This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Single screen tap to enable backlight - 'works' on map screen but brings up obscuring 'home' overlay on data screens?

Former Member
Former Member

I'm sure we've all been there.. you are riding at night, wearing gloves, and the backlight has gone off so you prod the device to bring it back on. On the map screen this works ok (assuming you are wearing the 'right' kind of gloves) because the zoom/pan overlay doesn't obscure any significant aspect of the screen - so the screen is effectively lit with one tap. However, if you are on a data screen, a single tap just brings up the 'home' overlay which obscures the data beneath it - meaning you have to tap it again to actually see that data.

Now, tapping it twice wouldn't be big issue if the screen worked reliably with gloves - but it's often it's a battle to get one tap recognised, other times the second tap will register twice and you are back to square one.

Maybe I'm the only one - but I can't think of a reason why you'd want to make it more difficult to simply see your data than to return to the homepage when you are in the middle of an activity (particularly given Garmin seem to have made it as difficult as possible to get back to the home screen from other areas!). Shouldn't it be one tap to bring the light on, and a second to bring up the home overlay instead (I think previous Edges worked like that)?

  • Good suggestion; I noticed it myself as well and I do not see the reasoning behind this behaviour.

    What helps is to lock the touchscreen during a ride; tapping it then will only switch illumination on.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago

    Did you end up finding a solution to this issue? Thanks 

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member

    Sadly not - although it seems that the battery life is good enough that having the backlight 'always on' at 10% is workable for most night rides. I suspect Garmin will say it's working 'correctly' as a tap on both screens brings up an overlay of sorts, it's just frustrating that, whilst the map screen version is largely transparent and can be ignored if you don't want to use it, the data screen version has to be endured until it disappears. 

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to Former Member

    Thanks so much for taking the time to get back to me. Much appreciated. I agree with you that it’s strange that Garmin sequenced it as home screen first, not backlight first. Thanks again.

  • Have you considered using the optional remote control? One button press brings turns on the backlight.

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 5 years ago in reply to cheracogoff

    Yeah I've considered it but TBH I'm loathe to clutter up my bars and throw more money at Garmin just to get something to work like my 10 year old 800 does .... which now that I think about it, also has a reliable touchscreen and a more visible display at night too ;-)