Live Track Autostart not working

Adding to the complaints list now: livetrack on my 1030 never worked and still doesn't. 1000 was fine. 1030 not.
Actually I noticed that a change of phone was not the solution: it did not work on iPhone 5s and does not on my new iPhone 8.
Both phones show the problem lots of users report: if paired from scratch via the GCM app (not using the phone's bluetooth settings - just to make sure here!) it all seems to work fine with the iPhone 8 (the iPhone 5s sometimes got stuck in the middle of the process with BT_Edge1030 which was not to be found in the list to pair). I got now both the "devices" listed: Edge 1030 (which is automatically connected when firing up the Edge with GCM active on the phone) and BT_Edge 1030 (which is NEVER automatically connected when starting the Edge). Starting a route sometimes (!) starts Livetrack after a few seconds - but only if I manually try to connect the BT_Edge 1030 in the phone's bluetooth settings (which often takes many tries to do so, most of the times it stops because it does not find the device). In the GCM app it often says "connected" even if BT_Edge 1030 is listed as disconnected. Sometimes it shows an error sign and tells me about connection problems, this is the case when the listed "Edge 1030" device also fails to connect (keep in mind: BT_Edge 1030 is disconnected all the time if you don't try to fix this manually!). Now everything seems to be ok for some time. However my wife told me that she is completely unable to watch the livetrack because it stops working after some minutes into the ride. I checked that - and guess what: it happens because GCM (or the phone?) always disconnects BT_Edge 1030 after a while (Edge 1030 device still listed as connected then).
So... Manually connecting BT_Edge 1030 (via GCM app not possible to fix this, tried several times to "forget" the devices and setting in the Edge itself according to tutorials on the internet forums - still does not help. Problem always comes back) seems to be the way to start livetrack. However, phone and edge 1030 do not keep this pairing stable.
Group Track (tested with a friends Garmin runners wrist computer) does not work for the same reason. First it starts after manually pairing, then losing that pairing, then GroupTrack quits working.
So BT_Edge 1030 seems to be the reason why. Thing is: lots of people complain about this- The internet is full of complaints about BT_Edge 1030 connectivity errors. Latest updates brought no relief. It seems to be a wellknown problem. Garmin... what's up with you guys? any chance to fix this soon? I bought the device not only for this functionality. But livetrack is nevertheless something I would like to have again (doing MTB riding all the time, so my wife knows where I am in case of...).
Some users think it's a problem of iOS 11+ with said BT_Edge 1030. I don't think so since Samsung owners experience the same. Problem seems to be on your side of the river. People, you got to fix that soon. This device was not on the cheap side and I daresay I absolutely expect that thing to work like it should - at least by now and at least to some extent. Right now this functionality is useless

We are investigating reports of LiveTrack AutoStart not working. Please reach out to our support team for your area if you are not getting the AutoStart. This will help us determine what is taking place.

Really are you serious?
So we go from customer to beta tester.

With my Karoo i know it's beta, but from Garmin i expect more.
Certainly about things that did work before.

I can not believe that this bug is taking Garmin so long to fix. And reading this they even can not reproduce the bug.

Hello.
I have the same problem. Did not use garmin edge 820 for about 6 month.
These days i made an update and now livetrack is not working.
Is there any solution for this at this time?

It's pretty clear to that whomever came up with the idea to update the phone connection architecture really screwed it up for a lot of customers. My iPhone 4S (yes it's old but still works fine) pairs just fine with any version other than 9.00. Please give me back 8.80 with BLE_Edge 820!

I still have the same issue - that LiveTrack no longer works (neither autostart nor manual start).
GCM Version 4.7 for Andriod. Garmin Edge 1000.
If I turn AutoStart off, and touch "Start LiveTrack" on my phone, I get the error "Cannot send invites at this time. Try again later."
(LiveTrack shows it is connected to my Garmin 1000).
Unlike some posters, when I leave LiveTrack in "AutoStart" mode, it never starts part way into a ride.

I am also having an issue with LiveTrack failing to work with Autostart enabled. It's been at least a couple of month. Frustrated I decided to look this issue up and it appears not only are others having this issue but there's no fix yet! I'm running GCM Version 4.7 on Android. It was working flawlessly before but now I keep getting failed notifications for LiveTrack. Hope you guys can fix this issue soon! Thank you.

I still have the same issue - that LiveTrack no longer works (neither autostart nor manual start).
GCM Version 4.7 for Andriod. Garmin Edge 1000.
If I turn AutoStart off, and touch "Start LiveTrack" on my phone, I get the error "Cannot send invites at this time. Try again later."
(LiveTrack shows it is connected to my Garmin 1000).
Unlike some posters, when I leave LiveTrack in "AutoStart" mode, it never starts part way into a ride.

My wife has also problems to do manual start of Live Track. She has an Android phone.
I have an IOS device and have no problems at all (knock on wood...)
This issue (impossible to start Live Track manual) have appeared in the last couple of days. May of may not be related to the autostart issue?
Could it possibly be introduced in GCM 4.7? (when was it distributed?)

I've been following the Firmware 9.0 discussion with much interest as it seemed to cover all the problems I'd been having. Then I started thinking back and realised my issues started with my (Android) phone giving me Bluetooth issues, randomly disconnecting, refusing to connect, forgetting etc my car, my Edge 820, my Bluetooth speaker. I had been concentrating on my phone. Did a factory reset twice, not much solved, and I was thinking it was time for a new phone... Then I stumbled across this https://forums.garmin.com/forum/into-sports/garmin-connect-mobile-application/garmin-connect-mobile-android/1349417-connect-crashing-my-phone-s-bluetooth in the Garmin Connect Mobile Forum and realised it seemed to cover everything I was suffering, including Live Track, difficulty pairing etc, and other issues which seemed to stem from FW9.0. Is the real culprit Garmin Connect Mobile? What do people think?

Well I guess there is a strange kind of progress :p . When I complained in April that Autostart was not working for LifeTrack (Fenix 5X, Garmin Connect App version 4.5.1) at least it was working with manual start and the app open on the phone. Now with GCM version 4.7 it NEVER works, not on Autostart not on manual start. Even with the app open on the phone (Android 8.0). Always warning "Cannot send invites at this time. Try again later." With such a 100% reproducible error, it should be easy to find the root cause and fix it. Tried deleting the e-mail addresses and then reentering, did not solve it. Also revoked consent & granted again consent for the privacy flag. Again, no difference. Seriously Garmin, Lifetrack is an important feature, I want my family to be able to track me when I am running in the woods. Please get this fixed.