Issue After Firmware Update 19.34: Phone Won’t Connect to Watch

JonteB 6 months ago

Hi everyone,

I updated my watch to the new firmware (19.34) yesterday, and since then, it won’t connect to my phone (Android 13) anymore.

When I try to pair the phone with the watch, the watch doesn’t show the usual circle animation. Instead, it just displays the text "Initializing" and never appears in the Connect app.

Here’s what I’ve tried so far:

Restarting both the phone and the watch.
Removing the watch from the Connect app.
Reinstalling the Connect app.
Resetting the settings on the watch.
Performing a full factory reset on the watch.

None of these steps have resolved the issue.

Has anyone else experienced this problem, or does anyone have suggestions on what to try next?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Top Replies

2494414 5 months ago in reply to JonteB +2 suggested

Thanks, unfortunately it didn’t work for me. I’ll contact Garmin shortly otherwise will have to return the watch to store. Quite disappointed experience so far.

Update: I reached out to Garmin…

All Replies

0 Michael P 6 months ago

Same here

0 Dr Phil 6 months ago

Try the steps detailed here - Remove and Add a Device From the Garmin Connect App

0 JonteB 6 months ago in reply to Dr Phil

I already tried that, didn't work

0 Dr Phil 6 months ago in reply to JonteB

All the steps, including the most important one of removing it from your phone's Bluetooth settings?

Step 2: Remove Device From the Phone's Bluetooth Settings

That particular step is not shown in your list.

0 JonteB 6 months ago in reply to Dr Phil

Yes, I did this as well, didn't help. My main concern is that I don't have any animation on the watch when pairing, just the plain text, usually there is a circle animation

0 earvc 5 months ago

I'm seeing the same thing on my Epix Pro w/ 19.34 FW. Has anyone found a fix for this?

0 2494414 5 months ago

Hi,

same here, I got my new Epix pro 2 days ago and now I can’t connect to my phone or either wifi.

did anyone find a fix? Or explanation? I was about to take it back to the shop

0 angryivan 5 months ago in reply to 2494414

Hi, I have the same problem today my Fenix7 Sapphire Solar was updated to 19.34 and immediately after the update it was possible to connect the watch to my android 14. The connection worked with the software version 18.16. Can someone tell me if it is possible to set it back to 18.16

0 6473197 5 months ago

Hello! I also have connectivity issues after update. Can’t connect wifi or pair with phone. No circle animation when pairing only initializing message.

0 JonteB 5 months ago

I just contacted Garmin customer support. They asked me to reinstall the software by going to: System -> About -> Pressing the Light button quickly 8 times -> Reinstall Software. Unfortunately, this didn’t fix the problem, so Garmin will be replacing the watch.