Minor annoyance regardnig device lock

So I wear my watch 24/7, and the device lock remains on most of the time. As you would expect, pressing any button while the lock is on prompts you with a little message informing you that the lock is on, partially covering up the screen. This makes sense, of course.

The problem arises when I want to brighten the screen to see the time, date or read a notification. Short-pressing the power button turns the light on but also prompts you with the "device lock" screen, partially covering up the screen and making it difficult to see what you want to read. Now, short-pressing the power button only has the function of turning the light on, so I don't get why it needs to tell you that the screen is locked when you short-press it. Like, the screen does actually brighten, so the short-press isn't even affected by the screen lock. 

So, is it possible to stop the "device lock" screen from appearing when I only short-press the power button? If not, I would love for an option to be implemented.

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  • Now, short-pressing the power button only has the function of turning the light on, so I don't get why it needs to tell you that the screen is locked when you short-press it

    Probably because…

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  • Now, short-pressing the power button only has the function of turning the light on, so I don't get why it needs to tell you that the screen is locked when you short-press it

    Probably because:

    - long-pressing the LIGHT button will still unlock the device (just like the other buttons)

    - the other functions of LIGHT actually are locked (such as long-press for controls, double-click for flashlight, super long press to turn off device)

    - Garmin just mindlessly applied the same behaviour to all of the buttons, regardless of any usability concerns (not ok, but not surprising). (For example, Garmin could've decided to only show the lock screen if you try to use the LIGHT button for those other functions but not for a normal short press.)

    I agree that it would be better if Garmin didn't overlay the whole screen with this "device locked" UI when you short press the light button. (the UI doesn't cover everything - as parts of it are transparent - but it's as big as the whole screen)

    Maybe they would just briefly display a tiny lock icon in the centre or corner of the screen in this case (but there's always a chance that it would still block whatever you're trying to look at.) Maybe the lock icon could be transparent, as well.

    In your case, one workaround would be to use the gesture to turn on light (I realize this may not be desirable, especially during sleeping hours).

  • In your case, one workaround would be to use the gesture to turn on light (I realize this may not be desirable, especially during sleeping hours).

    Yeah, I use the gesture when it feels natural, and of course, that works mostly fine. But there are a lot of times when I instinctively reach for the light button, and so when my hand is already on the watch, it's kind of too late for the gesture. And there are just a lot of situations where the gesture feels unnatural.

    Especially bad are the times when I do the gesture but it doesn't detect it for some reason. Like, I will NOT repeat the gesture, and I would much rather press the button at that point. And during sleep, as you mentioned, the gesture is not practical.

  • I hate to suggest this but you could always submit your ideas for improving this feature here:

    https://www.garmin.com/en-US/forms/ideas/

    Unfortunately Garmin does not really have a public forum for "ideas" and feature requests where they will at least pretend to read the ideas (and other ppl can read and vote on them), they just have that one way form :/.

    We can ofc post stuff here (which is great for the community), but Garmin rarely reads or responds to stuff here.