Varia Series - Recent Threads

RE: Rearvue 820 Brightness

changrenyong — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 20:46:12 GMT

Also, the custom light mode is not selectable via your bike computer. You can only select it with the Varia app or cycling through the modes by pressing the power button on the RearVue 820.

Rearvue 820 Brightness

6865192 — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 21:31:00 GMT

I’m having issues with the brightness of the Rearvue 820. During evening group rides that end up going through forested areas the brightness is way too high for the people behind me, even in peloton mode. I’ve had a few people tell the the brightness is intolerable and even dangerous because it’s blinding and it affects their vision of the trail ahead of them. Something needs to be done with group rides and this light, it’s much brighter than the Varia 550. It’s a great light for solo open gravel rides, but it’s not great for rides with other people (it’s annoying when it constantly mixes up a cyclist in your group for a car).

RE: Rearvue 820 Brightness

changrenyong — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 20:44:31 GMT

You can create a custom light mode for the RearVue 820 in the Varia app and with that, you can decide on the intensity and flashing pattern, if desired. But I suspect with the radar threat mode enabled, the custom light mode will produce a flashing pattern similar to all but the peloton mode, when objects are detected.

RE: Preparing Garmin Varia RCT 715 video clips for video creation

7634181 — Sun, 06 Sep 2026 16:50:18 GMT

Thanks for sharing the script. Stitching hundreds of 30-second Varia clips manually can definitely become a tedious task, so having a batch solution with FFmpeg could save a lot of time.

For anyone who prefers working through a visual editor after combining the clips, CapCut Video Editor is another option to consider. It can be useful for making the next edits—such as trimming sections, adding text or captions, adjusting audio, and making simple transitions—without having to work entirely from the command line.

The FFmpeg approach seems particularly useful for the initial bulk stitching, while a video editor can handle the creative edits afterward. Thanks again for putting this together and explaining how to use it.

Preparing Garmin Varia RCT 715 video clips for video creation

nc3man — Wed, 29 Jul 2026 02:27:22 GMT

I wrote a Windows 11 script that may help anyone stitch together hundreds or more 30 second Varia video clips into one continuous video. This saves a ton of time when creating long videos where it is cumbersome to load in many clips separately to your favorite video editor for merging. You may download Fix-Stitch_Garmin-Videos.bat . The header explains how to run the script. The script is short so you can check this won't harm your system; use any script with caution. Note that you must have ffmpeg installed. If not on your system, "winget install --id Gyan.FFmpeg" in a Powershell will install and make ffmpeg.exe available to your system.

Option size of the vehicle column sidebar

McEwans — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 19:43:25 GMT

Since the last update (33.20) I can not change the size of the vehicle column sidebar trough "Alert Settings" menu on my edge 850 ?

Do I the inly one ?

Varia rear View 820 Radar Error

L. La Marca — Wed, 18 Mar 2026 16:34:43 GMT

I am seeing radar errors when riding. The error is "Radar Error, Radar Data Stale, Disconnected". If I touch the screen on the 1040, the error disappears and the radar appears to operate normally; threats are again displayed. The error appears at least twice an hour, sometimes more

I am running 6.34 on the Varia 820 and it's connected to a Edge 1040 Solar on software Beta 30.18 (1CA41AA835)

RE: Varia rear View 820 Radar Error

Jay Cee — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 22:29:47 GMT

I fully uninstalled the Varia App on my iPhone yesterday to check this and this morning when I rode, I got the stale state error within 2km of my ride starting, so I can 100% rule this out as a cause of the problem. 820 has been updated to latest firmware, which is quite old now and 1050 is on Beta Firmware 32.20.

RE: Varia rear View 820 Radar Error

Zoli — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 19:38:45 GMT

L. La Marca Do you mean the error come up when the radar does not detect anything? I do not think so.

Today I switched on the radar then when I saw the red light I switched on the Garmin 1040 solar too. For me I always switch off everything, I prefer to shutdown as sleep consums some battery. In the mean time when the computer was booting I started the 4iii power meter by rotating the crank arm a few times (as yesterday I got radar error for that). Today it did not cause issue.

