Running the NYCM this Sunday and can't get Fenix to pair with new phone - HELP!!!

Former Member
Former Member
I just contacted support, but am really hoping someone here can help me faster. Today I upgraded to the iPhone XR, and although everything else has migrated over seamlessly, my Garmin Connect app on the new phone just will NOT connect with my Fenix 5S. All my old data is there, but nothing since 5pm or so when the new phone went live.

I've restarted both devices (Fenix + phone), have force-quit and reopened the app, and have turned Bluetooth on and off on both devices as well. I've also removed the Fenix from the GC app on my old phone and turned off Bluetooth on that phone, so that the watch isn't getting confused.

The only thing I haven't tried is removing and re-adding the Fenix device within the GC app on the new phone -- because I'm scared I'll lose all my data if I do that. (But I'd love to know that I'm wrong about that assumption...?)

What do I do??? I know this is very much a 'first-world problem', but I'll admit I'm panicking a little, because I'm running the NYC Marathon this coming Sunday and leaving town in two days -- so I'm feeling pretty stressed about figuring this out!!!

Thanks in advance for any help!
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 6 years ago
    Okay, never mind; I have absolutely no idea why it decided to work on the 9286th try, but it did. I didn't do anything differently, just force-quit the app and turned the Bluetooth off/on again for both devices... but for some reason it worked this time.

    Phew. Sorry for the panic attack, guys.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 6 years ago
    Spoke too soon; after a couple of hours it randomly quit again.

    Now I see it under Bluetooth ("Connected") on the iPhone, which I didn't before... but when I go into pairing mode, the watch is now telling me "Open App On Phone" (when the app is already open). 18 million resets of both devices aren't making a difference.

    This is so frustrating!!! Anyone with insight??
  • You mention that haven’t completely removed the F5 from GCM and the phone’s Bluetooth settings. If you’re having pairing issues that is exactly what I would do and have done numerous times. I’ve never lost any data from the F5 as GCM doesn’t store the info; it simply acts as a conduit from watch to GC servers (which is why GCM syncs just don’t work when the phone has no internet connection).

    So the first step is remove the device from GCM then also remove the paring in the iPhone Bluetooth settings, then go back in to GCM and go through the initial pairing process with the watch again. This won’t reset your watch or delete data from it, but it may well clear the pairing issue.

    In case there was any corruption of GCM app Data when upgrading iPhones, you could safely go one step further and completely remove GCM from your iPhone after unpairing the watch (from GCM and phone settings), then reinstall GCM from fresh, log in to your account when you open the app then pair the watch again. Again, this won’t delete data from your watch or reset it.

    I’ve done all of the above accross multiple devices linked to my GC account (I have a Fenix 3, 5 and 5 Plus) and paired to GCM and never had a reset of the watch or lost data.
  • You CANT run the NYCM without your iPhone ??? The link between phone and Fenix is not required to use the Fenix !!! You just need the Fenix Garmin, forget your phone and try to pair it after the marathon...
  • There has been a bug since the daylight saving time switched last weekend, which caused the app on iOS to crash and generally work bad. Fix has been released. So update the Garmin Connect app and try if that fixes things.