This summer, T-Mobile launched its T-Satellite service, which allows you to send text messages and contact emergency services outside cellular coverage areas. The company promised that other apps would be able to work with data on the Starlink network starting in October.
Fall has come early. It's only September, and several apps on iOS and Android already support T-Satellite data.
With the release of iOS 26, Apple joins Google in offering compatibility with a host of apps -- such as mapping, fitness, weather and location sharing utilities -- that benefit from connecting in remote areas.
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Satellite communications are extremely limited compared to a phone's connection to a typical cellular or Wi-Fi network. Apps need to be specifically modified to work with a small stream of data, which is why the service was first available only for the built-in Messages app and for location sharing.
T-Mobile said that its engineering relationships with Google and Apple enabled this initial app support, starting with the Pixel 10 phones.
Here's the current list of compatible apps:
Apple apps compatible with T-Satellite:
Apple Compass
Apple Fitness
Apple Maps
Apple Messages
Apple Music
Apple Weather
Android apps compatible with T-Satellite:
AccuWeather
AllTrails
CalTopo
Google Find Hub
Google Maps
Google Messages (with Gemini)
Google Personal Safety
onX Backcountry
onX Hunt
onX Offroad
T-Life
WhatsApp
X
T-Mobile maintains this list on its T-Satellite Support page and will undoubtedly continue to add supported apps to it.
According to Gavin Gee, senior director of product marketing at T-Mobile, the apps will work with T-Satellite regardless of which method of T-Mobile's satellite service you use. If you have the Experience Beyond plan, it's included. You can also add T-Satellite as a paid add-on to a different T-Mobile plan and get access to the apps. And if you subscribe to a competitor's plan but you've set up T-Satellite as a standalone service on a secondary eSIM, you'll also be able to take advantage of the apps.
When Google launched the Pixel 10 with app support more than a month ahead of the planned launch, Gee said that Google was the first out of the gate with the Pixel 10 device. "Frankly, this feature is just too important for us to hold it back," he said.
Read more about how I drove 120 miles to test T-Satellite for myself.