Today my watch received the 9.40 update via Garmin Express. Since then the BT connection is lost again and again. I restarted my phone (Samsung Galaxy A5 2017 with Android 8 and latest GCM), that helped for a few hours. After being out of range the connection is lost and doesn't come back when near the phone again. Switched off the watch an on again, nothing. I plugged the watch into my PC and looked with the file explorer, nothing strange. Did a sync with Garmin Express. After that the BT connection is back. I don't know how long. I think leaving the range and come back won't cause a reconnect. Before that update I didn't have any problems. Obviously things are getting worse when Garmin tells us that they have been improved. It's not my first watch that is messed up after an update. The GPS of my FR35 got worse with every update. And my FR235... Sometimes I thought that I'm dead because it couldn't find my HR.
I'm still at 9.30 and too experience bluetooth connection issues since the last Garmin Connect mobile app update, that I installed today on my android phone. So maybe it's not the watch firmware, but the connect app?
The GCM update has been a few days before and I had no problems until the watch update in the morning. Meanwhile I restarted the watch again (standing long time outside for GPS fix for correct time again) and checked the settings in my phone again. I noticed that the connection came back after waking up my phone. Then I checked the app settings for GCM. Somehow some energy saving options were enabled. Maybe an update caused that. I switched them off. Now I can walk around in the house, lose connection in the bathroom and get it back immediately in the living room where the phone is on the desk. Obviously the new firmware doesn't like some kind of energy saving mode for GCM.
I observe the exact same symptoms for the last two days, but I'm still on 9.30! The watch won't reconnect to the phone for a long time (sometimes 5 minutes, sometimes 30 minutes), but if I do something with the phone it seems to reconnect instantly. Haven't done many tests, so do not consider this to be conclusive, but these are my observations over the last two days.
Since I've changed the settings everything is fine. If you want to try it: Go to the settings of your phone. There must be an item called apps (I have a German phone so I don't know the menu of other languages). There you have to search for GCM. Tap on it and the app info will open with some stats and settings. There must be something with battery. Tap on it to see more stats. At the bottom there is an item called "Akkuverbrauch optimieren" in German. If it says that it's optimized then tap on it. Now you can see a list with apps that aren't optimized. You won't find GCM there because it's optimzed so you have to change the view to all apps (at the top). Search for GCM and move the switch from blue (enabled) to grey (disabled). For me it solved the problem. I lose connection in the bathroom and it reconnects immediately in the living room without touching the phone.
I have same same problem. No resync since uptade of my forerunner 735 HR to version 9,40. And the battery optimization disable did not help.
It is definite a problem of the verion 9.40 because my garmin connect app was updated 2 days ago and my forerunner I updated before running today. After this update no sync connection between mobile and forerunner is possible. With garmin express and usb cable the forerunner can be synchronised.
What I've done before that thing with battery optimization is a shutdown by long pressing power button. After switching on the time is wrong so I had to go outside for a GPS fix.
Same problem here. My watch installed the 9.40 update this morning before running. Now it is impossible to get a BT connection to GCM on my Fairphone 2. I tried resetting the watch and the phone several times without success. I removed the watch from the BT devices list of the phone and wanted to pair them, but this didn't work either. The devices "see" each other and the watch shows the pairing code. After entering the code at the phone, there is as connection trial which fails after a while. The watch appears in the BT devices list again, but doesn't connect. Finally a gave up and synced at the PC using the garmin express software. Hope that this issue will be fixed soon, I have a marathon next weekend. Returning to 9.30 is an option but I would hate to do this an lose data. I use the 735XT for two years now nearly every day and never had a problem until today.
