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Two Main issues with Garmin Connect

I have two really nagging issues that make sticking with Garmin very difficult. I have both a Fenix 3 and Vivosmart HR. I use the Vivosmart daily and switch to the Fenix during workouts. Garmin has done a lot of great work with the software and I love the hardware, but these are my two sticking points:

  • Can only sync with one device at a time - Fitbit will sync with multiple devices at once and that's ideal for me because I switch phones pretty often. I know I'm not a typical use case, but I still don't see why I have to turn off the BT on one phone and wait to be able to sync on another.
  • Activity Names after sync - This is a big one for me. I created custom "apps" for my workouts. One is for weight lifting, another for elliptical, and another for walking. When I sync, they come up as "unknown" and sync to Myfitnesspal like that. I have to manually go in and edit them each time. Even when I do edit them, if they have already sync'd to Myfitnesspal, they do not update, so it still shows up as "running". Apparently, running is the only thing people track. My Fitbit Surge lets me specify weightlifting, walking etc. and actually syncs with the proper names. I noticed that my Polar m400 does this too, though everything else sucks about it. Why can't this be fixed?


Overall, those are my two biggest beefs right now. I love my Vivosmart HR, but my data and the syncing is really starting to bother me. Honestly, I would have already switched back to Polar if their app didn't suck and the only thing preventing me from going back to Fitbit is that the wrist-based HR monitors are horribly inaccurate and there's no way to connect them to external monitors.

One last thing: The syncing on iOS is broken. I had to switch back to my Android phones just so I can sync reliably and that's another force driving me back to Fitbit. Please fix the iOS app ASAP.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 9 years ago
    Just stumbled on your post and wanted to chime in that second both of these sticking points.

    I use a Vivosmart for daily activity tracking and a Fenix 3 for my workouts. I would LOVE for Garmin to implement device interchangeability. For example, when I take off my Vivosmart and put on my Fenix 3 for a workout, all of the day's activity stats should be transferred automatically and the Fenix 3 should pick up where the Vivosmart left off. FitBit does this quite well, so I'm certain it can't be a hardware limitation.

    Likewise with the activity name syncing –*none of my custom apps or the 'strength' app will sync the proper activity name. Just "untitled". Not sure if this a Fenix 3 issue or Garmin Connect issue. Either way, should be a relatively straightforward software fix.