I must wonder if the folks who complain actually spent the time to read instructions and learn how to use this service. It works very well if you just spend few minutes, maybe an hour, to understand how to use it.
You do need Spot or Inreach (Dan, this may be a good reason for you to turn your spot on). The Glidetrack app works as well but only when there is cell reception.
As for tracking flights from the ground, this can easily be done from your computer or from your smart phone. Just ignore the embedded message and run unembedded.

Ramy