Using Connect App without Internet access

Yes, agreed. This has renewed urgency since Garmin's extended downtime. Moreover my smartwatch crashed during the downtime and I lost all of the data that was being collected during that window.

I'm pretty regularly in situations where I can't sync for a day or more and I'm always fearful my watch will crash and lose all of my data before I can get back to an area where I can get internet again.

I'm not sure if other vendors have this issue but I'm seriously considering moving away from Garmin over this issue even though I love the devices.

I completely agree with all the other comments. Most of us adventure types are mostly away from WIFI; I'm either out in the mountains, out in the ocean, or in some remote country where WIFI doesn't exist. What an absolute disappointment.  I sold my SUUNTO watch and bought this watch with the expectation that it would do everything the SUUNTO does and more. The SUUNTO connected to my PC via cable and I could view everything from the watch on my PC with, or without, an internet connection. I guess I will sell my give up on Garmin, because they do not support an adventurous lifestyle, and go back to SUUNTO.

And one more thing, if what I said above is not reason enough for Garmin to change their operational model, then their recent server outage, that left us all unable to connect for days on end, should convince them to do so.

And one last thing, I don't want anything of mine in the cloud. My information is mine alone, and I do not want to share it with any cloud, particularly a cloud that was hacked and held ransom.

Garmin sucks!

You can import the FIT files from the watch into any other software that supports FIT files. I use many different training services and can continue to use any of the other services if one or more goes down or disappear completely. I'm a software developer and are very aware of the risks with relying on a single service. Always always have backups and backups of the backups.

Avoiding the cloud is harder and harder these days since pretty much all services out there moves to the cloud. There are many benefits with the cloud, but the major downside is offline usage. 

I agree that the Garmin Connect app should allow for offline usage. The start would be to at least see the historical data (which can be achieved with caching of data) and not allow syncing of new data which is a lot harder to implement. Then later on move to offline syncing.

ASmugDill said:

Because the data transferred from the watch during sync *must* go to Garmin Connect, which is a service hosted ‘in the cloud’ and can only be reached via the Internet.

Data caching is a simple concept that many client software uses to keep functioning offline.

Another important use case is when you want to show heart rate data to your doctor, but the surgery does not have a wifi for patients or requires devices to be in airplane mode.

Reading through this comments and must totally agree with what's been said (written) here. The incapability of using the app in offline mode is totally ridiculous. I am also using the gear in areas with bad or none signal coverage plus I do not want to connect the internet when I want to enjoy my time outdoors because then other apps want to connect, I loose my phone's battery life more quickly, pay more money for transferred data in the background by all the apps etc. etc... Why does not the app simply store my activity log on the phone's storage and sync when network is connected again? When it comes to history data, store a day or two (or let user pick the depth of kept history) and if exceeded, then instruct him/her to connect the network.

All of this is technically achievable - I would expect that for product of this caliber it is quite natural to be equipped with such a feature. I like Garmin products but I am sorry but this is a big faux pas in my opinion.

If you want an offline app, use the Garmin Explore app. Of course, it does not offer all that functionality that requires the access to the server, but you can download and review the activities, or upload pre-stored courses as you need, even without the Internet connection.

I was planning to upgrade my Garmin Instinct watch soon. But had no idea of this issue. Yesterday I tried to see may hike data in an area without cell signal, and could not! And after looking online this problem has existed for years... Unbelievable! Will search for a new brand…if there is one without this dealbreaker issue! 

I really enjoy to be in places without cell coverage. It's beyond ridiculous that Garmin Connect won't let me upload a new route to my Edge 530 while I'm perfectly able to create new routes on my own, using offline maps.