT) to GARMIN Tread (XT2). Thinking not. More research needed and still a shame that Bluetooth sharing is off the menu .

I’ve also learned that TREAD is way more superior to DRIVE; as well as superior mapping and the ability to create complex routes , the ability to create ‘collections ‘ and choose to display / not to display , is wonderful.
Loving this now , hated it at first, because I did not understand it .
 
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GrinningGSer said:
I can now confirm that sharing routes and waypoints from XT2 to XT, is a piece of cake . This enables such easy sharing from XT2 (Tread) to XT (Drive) or easier still to another XT2 (Tread to Tread)
Not sure if it can be done in the reverse direction GARMIN Drive (XT) to GARMIN Tread (XT2). Thinking not. More research needed and still a shame that Bluetooth sharing is off the menu .

I’ve also learned that TREAD is way more superior to DRIVE; as well as superior mapping and the ability to create complex routes , the ability to create ‘collections ‘ and choose to display / not to display , is wonderful.
Loving this now , hated it at first, because I did not understand it .
Click to expand...
Yes, I agree that the new Garmin eco system is good for sharing routes between newer devices but Garmin drive and Tread don't work on the older devices (NAV5, NAV6 etc) which is my problem. Its good to see Garmin developing and improving their devices but I cant see their justification for taking away legacy functionality apart from trying to 'obsolete' their older units.
 
Correct Tony ZZR ; XT2 will not communicate with my 10 yr old Uber trusty NavV . However Basecamp communicates with both USB , or easier and quicker; Basecamp export gpx to your mobile , which immediately imports into Tread and bingo you got your route . No use for mates out on a ride with your ‘legacy’ NavV it’s successor , the horrendous NavVI device.
 
I love following XT2 threads. Usually pick up some tips.

With zero interest in using my phone to navigate I’ve become comfortable with Basecamp and love to plan trips - on 2 and 4 wheels - from the comfort of my desktop pc.

Load up the satnav device and off I go.

I’m still annoyed that the XT2 doesn’t bundle Favourites into easy groups as before.

But it meets my needs using planned routes and carrying lots of Favourites / Waypoints.

My GPS path on bike has been 550 / 660 / NAV6 (yes I survived) then XT2.

I’m also still running around with a Garmin stuck to my car screen as it does so much more than the built in device.
 
Ha ha Boxerboy55;
I’m GARMIN quest/ Zumo /NavV ( best and hugely used with Basecamp to date ) / XT2
XT2 has concerned me for a few weeks , especially Treads , but now I’m ‘getting it’ and find simple routing very quick and very easy .
Sharing routes is very easy indeed ( although app-app not bluetooth )
However I would still return to Basecamp if deeply complex .
I cannot understand why Treads is not a desktop app because it’s search feature is far superior to Basecamp.
I love how waypoints are grouped in ‘collections ‘.
d1be1a5e2b669cc8eb5f8eaa9b9d8185.jpg

How’s this portrait for being ‘modern ‘ ?
There is no doubt whatsoever that portrait always shows more route ahead.
I’ll report more as it gets used in seven countries this summer.
 
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To me, that screen looks far too busy.

PS Loving the tyre pressure reminder.
 
Point taken Wapping and that is night mode in my dark garage , so different again . Still learning . XT2 has;
Map detail ; more/normal/less
plus
Map Layers ; Birds Eye/Topographic/Popular Paths (Moto)/Bookmarked Great Rides /Collections (campsites ,Michelin Scenic Roads , Unsaved tracks ,Contour Lines , 3D Terrain , Traffic , Up ahead places
All are individually selectable or all can be selected .
So as very busy or as very simple as you like .
I have no knowledge of XT so not sure if this is new or not .
 
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For those that don’t know , Treads does much more that Garmin Explore and can export to anywhere ( email , WhatsApp etc ) both individual waypoints as a gpx , or a collection of waypoints as a gpx, or a route as a gpx ( collection of waypoints which then requires device calculation ).
Note a route is never sent as a route in gpx form because gpx cannot do this , but can group waypoints together for later calculation .
Both the new Treads and it’s predecessor Explore can import received gpx ( from whatever origin )and transfer to their devices.
It has been said that GARMIN see satnavs a distance from the user , perhaps in a motor home out of reach. Some never being moved and this is where these apps have use and a ‘raison d'etre’.
I know bikers who never remove their Garmins from their garaged bikes. Shock horror .
 
I need to investigate Tread, I think.

I tried Explore, but found it too intrusive, loading when I didn’t want it to. In the end I had to kill it, as it just wouldn’t stop.
 
Tread is a better mapping layer on top of explore. You can view your explore tracks and routes on Tread but you can't create a route unless you have a linked device (XT2 or Tread nav). Garmin could let XT users use tread if they liked (as it links to explore and Garmin Drive) unlikely they will as its an upgrade incentive?? Same way that they are unlikely to enable bluetooth sharing on the XT2 though it is no doubt technically feasible.
 
I tried Explore, but found it too intrusive, loading when I didn’t want it to. In the end I had to kill it, as it just wouldn’t stop.

The post above explains why I couldn’t get Tread to do very much, as I don’t have a Tread compatible device.
 
Correct ; Tread will not load if it cannot pair with a device . Difficult to know how you can appraise it, without the XT2
XT is not listed as a compatible device;
Listed are
9f66e8159b65708aa2ca82116457a25f.jpg
 
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