Autosave without Resume Later capability - a very odd product design choice

I can probably do no better than to add the feature request that I just submitted, as it explains this quite fundamental omission very clearly. I've owned several Garmin bike computers and none of them do this crazy behaviour which makes no sense whatsoever!

Feature request: Implement either Resume Later *or* configurable autosave period on Venu 3 watch.

The justification is very simple and this is not a "high end" feature. If I'm out for a tracked walk and stop inside a cafe for lunch, at the moment my only options are to end the activity (which I wouldn't want to do mid-walk), pause the activity or leave it running. If I pause the activity, in a relatively short period of time (20 mins, IIRC), the watch will autosave the activity (which I would NOT want to happen) unless I happen to notice the countdown. If, alternatively, I leave the activity running, there is enough GPS drift inside a building to add 1km to my walk in an hour long cafe stop.

I therefore propose that either:

1) The autosave period be extended to a minimum of one hour, or permitted to be configurable. Yes this will use battery, but I am happy to take this downside this rather than risk an unintended activity termination. If it were configurable, I would use 2 hours as "way longer than I would ever stop in any activity".

or

2) Resume Later is implemented, so that I can properly "freeze" the activity and start it again when I leave at my leisure.

This is not a niche requirement only for people doing multi-day events. It literally happens each and every long walk I do during the day and tarnishes an otherwise excellent device that I've very much enjoyed owning.

  • Totally true. Garmin seems to be deliberately holding up. I have already requested this feature. Kindly see the link below, upvote it and reshare as much as you can. Garmin should know how terribly disappointed Venu 3 users are.

    forums.garmin.com/.../features-needed-for-venu-3

  • I depends on your point of view. If I stop for lunch, it's two walks. One before, and one after, lunch. If there's a different watch that does what you need, probably better to get that watch. I've had little luck with feature requests. I can't even get Garmin to report the location of the weather they're showing me. Shrug‍♀️

  • Nope, definitely one walk with a lunch stop. Likewise on a bike ride, it's one ride with a cafe stop. The only difference is that the Garmin Edge isn't insane enough to automatically save your ride while you're enjoying a coffee and cake!

    As I said, this is hardly an advanced feature. I wouldn't expect any activity tracking device to automatically terminate an activity after such a short period of break. I'd accept that overnight resume (for multiple-day events) could be construed as an advanced feature for more expensive devices, but this is just one of those things that is a basic omission from any activity tracking device.

  • Depends your point of view Smirk

  • Maybe agree that, but the point is, these things are no longer acceptable for a 450$ watch. It seems Garmin is just not bothered about software updates for such watches and we as customers should change it. Harsh criticism will teach some lessons, especially when it impacts their sales slowly.

    I have personally convinced 4 people not to buy the Venu or Vivo or Lily series, they are just trash. No weather app, the floor count on the watch is erroneous for me on most of the days, etc. They did jump to the Galaxy Watch 7 (3 of them got the GW7).

    I like Garmin, been a Garmin user from 2017, which is the only reason I am sticking with it, should Pixel release a better watch with better battery life mainly, I might have second thoughts.