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Backlight bug introduced in 8.2

Former Member
Former Member over 8 years ago
Before FW 8.20 (outside of an activity) the backlight would stay on as long as you kept pressing buttons within the 5sec timeout. This makes sense; the backlight exists so you can see the screen in the dark, and if I'm still pressing buttons it means I'm still using the watch.

However with FW 8.20 the backlight times out after 5sec even if you're still using the watch.

Unless the purpose of having a backlight has been redefined by Garmin (most people would agree it's to see the screen in the dark while using it) I assume this new behavior is an inadvertent bug.

Can one of the mods please pass this concern along to the Garmin to fix ASAP. It's very annoying if you use your watch at night a lot (having to keep pressing the light every 5sec).
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    I'm on 8.2 but it's not something I've noticed. I just did some scrolling through menus and was at it for a good 30 seconds just to see if it did time out while interacting with the watch and the backlight stayed lit until I quit pushing buttons.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    Same here, backlight only switches off once I stop pressing buttons, as long as I'm scrolling through screens then the back light remains on.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    In my watch the backlight stays on when pressing buttons but only in the menus and during activity and not when scrolling through the widget carousel. I could swear it was different with previous firmware.

    To reproduce:
    Return to the clock face screen.
    Enable backlight.
    Start pressing up or down button. The backlight will go off even if you keep pressing the up/down buttons.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    Nope. Even scrolling through widgets my backlight stays on until I quit hitting buttons.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 8 years ago
    Ok thanks all.

    Nope. Even scrolling through widgets my backlight stays on until I quit hitting buttons.


    Can you confirm you have the backlight setting "Keys and Alerts" switched off? If it's on, can you switch it off and try?

    The watch always used to stay lit if you manually turned on the backlight and were still interacting with it. I keep this setting off because I don't want the backlight coming on from key presses alone during the day (waste of battery), and don't want my watch lighting up a dark room from alerts unexpectedly (especially at work).
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    Mine is on as I want it.

    Surely turning it off would produce your situation which to be honest is to be expected.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 8 years ago
    Surely turning it off would produce your situation which to be honest is to be expected.


    That setting controls under what circumstances the backlight automatically comes on (i.e. you don't have to press the backlight button for it to turn on).

    If you manually turn on the backlight it should stay on while you're using the watch. This is the way it worked up until the recent update.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    Ok thanks all.



    Can you confirm you have the backlight setting "Keys and Alerts" switched off? If it's on, can you switch it off and try?

    The watch always used to stay lit if you manually turned on the backlight and were still interacting with it. I keep this setting off because I don't want the backlight coming on from key presses alone during the day (waste of battery), and don't want my watch lighting up a dark room from alerts unexpectedly (especially at work).

    Okay, it wasn't clear from the OP that this was with "Keys and Alerts" switched off. When I do that then I get the same behavior as you, but as the other poster said that's the behavior I'd expect in that situation.

    However it's not what the past behavior was so you're right to bring it up when it changed. I'd bet that Garmin thinks that was fixing a bug but for you it was taking away a feature. It'd be interesting to see what other watches do with the same settings. Maybe I'll pull my 235 out and see.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 8 years ago
    However it's not what the past behavior was so you're right to bring it up when it changed. I'd bet that Garmin thinks that was fixing a bug but for you it was taking away a feature.


    Yeah that's what i'm worried about. Someone at Garmin thinking they're correcting something they don't use in this way.

    Note my distinction above between the backlight coming on automatically (what that setting does) vs manually. When i turn the light on because i'm using the watch in the dark, i expect the light to stay on until i'm done. I.e the previous behaviour. I'm not sure why anyone would want the light to timeout under these circumstances.

    It'd be interesting to see what other watches do with the same settings. Maybe I'll pull my 235 out and see.


    I just checked my 235 and it works the same as the 735 did before FW8.20. The previous behaviour.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    Under what circumstances would the backlight time out then as per the setting?