frequent soft reset to revive smart notification that stops working after a while

I had a S40 for a few days now and connected to my Iphone XR (IOS 13.6.1). Since day one, the watch will receive smart notification for a while, and then out of the blue, stops receiving notification completely. When I check the status, phone bluetooth menu shows its connected, and watch menu says its already paired. The only way to revive the smart notification is to power off the watch, then power it back on. Seems like that "forces" the watch to reconnect with my phone.

To make the symptoms worse, even when I am not receiving smart notification, the phone call notification still works. But things like whatsapp and other 3rd party app based notification will NOT show unless I soft reset. Based on what I observed, it means phone call notification and smart notification are separate. If so what cause the smart notification to fail sporadically ? (I already checked and notifcation is set to "show all" all the time.

Could this be a hardware issue and not software glitch ? Personally I dont believe its hardware given I will rec 100% of phone call notification, and 100% of smart notifications (when it works). Also I think simply close the Connect app and reopen will "wake up" the watch again as it reconnects with the phone.

I have already talked and chat with garmin support a few times, and have done all the remove and reconnect steps etc. Also all the phone settings are identical or I would not have rec smart notifications at all. They suggest to swap for another watch to test but based on what I described, isnt it kind of clear somehow the watch is not able to have a REAL connection with the phone all the time, which is needed for smart notification ?

This is frustrating as the only way I can tell it stops receiving smart notification is when my phone is near and notification shows up on phone but not on watch. The whole idea of having the watch is so that my phone can stay in my golf bag when I am golfing !!

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+1 Garmin - Chris over 3 years ago

I am sorry you are having connectivity issues. What you are describing is a tough scenario. Your iOS iPhone Settings > Notifications menu is responsible for what gets pushed to your Approach S40. Based on your description of the issue, you have your Notification setup for "Show All" for messages/whatsapp etc.

The only suggestion that may make a difference, keep the Connect Mobile APP open on your iPhone. iOS 13 made changes that have impacted the behavior of APPS. (Whether intentional or simply the way things work now.) I have experienced improved communication leaving the GCM APP open after syncing with all of my outdoor watches tested.

If the issue continues, I would take up our Golf Product Support team's advice and swap your watch for the sake of trying everything possible.

0 1540548 over 3 years ago in reply to Garmin - Chris

I have tried leaving the the Connect APP open in the background and it seems the connection is definitely a lot more stable past 2 days. I also dont see the watch being disconnected and reconnected at the time when its close to my phone.

One other thing I am trying to figure out is it seems from time-to-time the notification for "during activity" settings will change from "show all" to "show call only" by itself. I have not observed a consistent pattern what triggers it. Will advise you guys if I can replicate that weird behavior consistently.

Based on my experience so far, I feel very confident that the watch (hardware) is fine. Its just the quirkiness of IOS 13 that results in some glitches in a random fashion sometimes. Thank you so much for all the assstance from the Garmin team so far. I just hope dont have to "relearn" all these behaviours when IOS 14 rolls in next couple of months !