Forerunner 945 Firmware 3.90 broken FIT workout download

IMVHO core features of the watch are those that Garmin supply out of the box.

This is  a pretty huge bug - a workout focused watch that can't download workouts....

without adding that this function pertains specifically to a 3rd party add-in from CIQ, thereby giving the impression (perhaps) that it's the 945's out of the box functionality that has been directly impaired when it likely hasn't been.

Yes adding CIQ apps and data fields is a 'core function' of the watch, however when the apps fail to achieve their outcomes is that necessarily Garmin's fault? Developers surely know that Garmin have a habit of changing their software and that frequently breaks their apps and watch faces and therefore need to be quick to make the changes. But the failure of a CIQ add-in does not/ should not impact on the 'out-of-the-box' core functionality. If the CIQ add-in is removed, provide Garmin haven't stuffed up (which we know they do on occasion) the 'core' functionality of the watch will be restored, and workouts can be downloaded albeit not the ones via the CIQ add-in.

And you know that Garmin are working on it too. It's not apparent here because the problem is not with the watch directly but rather a 3rd party add-in. Which is why the discussion about the fix is in the developer forum.

It is a CIQ API feature available on all 2.x watches that support PersistedContent.

Garmin have acknowledged that it is a break at their end, and they are working on a fix on the developer thread:

https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/i/bug-reports/forerunner-945-firmware-3-90-appears-to-have-broken-trainasone-widget

People buy watches for different reasons - what is irrelevant for one may be essential for another. In this case the feature is to download on demand personalised workouts, map or other data via third party apps which the use the official published Garmin provided API. For that user the primary reason they bought the watch is now broken.

Its also a little unfortunate for the third party developers who built a service, invested the time and effort to produce a Garmin app, and then specifically recommend Garmin users purchase Garmin watches to use it. Now they have angry users complaining that their service is broken, and that they need to fix it.

Those third party developers then need to take the time to debug the issue, potentially on devices they themselves do not own, building test apps and asking users to test them. All this taking multiple passes relying on the good will of users to test each time and the developers to go back to the code and try to find another way around the issue.

Finally, after exhausting all other options and coming to the conclusion that it must be an issue with the new Garmin firmware, including posting sample code to reproduce the issue, they might be advised to post to the watch forum to try to inform users and other developers of the issue.

They might even spend many hours trying different workarounds to handle the fact the API call never returns, so they could at least show a useful error message rather than the app hanging and then crashing out, all so the they can give a slightly less crappy experience to the user while waiting for Garmin to fix the issue (note to any other devs reading this - happy to share that code).

I'm not unhappy with the users - I understand their anger and frustration. I'm not taking a dig at Garmin - I would hate to have to manage embedded firmware releases for such a wide range of devices under what can only be a blizzard of technical and commercial pressures.

I do however take exception to the comment "the problem is not with the watch directly but rather a 3rd party add-in" - if Apple released a new version of iOS and broke a documented API which was the only way to access the required functionality for non Apple apps, then it would be said the issue is iOS, not the non Apple apps.

Thank you

David

I was getting around this bug by syncing my VDOT training calendar with my Garmin Connect training calendar however now the watch is not able to download updates to the calendar from Connect, even when the watch is connected to the Connect app on my phone and syncing all other information normally....

Firmware beta 4.06 fixed it.. gimporter is working again. Let's hope the fix makes it into the next stable release.