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phone battery drain

I have started using a Fenix6 Saphire and my Android Pixel 6a better is taking a significant hit. I end up pausing the app each morning to prevent this.

Is there an option to reduce App activity? I don't need the app to be constantly updating if that is what is happening.

Cheers

Craig

0 trux over 1 year ago

You can close the app, and open only when needed, if you do not mind not receiving any notifications, and no weather data updates to the watch, and not being able to use features like the LiveTrack or Incident Detection. You can also uninstall it entirely and only use syncing over the USB cable to a computer with Garmin Express.

0 9595962 over 1 year ago

Useful suggestions. Thanks. Interestingly, there are many apps that manage notifications to other watch devices - eg my old Xiaomi or temporary Pixel watch that don't put undue strain on the battery; it seems Garmin Connect must either be very inefficient, or it is doing a lot more than other watches... I do get notifications still when I pause the app all day; I may be missing out on weather updates. I couldn't find any other references to battery drain - which worried me!

Thanks again

Craig

0 trux over 1 year ago in reply to 9595962

At a new watch there may be indeed increased battery drain, since the app downloads diverse updates - firmware, maps, exercise videos, language packs, apps, diverse data tables, etc, and it syncs all data between the watch and the phone. The watch comes from the factory usually with the first initial firmware version (unless it was pre-owned). This updating process can indeed consume quite a bit of battery, especially if the BT connection between the watch, and the phone is not firm and reliable (for example the phone is too far).

The process happens only once after setting up the device. Occasionally, it may partially repeat, when new firmware version is released (typically at the end of each quarter), or when some updates to some of the components like maps, videos, apps, segments, etc. are available. Those are all rather rare occurrences. Personally I use the app both on an Android phone as well as on an iPhone since years, and do not observe any excessive battery load (if I do not speak about the above mentioned exceptions).

It is definitely a good idea to connect the watch to a computer with Garmin Express regularly, and check for updates there - it downloads all necessary data much faster, and without having any impact on the battery of the phone.