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Auto Activity and constant vibrations

Former Member
Former Member over 6 years ago
New to Garmin here from Apple Watch (not an easy transition!) and I have a new VW3 which I am trying to get comfortable with. I think I have everything the way I want it except that I was getting constant vibrations whenever I moved more than a say 20 steps. I though it might have been the bluetooth smart connect alerts but I turned off that setting and the vibrations kept coming. Today I noticed the same thing when I was walking after a new Walk Activity was started so I tried turning of Auto Activity Start and the vibrations have stopped. I want to understand why Auto Activity Start was so sensitive even though I set it to start after 10 minutes walking not 50 feet. I would like to use this feature but not at the cost of being driven nuts by vibrations every time I move.

Can anybody help me here?

(additional : sorry I see a thread already on this https://forums.garmin.com/forum/into-sports/health-fitness/vivoactive-3-aa/1324001-phantom-alerts but I don't see way to delete posts once they are created.)
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 6 years ago
    My wife and I have the same issue.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 6 years ago
    I see you are also having battery issues....I wonder if this is related? I am charging up my watch after turning of Auto Activity Start to see the impact on battery life if any.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 6 years ago
    So far, the battery life seems so improved but it would be really nice if others would comment and say if they have auto activity start enabled without all these problems. I just want to know if this is a problem with my watch or a problem in general.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 6 years ago
    sgmiller My wife has the VA3 with auto activity enabled and she doesn't have any problems. Getting vibration alerts every 20 steps isn't normal and you should contact support. I've found calling is much more helpful than emailing.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 6 years ago
    sgmiller My wife has the VA3 with auto activity enabled and she doesn't have any problems. Getting vibration alerts every 20 steps isn't normal and you should contact support. I've found calling is much more helpful than emailing.


    Hey TMK17, does the VA3 of your wife really auto start recording activities? Would be the first one in the forum. Getting vibration alerts on the other hand seams normal:

    https://forums.garmin.com/forum/into-sports/health-fitness/vivoactive-3-aa/1324001-phantom-alerts
    https://forums.garmin.com/forum/into-sports/health-fitness/vivoactive-3-aa/1391656-mysterious-vibrations
    https://forum.garmin.de/showthread.php?79146-St%E4ndige-Vibration

    ... the new "VA3 Music" seems to have the same problem:
    https://forum.garmin.de/showthread.php?78035-St%E4ndiges-Vibrieren-der-Vivoactive-3-Music
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 6 years ago
    @MrRadios A first? I had a VA3 from Sept '17 to Jan '18 before switching to the 935. I had mine set for 3 mins run and 10 mins walking. If I walked continuously for 10 mins (please keep in mind the "auto pause" feature must be disabled for auto activity to work) my watch would vibrate and it would have a display asking if I wanted to record it. My wife's watch has been working the same way. She's out of town on business right now, but she hasn't mentioned anything about hers no longer working properly.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 6 years ago
    I have confirmed that the issue is definitely with auto activity start since I tried turning it on again just now and immediately the vibrations started after about 20 steps. Its not a deal breaker for me because I actually dont like the feature so much as my Activities are almost always planned and if I forget, its likely because the activity is not an "Activity" but rather something casual and I dont want to track every step I take in such detail. Still, I don't like having a feature which doesn't work as advertised but I am loathe to start taking yet more time to go the Support route if this is a generally known issue.

    BTW, @MrRadios said "first one on the forum", not first one in history ;). It would be helpful to know from others if this feature is or is not working for them.
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 6 years ago
    ... If I walked continuously for 10 mins (please keep in mind the "auto pause" feature must be disabled for auto activity to work) my watch would vibrate and it would have a display asking if I wanted to record it...


    Really interesting and new information from another thread:

    Originally posted by Bernhard View Post

    For VA3:
    Step 1: Go to main menue (Hold the touchscreen when watch is displayed) --> Settings --> Fitness Tracker --> Enable "Auto activity start"
    Step 2: Go to each application (run, walk) --> Settings --> "Auto Activity start" will now be displayed and you can choose the time scope
    -------------------------------------
    TMK17 now adds
    Step 3: Go to each application (run, walk) --> Settings -->Auto Pause-->Off

    TMK17 can't keep something in mind, that has never entered it! ;) Only Step 1 is in the manual ...

    I will try it ...
  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 6 years ago
    Step 1 Did it.

    Step 2 Left the time scopes as they were since they were correct (10 mins walking & 1 minute running)

    Step 3 Turned off auto pause individually for each activity (walking and running)

    Ok, I tested by walking around my apartment and no vibrations so I guess that worked but now we seem to have traded a non-functioning auto pause for a functioning auto activity start or am I missing something?