However I was preparing for the ride and 1040 went for a sleep and I suspect radar remained online in this case.

Then I switched on the 1040 and I saw the message once, but it disappeared after a few seconds.

What seems to be a key to me the radar battery which is on ~43% in my case.

Also as I mentioned the 4iii power meter SW was looking for the powermeter. So it may be possible it sent data to the radar and that did something with the radar.

Also my previous radar (51x) sometimes presented "radar error" on my bicycle. This was sometimes on the road for an approaching car and sometime near to a telecommunication tower where typically microwave devices are in use (mobile phone, TV transmitter etc.)

SUMMARY:

I suggest to see the following:

- battery capacity

- telecommunication devices around

- mobilephone should not scan bluetooth device (4iii, varia, shimano sw etc. should be disabled/removed temporary)

- Garmin should know what triggers actually that error message. It can be a programming bug or a real issue.

- You mentioned iPhone and new 1040 so the device itself can be excluded. BT protocol and/or HW of 820 (maybe multiple HW versions) can be a candidate?

RE: Varia app "misbehaving" on iPhone

changrenyong — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 19:05:02 GMT

I can't imagine this to be an expected behavior because when I remove the Varia app from the App Switcher, the intention is so that it does not connect/react to detections made by the RearVue 820. I can confirm that immediately after removing the Varia app from the App Switcher, I will not hear any Varia chimes from my iPhone for a period of time. But at some point, days or weeks later, when I power on my Edge bike computer - either the 840 or the 1040 Solar - which searches for and then connects with the RearVue 820, something causes the Varia app to run in the background and connects to the RearVue 820. The screenshot below was captured when this behavior was happening.

Varia app "misbehaving" on iPhone

changrenyong — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 19:53:04 GMT

I suspect I might not be the only person who has experienced this. With the Varia app no longer appearing on the App Switcher (swipe up slowly from the bottom of an iPhone), the Varia app still behaves as though it is active by producing various chimes to whatever's detected by the RearVue 820. This behavior even survived an iOS update that did a power cycle of the iPhone. The only way to temporarily terminate this behavior is to launch the Varia app and then force-quit it by removing it from the App Switcher.

Perhaps someone from Garmin could explain if this is an expected behavior, that the Varia app somehow manages to run in the background without being launched by the user.

RE: Varia app "misbehaving" on iPhone

changrenyong — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:40:13 GMT

forums.garmin.com/.../ScreenRecording_5F00_08_2D00_18_2D00_2026-17_2D00_53_2D00_20_5F00_2.mov

I only had one video recording device at that moment so I had the screen recording running on the iPhone. The Varia radar chimes in the video came from the Varia app which did not appear on the App Switcher (shown in the later part of the video).

RE: Varia app "misbehaving" on iPhone

changrenyong — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:37:45 GMT

iPhone 17 Pro on iOS 26.6.1
Varia app version 5.1.3 (prior to being uninstalled for testing)
It happens occasionally
The Varia app does not appear in the list of apps in Background App Refresh

RE: Varia app "misbehaving" on iPhone

Garmin - KS — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 18:34:28 GMT

Thanks for the report, changrenyong . The behavior you're describing seems to indicate that some Varia-related functionality is remaining active, even though the app isn't visible in the App Switcher. I don't have information available that would confirm whether this is expected behavior in iOS or something specific to the Varia app, but I'd be interested in gathering a few more details:

Which iPhone model and iOS version are you using?
Which version of the Varia app is installed?
Does this occur every time, or only occasionally?
If you check Settings > General > Background App Refresh, is Background App Refresh enabled for the Varia app?

If you're able to record short video showing the behavior, that may also be helpful.

RE: Varia app "misbehaving" on iPhone

Gar — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:35:43 GMT

Yes, I’ve noticed this too

RE: Varia rear View 820 Radar Error

changrenyong — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 17:30:44 GMT

I got the radar error once - on 1040 Solar - yesterday during my ride. I can't tell if this is similar to those that we sometimes get on the RTL515, or if this is the error unique to the RearVue 820. The Varia app had already been uninstalled on my iPhone when this happened.

