Live Tracking stopped working

don't know if any of these steps are unnecessary,

Yes, that's the problem. This issue concerns only some individuals, while it works allright for the majority. So unless you manage to identify where the problem comes from, Garmin will blame it on your phone, or on other external conditions (and they may be very well right, in fact).

So for example when you find out, that clearing of the cache of the app, or the master reset of the watch help, then it is already a big progress, and may help Garmin to fix the issue. But if you do ten different operations each time the LT auto-start stops working, to bring it back, and do not know which of them really helped, then it cannot help fixing the issue either. Next time, try doing the operations one at a time, and testing the LT after each step, to see when it starts working - that can then perhaps help better.

Apology for being unclear. 

I have had LT problems at least 10 times in the past 2 years, and over time kept a spreadsheet with all the things I tried, and the order of those actions. For me all these steps above are always necessary and in the exact order. But maybe not for everyone, and I would like to spare the OP the reset to factory defaults. Also phones differ. But I'll refrain from generating further noise.

But I'll refrain from generating further noise.

No, your comments are certainly welcome. Just the problem is, they do not really help uncovering the true culprit. However, the more comments from people having some experience with the issue, the better chance to find a common denominator.

There is one experiment that you could do at home, and that could perhaps help identifying the culprit. Stay home, make sure your phone is connected to your home WiFi router (instead of using mobie data), and assure you also that the GCM app is at the top, and connected to the watch (green dot at its symbol). Also verify that the option for LiveTrack auto-start is enabled.

Now start a running activity. Never mind that the GPS is not locked indoors, the LiveTrack (normally) starts anyway (just have tested it). Let us know whether the LiveTrack starts in this way (over WiFi), or not.

Even better would be if you have Android Studio installed on your computer, or another tool for viewing Android's Logcat (system log file). There are some apps for viewing the Logcat directly on the phone, but the Logcat viewr on a computer is much more comfortable to use. 

So if you have a Logcat viewer, you can set the viewing filter "livetrack", to limit the huge number of irrelevant lines, and browse the records for errors or warnings - it could reveal where the problem comes from.

Thanks Trux

I did try the first part of the experiment but the outcome was the same - see screenshot.

I have installed Android Studio but I'm afraid I have no idea where to proceed from there.

Regards 

Woody

steve11woody said:

I have installed Android Studio but I'm afraid I have no idea where to proceed from there.

First of all you have to [enable debugging] over the USB cable on your phone. Then connect the phone with a USB cable to the computer. In Android studio, open the Logcat tab, select the device (your phone), open Garmin Connect, enter the filter expression "livetrack", and now start the Activity on your watch. Look up especially for red lines with errors, or anything resembling one.

PS: strangely I am unable to get any messages with the "livetrack" filter active today, except of one line at closing the activity, although the Livetrack autostart still works allright for me. Yesterday, I've got about 50 livetrack lines at each activity start. If you do not get any lines with the filter "livetrack", try filtering by "garmin" and search for errors there.

Hi there - I did try the above and got some info but nothing that showed any errors.

In the end because of some inconsistent HR readings on my LSR this morning, I did a factory reset of the watch and the live tracking is now working again.
I did not however delete the GC app or log out. It appears the issue is related to the watch itself.

A massive thanks for all the help and advice - this is why I really like these helpful forums..

steve11woody said:

It appears the issue is related to the watch itself.

Good to know. You should perhaps report it to the Support anyway, so that they at least know what to advise other users with similar problems.