Old Dog (of a GPS) New Tricks
Posted: Wed Mar 26, 2025 5:09 pm
I'm posting as I've only just learned this works and hadn't found this information online and so may be useful to someone else. If you keep your nav old school and still use Garmin eTrex 32x that relies on a cable to transfer data you can use an iPhone to do this rather than a computer.
Obviously we all check we've the route we need before heading out
but just in case something goes wrong it could be worth throwing a USB-C to Mini USB cable (or a USB-C MicroSD card reader) in a bag should you need to get a route on to your Garmin mid-ride. Plugged into the iPhone in Mass Storage mode, the Garmin will show as a location in the Files app for exporting or saving GPX files to.
Likewise you can do the same with a MicroSD card and a plugged in card reader but for this to work you'll need to create the same directory structure on the card as on the Garmin for any files to be found ie, Garmin/GPX/.
Obviously we all check we've the route we need before heading out
but just in case something goes wrong it could be worth throwing a USB-C to Mini USB cable (or a USB-C MicroSD card reader) in a bag should you need to get a route on to your Garmin mid-ride. Plugged into the iPhone in Mass Storage mode, the Garmin will show as a location in the Files app for exporting or saving GPX files to. Likewise you can do the same with a MicroSD card and a plugged in card reader but for this to work you'll need to create the same directory structure on the card as on the Garmin for any files to be found ie, Garmin/GPX/.