RE: Varia rear View 820 Radar Error

L. La Marca — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 22:02:00 GMT

Oh, I forgot. The battery swelled up on the 1040 and popped off the screen off. It was replaced with a certified unit from Garmin and I still get the radar errors.

RE: Varia rear View 820 Radar Error

L. La Marca — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 22:00:22 GMT

Hi. I have performed many actions for this issue (I am the original poster of this issue) and the one thing I can say is it is a very intermittent issue. I'll do something to try to find a cause and it goes away but returns a few rides later. I've removed the app, started and restarted both the Edge 1040 and the 820 numerous times. I removed the 820 from the phones bluetooth and from the 1040 reinstalled it and the issue always returns. Last week, I had everything back to original and running. The Varia app was running and the 820 was working fine. I was riding very early in the morning into a city park up a 3 mile climb in Z2; a recovery ride. It gets super hot by 8am in Phoenix and I was trying to beat the sun. As I was climbing, zero cars passed me. In fact, I was the only thing on that road at 2:30am. Ok, maybe a scorpion was there. I was receiving radar threats on the ride to the park without error. I was receiving a large number of radar stale data and radar disconnected errors when I started the climb. There were no radar threats on the screen. I understand radar operation very well as I was in the Air Force and fixed phased array radar systems (doppler) daily. It seems to me that the radar is getting lost between modes. I believe the stale data is the result of the radar not receiving any radar threats in a timely manor despite switching modes. It could be that the 820 software is looking for a threat to make sure the unit is still operating. But this is just a hypothesis based on what I know about doppler radar. As of now, I still use the 820 and just tap the screen. I do know that I am dependent on it especially early am in the dark......

RE: Varia rear View 820 Radar Error

Cristox — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 21:26:09 GMT

If disabling or uninstalling the app is the solution for the stale data or other connection problems to the head unit we are fine, like a "workaround", until Garmin fixes the app or the triangular connection between app, head unit and Radar.

RE: Varia rear View 820 Radar Error

changrenyong — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 21:25:45 GMT

I already did. That said, having the Varia app and the Edge bike computer connected to the RearVue 820 at the same time does offer this option for those who still wants to be audibly alerted by the radar but does not want the radar chimes to annoy those riding next to them: Disable the audio alert for RearVue 820 in the bike computer while putting on a headphone connected to the phone with the Varia app running.

RE: Varia rear View 820 Radar Error

Cristox — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 21:18:48 GMT

[quote userid="24545" url="~/sports-fitness/cycling/f/varia-series/433267/varia-rear-view-820-radar-error/2057109"]I have no clue if having the Varia app running causes the radar error.[/quote]

Try to disable or uninstalling the app.

it doesnt make really sense to have both the app and the head unit connected and running.

RE: Varia rear View 820 Radar Error

changrenyong — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 21:16:39 GMT

Please see my post:
Varia app "misbehaving" on iPhone

I have no clue if having the Varia app running causes the radar error. I am able to run the Varia app and Edge head unit simultaneously with both the app and head unit getting radar alerts at the same time.

Closing the app by "flicking the screen away" does not appear to permanently remove it from running in the background. For some reason, the Varia app at some point will run in the background on its own, even though it no longer appears in the App Switcher.

RE: Varia rear View 820 Radar Error

Cristox — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 21:14:15 GMT

Some apps come back in the background. Try disabling it or uninstalling it. Shouldn’t bother you if you just used it for setup.

RE: Varia rear View 820 Radar Error

Jay Cee — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 21:11:46 GMT

My Varia App is never running and was only used to set up the 820. I close my apps by flicking the screen away, so they don’t run in the background and use my battery.

RE: Varia rear View 820 Radar Error

Cristox — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 20:37:17 GMT

Yeah, I also suspected the "stale data" error and other connection problems between varia 820 and Garmin head units happen when the phone app is running parallel or trying in the background to connect to the radar.

People with those problems should try to uninstall the varia phone app wto see if that helps.