Exit & Re-Enter running Activity?

If Fenix 8 is like Forerunner 965, you can assign the long-press of bottom-right (back) button as a hotkey for "go to watchface".

I was hoping to find a way to do this without changing the button shortcuts. I have "Lock Watch" assigned to the down-right button since there's no Auto-Lock during activities on the Fenix 8 anymore.  Plus, all the other buttons are already set up with useful functions. 

You don't have to change anything. Just press the button right under and you can do whatever you want.

down-right button short click starts a new LAP when clicked :-/ 
down-right bottun long click start button shortcut "lock watch" as configured

Hellkeeper said:

On my Fenix 6, I was able to exit a running activity by long-pressing the down-right button. This allowed me to use other watch apps and then seamlessly re-enter the ongoing activity by pressing the up-right button.

However, this doesn't seem to work on the Fenix 8. No matter which button I try, I can't seem to exit a running activity.

Bitti said:

If Fenix 8 is like Forerunner 965, you can assign the long-press of bottom-right (back) button as a hotkey for "go to watchface".

Hellkeeper said:

I was hoping to find a way to do this without changing the button shortcuts. I have "Lock Watch" assigned to the down-right button since there's no Auto-Lock during activities on the Fenix 8 anymore.

Hellkeeper said:

Plus, all the other buttons are already set up with useful functions.

Hellkeeper said:

down-right button short click starts a new LAP when clicked :-/ 
down-right bottun long click start button shortcut "lock watch" as configured

"as configured" is the key phrase here.

Gotta say I don't understand this complaint.

You're mad bc Fenix 6 allowed you to return to the watchface during an activity by long-pressing BACK, but Fenix 8 won't allow you to do so bc...you've *chosen* to configure the Hold BACK hot key to lock the watch?

It sounds like Fenix 8 has a way to do exactly what Fenix 6 does, but you just don't want to take advantage of that bc you seem to be fixated on the idea that Fenix 8 should have a "default" way to do so, rather than setting up a hot key / button shortcut to do so.

Looking at the Fenix 6 support video for hot keys, the Hold BACK hot key is simply set to "Watch Face" by default, unlike other watches:

- e.g. On Forerunners, Hold BACK is set to do nothing by default

- On Fenix 8, iirc Hold BACK is set to go to Recent Apps by default (based on the manual, what others have said, and videos which show the default hot keys for Fenix 8)

This means that on Fenix 6, you used a hot key to return the watch face - it just happened to be a hot key that was set up by default.

But on Fenix 8 (and Forerunners), you absolutely have the choice to set the Hold BACK hotkey to "Watch Face". If you think the absence of the auto-lock feature means that there simply aren't enough hot keys to go around, that's a different problem. It would make a lot more sense to request the auto-lock feature in this case, than to complain about not being able to do something that you can actually do.

I can think of some workarounds here:

- Use the controls menu to lock the device, instead of a hot key (assuming Lock Device is still available from the controls menu)

- Use the controls menu for one of the other features you've set to a hot key, then move your other hot keys around so you can set Hold BACK to Watch Face

- Find a different way to go to the watchface. On Forerunners, you can access the Stopwatch from the controls menu, press UP and select Go To Watchface. (Ofc even if something like this exists on F8, it's probably a less than ideal solution.)

- Disable the lap key for activities. If it's like older watches, then (short) pressing BACK should return you to the watchface. Downsides are that you have no way to take laps if/when you want to, and that this doesn't work during workouts (during a workout, press BACK always takes you to the next workout step.)

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the feedback so far!

@FlowState, I appreciate your detailed explanation, but let me clarify my concern. The issue isn't that I want to return to the watch face exactly the way the Fenix 6 did it. 

With the Fenix 8 not having an auto-lock feature during activities, I've had to assign "Lock Watch" to one of the buttons, same with the other Hotkeys. This leaves me without an easy way to exit an activity and use other apps without changing the current button shortcuts. I have "Lock Watch" assigned to the long press on the down-right button since it's essential to avoid accidental inputs during activities.

Just to clarify, I've already raised the missing "Auto-Lock" feature in the Beta forums and am hoping for its implementation. For those interested, here is the link to the discussion: Auto-Lock Buttons During Activity.

Another issue I’ve run into is that, even if I wanted to reconfigure my current hotkeys, I haven't found an option for "Return to Watchface" in the hotkey settings. So, even if I overwrite one of my existing hotkeys, there doesn’t seem to be an option to get back to the watch face directly. (Unless I overlook it somehow?!)

I'm not opposed to reconfiguring the buttons if there was a way to cover all my needs effectively. However, with the current setup, it feels like I'm always having to compromise one function for another.

I like some of the suggestions you've made, such as using the controls menu to lock the device, which could free up the button for another function. I'll give that a try and see if it works better in my use case. (But now sure - how to return to Activity when Device is locked ... ^^)

Unfortunately Short Button press isn't configurable as it seems ...

Ultimately, my preference would be if Garmin added an auto-lock feature during activities to the Fenix 8. That would provide the flexibility I need without having to juggle button functions. In the meantime, I'll explore some of the workarounds suggested here.

Thanks again for the help!

Andy (Hellkeeper)

Hellkeeper said:

Another issue I’ve run into is that, even if I wanted to reconfigure my current hotkeys, I haven't found an option for "Return to Watchface" in the hotkey settings. So, even if I overwrite one of my existing hotkeys, there doesn’t seem to be an option to get back to the watch face directly. (Unless I overlook it somehow?!)

There's no "Watch Face" option in the Fenix 8 hot keys / shortcuts? Sucks if that's the case.

nope - no Watch Face option ... just scrolled through it the 5th time ... ‍

Seems like there is according to this post:

[https://www.reddit.com/r/GarminFenix/comments/1fdytlj/what_have_you_set_hot_keys_to/]

It has to be Fenix 8 bc one of their hotkeys is set to "voice record".

Hellkeeper said:

nope - no Watch Face option ... just scrolled through it the 5th time

:/

Hmm that sucks