This discussion has been locked.

You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Bluetooth problem

Former Member over 7 years ago

Anyone else struggle with connecting Garmin devices through Bluetooth to Garmin Connect? I have a Forerunner 935 and a Vivosmart 3, and they both have Bluetooth problems. Temporary fix is to reboot my phone (a Moto G5 Plus), and then it works for a couple of hours, but then both devices disconnect again. Any suggestions?

Using latest Garmin Connect mobile version, as well as latest firmware on both devices.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

I have had similar issues with my iPhone 6 and the latest iOS 11.0.1 (15A402).
While on iOS 10 it was working perfectly. U
Upon upgrade to the latest iOS, Connect is having Bluetooth issues.

It constantly thinks that the Bluetooth is turned off.
I've reinstalled Connect but that didn't change anything, but I really do not want to do any type of iPhone reset.

Anyone else has experienced this?

** edit **
ok, i found the issue, it's a bit finicky with iOS 11 and bluetooth.
it appears that you need to have Connect running, then swipe up the control center, and turn off and then turn on bluetooth.
it also required a new pairing from the fenix 5 to the iPhone and GC.

0 Martinr2 over 7 years ago

Sounds like apple messed up something with bluetooth rather than a garmin problem

0 onmyfeetoutside over 7 years ago

I had the same problem with my fenix 5 + iPhone 6s on iOS11. Worked fine when the phone was on iOS10. I know apple fiddled with the bluetooth parts on iOS11, so... yeah. I was getting disconnects several times a day.

**SOLVED** (maybe?)
I deleted pairing between my fenix 5 and phone, then set up a new connection. That was 2 days ago at this point. Since then, I had one disconnect, but followed mstella's "fix" (i.e., Connect running, swipe up on iPhone and toggle BT) and it quickly reconnected. It's now been over 24 hours with no disconnect.

Hope that helps.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

Same problem (iOS 11, iPhone 7+, and Forerunner 935). Bluetooth connectivity between watch and phone will consistently fail after paired to HRM Swim. Watch shows up as "connected" in phone Bluetooth settings but as "not connected" in Garmin Mobile Connect.

Toggling Bluetooth (in settings or control center & with or without Connect running) does NOT restore the connection.

"Forgetting" the watch in Bluetooth settings on the phone then re-pairing has worked, but perhaps only 50% of the time.

Following "forgetting" the device with a phone restart works 95% of the time, but it is occasionally necessary to remove the device in mobile connect, power down/up both phone and watch and then add the watch as a new device in mobile connect in order to successfully pair and re-establish Bluetooth connection.

I would hesitate to call this a "fix."

I can't be sure, but I think the problem can be dated back to the iOS11 release. That said, the problem presents in precisely NONE of the other (already-paired) Bluetooth-connected peripherals on my phone's Bluetooth roster (eg, Jaybird wireless earbuds). This would suggest that, while it may have originated with Apple tweaking the OS, the fact that getting my phone and watch to synch after completing an activity that utilized a BT peripheral sensor is definitely a failure on Garmin's part to come up with a patch.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

One thing that I found out on my older phones is that if the phone has a "low battery save mode" where the phone auto-magically disables services, say bluetooth, then the pairing with the device can disappear. The work-around that I found was to do either or both 1) disable low battery mode and 2) keep phone charged a little more, not letting it approach the cut-off percentage.

The other thing that I did find out is that by powering down the device so the residual cruft hanging around in memory goes away. This almost always helps me, (except when my FR 735XT went bad, had to RMA it).