I've successfully paired my new Vivoactive HR with my android smartphone. I would also like to view on my laptop computer. Can I do that? When I go to the Garmin Connect setup page for the computer, it tells me to select "No" to "Pair with Mobile Device". I'm afraid it will interfere with my smartphone app if I also set it up on my computer.
I'm new to the Vivoactive HR also & did mine in backwards-order from you, but maybe this will help:
I did the computer set up first (Garmin Express, then Garmin Connect). I said "No" when asked about pairing. I'd bet in your case if you said "Yes" and the phone was nearby with bluetooth on, the application would see it & tell you you're already paired. Maybe before you start, tell the phone app to "Sync" so your data is uploaded to Garmin's server.
I think (and this is just a S.W.A.G.) that your data would be safe even if the phone pairing gets 'nuked' since the phone uploads data to the Web app even if the computer isn't set up yet. Very little of your data is actually kept on the phone. (At least on my Android 51. is has only a little on the phone itself.) Also, the Vivoactive HR stores several activities for you until you get to upload.
If things go haywire & you get stuck, the people here a sure to help. They are great!
With both Garmin Express ans Garmin Connect Mobile on your phone, they are both really just a pass through of data to/from the Garmin servers, and the data can be seen in both GC on the web and your phone, and how it got to Garmin doesn't matter. Just use the same Garmin Connect account.
"pairing" only makes a difference with your phone, and doesn't come into play at all with Garmin Express.
If you find something is broken with pairing after doing something with GE (it likely won't be), just re-pair with the phone. Over time, I've paired with different phones/tablets, and the only thing is the watch may only work with the last phone paired (you probably don't want two phones actively paired with a single watch anyway). Nothing in GE changes when you pair to a new phone.
The key is to use the same account from both your phone and Garmin Express.
Thanks! That worked just like you said.... I signed into Garmin Express on my computer and it worked perfectly. And, my smartphone is still paired with the Vivoactive HR.
When you say you logged into Garmin Express, what you really did was connect your device to a Garmin Connect account.
Let's say your spouse also got a Garmin. You both can use the same Garmin Express on the same computer. When your spouse sets up their watch, it gets connected to their Garmin Connect Account, and based on which is plugged into the computer, it syncs to the correct account.
In my case I have a va that I use for testing, and it's connected to a different account than the va-hr, which is my day-today watch, so the data isn't mixed together.
The app on your phone can be only logged into one account at a time, so you and your spouse count sync to the same phone (but you probably each have your own phone)
