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2 users, 2 VivoFit3s, 1 iPad?

Former Member over 7 years ago

My wife and I just got VivoFit3 devices intending to participate in a corporate wellness program. We each have our own device, and have registered separate Garmin Connect accounts, but we only have one iPad.

I installed Garmin Connect Mobile (GCM) for iOS on the iPad, paired, updated, and synced my VivoFit3. I then signed out of GCM and my wife signed in to her account on GCM on the iPad, paired, updated, and synced her VivoFit3, and then signed out. When I signed in to GCM on the iPad again using my email and password, GCM went through the entire pairing and syncing process again.

Since we'll be syncing each device via the one iPad frequently, it's a bit of a pain to go through the whole pairing process every time. Is there any way to get it to remember which device belongs with which account without going through the pairing process?

If not, what are the alternatives (besides buying another iPad)? We do have a relatively recent Mac laptop and I read that we can purchase a Garmin ANT+ device to sync with Garmin Express, but a) your website says Garmin Express doesn't work with satellite internet (which we have), and b) I'm not too keen on buying another thing to be able to use the VivoFit3.

Our corporate wellness program won't accept manually entered activity data, so I must find a way to do the sync electronically. Any suggestions?

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Joe P

0 pshare over 7 years ago

That is a problem for sure. I wasn't aware that Express doesn't work with satellite internet. Not only do you have a corporate wellness issue but Connect will not allow you to manually enter steps anyway.

One option is to buy a cheap android smartphone, Tablet, or a refurb iPad mini just for this. There are smartphones to be had for $49 or even less. An iPad Mini 2 should cost about $150. The only thing you need to be sure of is that it supports the right version of Bluetooth.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

Thanks for the reply, Phil.

Yes, I thought about finding a cheap (maybe second hand) Android device and using it just for syncing. It's not completely out of the question.

I do wonder why they say Garmin Express is "Not for use with dial-up, mobile or satellite connections". I mean, will it not work at all, or will it just be slow? For what I want to do, I could tolerate it being slow. Or maybe it uses lots of data? That's not much of a concern for me as I have a very high monthly cap. I'll ask about it in the Express forum.

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Joe P

0 pshare over 7 years ago

It uses hardly any data so I wouldn't worry about that. As I mentioned before, If you do buy something second hand, just make sure bluetooth is compatible. I had an old Nexus 7 (2013) that I wanted to use because I was having WiFi issues with my phone. I installed Connect and then it said the Nexus 7's bluetooth was not new enough.

If indeed Express will work for you, an option is to buy a vivofit 1. They're dirt cheap now that the VF4 is out but the ant stick was included in VF1.