I just got a VivoSmart HR today. I have been unable to actually set it up yet, as the Garmin Connect servers have been down all day. All I get with the iOS App and with the PC program is errors. On iOS, it is vague message "Sign In Failed: Cannot sign in. Try again later". On the PC, it is "Server Error: We're having trouble communicating with our servers". Is there anyway for me to get this device to work without some obscure authentication servers that have questionable stability? I can't get my iPhone to see it in Bluetooth devices. It appears, from Google searches, that the only way to setup the device is through the specific Apps. I just want it to sync to MyFitnessPal and retrieve notifications from the phone. Why does GarminConnect's servers need to be up for that to work? This is not a good first experience with the device, and I am highly considering returning it, unless someone can tell me how to use it without those unnecessary servers?
I find this approach hugely frustrating. My Fenix3 wont even connect to the app whilst the servers are down. I use the f3 to enable the 'smart' unlock on my nexus 5 - but this doesn't work whilst the device is unable to connect. Why on earth have Garmin developed an app that is so reliant on a connection to the backend ? I can understand the need for the servers to be up in order to deliver the activity feed, look at old activities, download ConnectIQ stuff etc. However, surely there is lots that can be done without a connection to the backend ? Even very very basics like enabling the sync of an activity to the phone for local analysis - and then syncing this with the servers at a later time. Seems utter stupidity to absolutely require the app to connect to the garmin servers before it can be used.
I find this approach hugely frustrating. My Fenix3 wont even connect to the app whilst the servers are down. I use the f3 to enable the 'smart' unlock on my nexus 5 - but this doesn't work whilst the device is unable to connect. Why on earth have Garmin developed an app that is so reliant on a connection to the backend ? I can understand the need for the servers to be up in order to deliver the activity feed, look at old activities, download ConnectIQ stuff etc. However, surely there is lots that can be done without a connection to the backend ? Even very very basics like enabling the sync of an activity to the phone for local analysis - and then syncing this with the servers at a later time. Seems utter stupidity to absolutely require the app to connect to the garmin servers before it can be used.
I agree totally what I find even more frustrating is that I can not even change the alarm time on my Vivosmart with out the app having connection> i am not working tomorrow and I can not stop the alarm going off in the morning unless Garmin get there servers back on line. Which I doubt is going to happen in time.
I have a fenix 3 and also use this to smart unlock my phone and even though the servers are down and the mobile app cannot sync or get any data from the servers this works fine and I can connect and disconnect the watch at will.
Would seem madness if basic functions on a watch do not work without a connection to a phone, especially if this requires the app connecting to Garmin servers, but I have not observed any problems using my fenix 3 while the servers are down.
