Turn on the flashlight by double-clicking the backlight. How to turn off?

2390897 said:

I constantly turn on the flashlight accidentally!

then you probably have a watchface from the store. The increased CPU load leads to a changed double tap delay. use a build in Garmin watchface. Then a double click is required in a shorter time. This way you won't accidentally activate it.

This is clear reason why implementation of double click gesture is wrong. 

In case it depends on watch face performance, then it should be reimplemented or replaced with more reliable gesture. Watch faces are essential part of the Garmin ecosystem and it is pointless to stop using them just because somebody at Garmin invented double click to turn flashlight on and poorly implemented it. 

I struggle with this poor implementation couple of times per week. During the night I want to know what's the time so I click on light button. Then I want to turn backlight off but instead of that I turn flash light on. Exact opposite of what I intend to do. 

This is not accidental. It is just because double click timeout is bad. I very often want to know what is the time during the night. I turn backlight on, I read the time and then I want to turn backlight off. And in this time flashlight turns on so whole bedroom is flood of light. Pretty stupid. And it can't be turned off. So it is pretty annoying.

thubalek said:

It is just because double click timeout is bad.

This is not entirely correct. double click timeout is not generally bad. If you use a garmln build in watchface it's good. If It's just as well if you use a well-programmed third-party watchface. So if you have problems with the double-click timeout on a third-party watchface, you should contact the relevant developer and ask them to check their code. And of course a third-party watchface with a lot of data needs more computing power.

I'm also thinking that it's better to contact the developer because it seems to be a issue of that specific third party watchface (and maybe some others). I just tested on my F7XSS by increasing the frequency of pressing the light button, and it only switched backlight on and off and on again until the frequency was about 3 presses per second. So - and I'm using a third party watchface! - the double tap has to be performed in less then 0,33 secs, all more would not switch the flashlight on.

And maybe a workaround for thubalek: Assuming you are using sleep mode: You can decrease the time for backlight on in the settings (down to 4 sec) seperate for sleep mode, activity and normal. Maybe you needn't tap the light off when it switches off automatically after 4 sec …

There is also a fix in the latest beta firmware (19.21) that is supposed to fix double tab issue on custom watch faces.

bluefish said:

double click timeout is not generally bad. If you use a garmln build in watchface it's good. If It's just as well if you use a well-programmed third-party watchface. So if you have problems with the double-click timeout on a third-party watchface, you should contact the relevant developer and ask them to check their code. And of course a third-party watchface with a lot of data needs more computing power.

If you run a Windows PC at 100% CPU load, the double-click threshold seems to be unaffected.

If a 3rd-party watchface consumes a lot of device resources / energy, that would be an issue from the standpoint of battery life, but it shouldn't affect something basic like this.

Just because a Garmin issue is only exposed under certain circumstances (when a bloated 3rd-party watchface is used), doesn't mean it's not a Garmin issue.

Maybe it would be more accurate to say that the double-click threshold is badly implemented.

bluefish said:

ask them to check their code

So you would expect all the devs of all the popular bloated CIQ watchfaces to make their code more efficient to get around the double-click issue?

If they were willing or able to do so in the first place, wouldn't they have much more incentive to make their code more efficient to get better battery life? After all, the number one complaint about CIQ watchfaces is poor battery life. Imagine how much better their reviews would be if they noticeably improved their battery life.

#Matthias# said:

There is also a fix in the latest beta firmware (19.21) that is supposed to fix double tab issue on custom watch faces.

To quote the changelog:

"Fixed issue causing delay to the flashlight turning on when using a Connect IQ watch face."

Seems like Garmin decided to fix it on their end rather than asking all Connect IQ watchface devs to please write more efficient code. The fact that Garmin was at all able to fix it on their end (of which I had no doubt) kinda indicates it was a problem on their end, as opposed to something completely out of their control and wholly the fault of lazy 3rd party devs.

(I'll also point out that 3rd-party watchfaces, regardless of how efficiently they're written, are inherently more inefficient than native watchfaces, due to the fact that they run in a virtual machine. No wonder many people - including Garmin support - try to discourage ppl from using 3rd-party watchfaces.)

I don't know why you would defend thant point so much. Sure, under ideal conditions the double tap might not be quite as bad (still kinda janky though, just tested it even in a garmin built watchface the backlight still flickers as you press the light button twice, which clearly shows that it's a weird double use of the button)

I just don't understandy why they can't give us the OPTION to choose a hotkey for the flashlight. hotkeys even already exist, just the flashlight is kinda random hardcode and can't be changed.

Nobody would loose from a having a choice. For some the double tap might be good for others it's annoying - in that case everybody can choose what's best.

Just seems super weird from Garmins side to force this feature just because someone determined that everybody will like it. Adding an Option to deactivate the double tap would cost nothing

2390897 said:

I just don't understandy why they can't give us the OPTION to choose a hotkey for the flashlight.

Send your idea to Garmin : 

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/forms/ideas/