8.21 - Custom Watch Faces Gone; Garmin Quality Strikes Again

I was just prompted to install 8.21 (from 8.18). I looked at the change notification and noted that it seemed to be a single innocuous change. So, I installed the update. Bad move.

When the update was finished, the watch defaulted to some watch face I’ve never I’ve never seen before. Okay, no problem I thought. I’ll just scroll to my installed watch face. Nope. Gone. I opened the Garmin Connect application on my phone and went to Appearance / Watch Face. The application complained that I had to “Update Setting on Device.” Right…it’s an Epix 2…so not in the Garmin Connect application. Well, it’s not really on the watch either, it’s in the “ConnectIQ” application.

As I was going through all of this, I could not help but think that Garmin has a serious number of unqualified people making product decisions. Who thought that forcing people to go to another application to do something with the same device was a good user experience? Who thought that leaving a menu item active (as opposed to hiding it) on a device for which it isn’t applicable was a good idea? And who, for crying out loud, deemed it acceptable to be okay that things disappear between updates…even supposedly minor updates?

One might ask what the big deal is about reinstalling a watch face. On the face of it (pun intended), it shouldn’t be a big deal. However, these faces have customizations that must be re-activated after they’re reinstalled. Depending on the watch face, this can be a substantial amount of work…colors, values, field values, etc. It is NOT acceptable to become the latest victim of Garmin’s poor quality assurance processes.

Seriously, do they test these things? This is a closed ecosystem. Their hardware, their software. This device costs a huge chunk of change; we should all expect better from Garmin. The fact that they had to go from 8.18 to 8.21 in such a short amount of time is a good illustration of their lack of diligence that should have been applied to 8.18.

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0 nousdefions37 over 3 years ago

I just checked my Epix 2 and after updating to 8.21 today all my watch faces are there, plus some new Garmin ones - which look pretty cool - and all my third-party watch faces as well.

I know that there may be other folks with your issues, however. I will say, from the perspective of a program manager who is also certified as a product owner, Scrum Master, and in project management, software is a tough business. Even in the most successful software deliveries I have seen or experienced, there has always been some weird quirks that occur for one reason or another and - unfortunately - a user (or users) is (are) negatively affected.

It happened to me when I first got my Epix 2. Somehow code became corrupted and my watch, which was brand new out of the box, appeared as if it had a previous owner and would not record all of the exercise metrics as a result. Customer support fixed it from their side.

From the development to the staging to the testing and - finally - production environments, there are a lot of moving pieces that have to go right. I dare say thar Garmin gets it mostly right. What is notable is that they also provide this forum for us for when they get it wrong. I am grateful for that; many companies do not do this. I hope they fix your issues quickly. I can only imagine how annoying it must be. I know it would bother me as well.

0 JBHORNER over 3 years ago in reply to nousdefions37

Thanks for the insight. I cannot disagree that software is a tough business. It is not an impossible business. I have led technology teams, inclusive of infrastructure, program management, product management, software development and quality assurance. I have done so in both agile and waterfall environments. I'm very well aware of what goes into a product from inception to post-sale updates. None of this is new and many, many companies get it right. I am so past giving Garmin a pass on things like this. Sure, the forum is nice. However, it is not a surrogate for attention to detail. And, having a place for them to catch all of their bugs is quite convenient for them as well.

I noted obvious product usability issues...the separation of functions between two apps as an example. This was a conscious decision, and was in my opinion a poor one. Mature development companies have test cases built to address quality prior to the customer seeing the delivery. A focus on regression testing is crucial. Based on my read in the forums and my own experience, Garmin is weak in this area. Code integration also appears to have issues, as they have apparently not figured out how to track changes across modules/branches. So, when they "fix" something in one area they break something else in another because the dependency wasn't noted or documented well.

My ire is not based on a single event. I could fill pages with the issues I have personally had with Garmin updates. The number of expletives that have left my lips during a ride or run is high--the watch reboots for no reason--the bike computer stops communicating with the ANT+ devices, etc. I've used Garmin devices for years. In addition to this Epix 2, I also have other primary devices (Edge 1030 Plus, Rally 200, HRM 200, Varia [front and back]); secondary devices include the Edge 1030, Vector 3. If you really want to see Garmin's "finest," Follow the history of their Vector 2 and Vector 3 pedals...I had lots of fun with those as well. Suffice to say, my stretch with Garmin goes back many years.

I have no doubt that my situation noted above is among a minority. But I also live with the knowledge that things don't just mysteriously happen. Something, somewhere is missed. And Garmin needs to get better than they are. Technology is filled with once-successful companies that either no longer exist, or are fractions of what they once were. The common theme is a lack of customer focus. Garmin is on the fringe of this area. And, yes, spending over $1,000 on a watch brings me a to a point of some level of entitlement. I expect that my money is spent on a reliable product that will continue to work well--even across updates.

0 nousdefions37 over 3 years ago in reply to JBHORNER

Totally understand. I have owned and used Garmin products since 2006 from my time in the US military and these have been used for normal things ranging from fitness activities, to providing location coordinates of friendly positions for the terminal guidance of high yield munitions in combat, to just hiking in the woods on my off time. I have rarely encountered issues with any of the products I have used. I guess what I am stating is that, based on your experience with their products, you have every right to feel as you do; I would as well. Thankfully, and it is perhaps some fluke, I have not had such experiences.