Related
This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Connect crashing my phone's bluetooth

Former Member
Former Member over 7 years ago
I have a Samsung S7 and a Fenix 5 that, up until a couple of weeks ago, was working perfectly.

Notifications worked to my watch and never had any issues connecting.

Then, around the time of the v8 update to my Fenix, I believe there was an update to the Garmin Connect app. Since then, my phone's bluetooth crashes intermittently. I mostly notice it when it's connected to my car streaming music, but I've also noticed it happening at other times and it has caused me to miss notifications and calls.

I did some research online and found a similar issue reported on a Samsung S6 that was being caused by the Connect app. I uninstalled the app and ran for several days without a crash. Reinstalling the app brought back the random crashing.

To fix this I've.

1. Uninstalled and reinstalled the Connect app several times and assured it only occurs when Connect is installed.
2. Cleared cache on my bluetooth app.
3. Wiped phone cache partition.
4. Removed and reconnected my bluetooth to my watch and car.

Nothing made any change and the random disconnects keep happening. I've also tried streaming to another bluetooth device and it happen then to so it's not isolated to my car.

Is there anyway to revert the Connect app so I can isolate the exact version the issue started?

  • 0 over 7 years ago
    I am having the same issue. I was getting random disconnects while on the phone in my car or listening to a Bluetooth speaker I turn the Bluetooth off on my watch with no luck uninstalled Garmin Connect app and things worked fine. I've only had the watch for 2 weeks. I read somewhere that disabling battery optimization for the Garmin Connect app might help fix it but I have not verified that yet I'm very frustrated glad to know I'm not the only one
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 7 years ago
    Tommyt37, glad to know I'm not the only one.

    I've disabled the battery optimization for Connect and it still happens. I've also tried disabling permissions like contact, SMS, and storage but nothing changed. So far, the ONLY thing that stops the disconnections is removing Garmin Connect from my phone.

    I was trying to get a correlation between watch sync and disconnect but it didn't seem to. I've also enabled the Bluetooth "Device Connection Aid" and it reports disconnects throughout the day. Which I would expect if it's crashing my bluetooth stack. I suspect this bug is manifesting its self in different ways, but could be at the root of many people's bluetooth issues. I've missed messages, had trouble connecting, etc.. Many of the problems reported here. I just noticed that my Bluetooth icon on my phone went away and then came back. Like something toggled Bluetooth off/on. But the Bluetooth app control log doesn't show any app doing that.

    I keep thinking of things to try and will continue working on it. I just enabled Developer mode and and I'm logging Bluetooth packets now.

    Makes me seriously reconsider my choice of "smart" watch....
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    So i have exact same issue. I opened a ticket with Garmin customer service. They said they have no heard of this before. It is odd how could an app crash phones blue tooth. It's like it cycles the phones Bluetooth on and off. I am about to do a factory reset of my phone but am putting it off. It's a real pain in the ass. Keep me posted. I will link customer service to this thread.
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    I guess that's an issue I'll have to report too then.. I also experience Bluetooth connections ending and restarting unexpectedly, esp. with car (phone, navigation and music) this since a few weeks, had no idea what caused it, uninstalled all apps that use Bluetooth except Connect, didn't make a difference.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 7 years ago
    Some more information.

    I've looked to see if there is any timing correlation like every 5 minutes or when it syncs to my watch or something but it just seems random.

    I even turned my watch off while driving and it still did it.

    Installing the older 3.23 version also didn't help.

    So does everyone that has this problem have a Samsung S7?
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    Hello Tom,

    Thank you for getting that information back to us on this. If the issue is still happening with the watch disconnected from the app and the phone, unfortunately that would be pointing to an issue on the phone side with the bluetooth. There isn't anything in the app that would be effecting other bluetooth connections beyond the connection with the watch. With the watch disconnected from the app, and if it is not showing in the bluetooth devices list in the phones bluetooth setting, the app would be out of the picture with bluetooth until its told to search for the watch again in the pairing process.

    If you have any further questions regarding this issue, please give us a call and one of our telephone agents would be able to to assist you further with this issue. Our toll free number is 1-800-800-1020, and our agents are available from 7 am to 7 pm Central time Monday through Thursday and on Fridays from 7 am to 6 pm Central time.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 7 years ago
    Interesting... I have found some information that may point to the April 1st security update being the issue. Mine worked fine until sometime around then. There were some bluetooth changes I know in that patch.

    If it is a bug however, Garmin Connect seems to be triggering it. If I remove the app, everything else works smoothly.
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    I agree.... hopefully you open a ticket as well. They didn't help me at all.
  • 0 over 7 years ago
    It's just complete garbage and garmin couldn't give a toss. £500 fenix watch it's just like the rest of the garmin.