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Garmin Instinct 2x software 14.12 missing Widgets menu

2193156
over 1 year ago

Hi there, I’ve just bought the Garmin Instinct 2X Solar. It came with the known bug of the pre-installed firmware 2.06, which meant that the auto updating of the firmware was broken. I had to use Garmin Express to force an update to the latest firmware 14.12.

However I’ve now noticed that my Widgets menu is missing. Have others noticed this? I’ve followed countless online comments and articles to find this elusive Widgets menu (I.e. Menu >> Settings >> Widgets) but it’s simply not there. Also the official Garmin watch manual says to follow these steps to access the Widgets but it’s not there. I came across other users also reporting the same problem but no one has a solution. Is this a software bug, or an individual watch problem? 

Any help would be much appreciated!

 Photos below of what I see:


  • 0 over 1 year ago
    2193156 said:
    Hi there, I’ve just bought the Garmin Instinct 2X Solar. It came with the known bug of the pre-installed firmware 2.06, which meant that the auto updating of the firmware was broken.

    It rather just means the device was turned off and not connected to any Garmin Connect account, before you purchased it. Updating over Garmin Connect typically takes several days.

    Widgets menu is on Instinct 1st gen. On Instinct 2, there are Glances. A Glance is a quick and minimized preview of a widget. You find them in Menu » Appearance » Glances

  • +1 over 1 year ago

    You should be good to go now that you are on v14.12 software.

    - Customizing the Glance Loop

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to trux

    Thanks for the reply! Great, so Widgets aren't an issue/functionality on my model of watch... this saves me a lot of further investigating. Thanks again!

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to Garmin - Chris

    Thanks a lot. Good to know that what I'm seeing is the expected behaviour for v14.12.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to 2193156

    I cannot tell based on your responses if your issue is resolved. Now that you are using v14.12, at any point, you should be able to use your bottom left ABC button to go into your widgets/glances when you are on your main time watch face screen.

    If you are not seeing that, reset your watch through your System > Reset menu.

    If despite the full reset to defaults your watch is still missing the ability to use and add/remove glances, please reach out to Outdoor Product Support in your region.

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to Garmin - Chris

    I had exactly the same problem with this and had spent hours trying to find the solar intensity widget when finding Glances essentially does the same thing. However this issue comes about because I was unable to find an Instinct 2X Solar or Instinct 2X Solar Tactical manual online. This was rather frustrating in itself.  The only thing I could do was assume The Instinct 2 Solar manual would suffice.  And of course that manual only mentions Widgets for viweing Solar Intensity.  Can I suggest Garmin put an Instinct 2X Solar or Instinct 2X Solar Tactical manual online as soon as possible ?  It would certainly avoid these kinds of wild goose chases and enhance the Garmin customer experience.  

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to 2500331
    2500331 said:
    And of course that manual only mentions Widgets for viweing Solar Intensity.

    Glances and Widgets are basically the same thing. A Glance is just a minimized preview of a Widget. So when the manual refers to a Widget, you have to go to it through the Glances loop and then press the GPS button, to see the full-screen Widget of given Glance. And oppositely, when the manual refers to the Glance, there is always the underlaying full-screen Widget that can be viewed when pressing the GPS button.

    Well, that told, some of the Widgets can be also opened through a Hot Key combination, or through the Controls menu, without going through the Glances loop, but that's described in the manual too.

    The manual is common for the entire Instinct 2 Series, and it works in this way equally on Instinct 2 Solar as well as on Instinct 2X.

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to trux

    Re’The manual is common for the entire instinct Series etc’. I think it’s fine to state this in hindsight, however after spending considerable time searching for how to view Solar Intensity in the Instinct 2 Solar manual and online, I was unable to find it until I found this support page. Perhaps Garmin should make these issues clear in ‘a’ manual. There are differences in the Instinct 2 series models and these should be stated in ‘a’ manual. 

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to 2500331
    2500331 said:
    There are differences in the Instinct 2 series models and these should be stated in ‘a’ manual.

    As I wrote, the Solar Glance (and the underlaying Widget) is the same for all models with solar support (regardless whether I2  or I2X, tactical or not), and is also correctly listed on the Glances page of the manual: Instinct 2 Series Owner's Manual - Glances (garmin.com)

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to trux

    Looking thoroughly at you answer, ‘trux’, I rest my case. You don’t appear to comprehend that the association between widgets and glances is not clearly stated in the Instinct 2 manual. If it was, then the instigator of this issue above and myself (& no doubt others) would be posting to blogs like this. I might also add, this is my first Garmin watch so I have no previous experience with the protocols used on this watch. And, if you go to the manual on page 46 where Glances are mentioned, the rest of this page is empty. A list starts on the next page & is not clearly associated with Glances unless you scroll through the following pages.