Month-long Garmin Venu bug represents a worrying trend across fitness watches

What it is advisable to knowGarmin Venu Sq 2 homeowners have been unable to obtain apps or watch faces in April and May.Garmin finally patched the issue in its “backend” after over a month of discussion board complaints. Issues with health watches’ firmware and updates have been on the rise in recent times, throughout manufacturers. Fitness watches get extra post-launch updates than they used to. In idea, it is a good factor. In apply, manufacturers like Garmin and Fitbit are struggling to maintain up with their bold objectives. Earlier this week, a reader alerted me to an “aggravating” problem with the Venu Sq 2, one in every of our favourite Garmin watches. For the previous month, nobody with the Sq 2 or Music version may connect with Connect IQ. That meant no Spotify, Komoot, new watch faces, or another third-party apps. Weeks after the problem arose, Garmin Support opened a ticket, then went radio silent, irritating discussion board customers who started threatening to return their Venus. Then, shortly after websites like Notebook Check started reporting on the problem, Garmin engineers “fixed an error in the backend” that had prevented Venu Sq 2 watches and the Garmin servers from speaking. Users agreed that the problem had been fastened with none replace on their finish; some requested what the holdup had been earlier than the thread was closed. The Venu Sq 2 is a form of gateway product for Garmin. Its comparatively reasonably priced worth and light-weight squircle design make it a better transition for Apple Watch customers or followers of different low-cost health watches, who would possibly discover different Garmins too rugged, costly, or area of interest. So for brand new Venu Sq 2 homeowners — particularly people who paid $50 further for music storage — to lack entry to apps for over a month is a giant deal.(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)Garmin has additionally confronted complaints up to now couple of months a couple of Garmin Forerunner replace with an unintended facet impact: it allegedly induced watches’ optical HR sensors to underestimate coronary heart price knowledge considerably. In my case, I’ll discover throughout onerous observe runs with my Forerunner 965 that my coronary heart price is about 30–40 bpm too low for a lap or so earlier than it autocorrects. Otherwise, it carried out very properly in a Garmin vs. Coros vs. Polar check for coronary heart price, however sadly, different customers nonetheless report unresolved points with excessive or low HR extra repeatedly, even months later. While these longstanding points do not look nice for Garmin, I’ll be aware that buggy software program updates with inadvertent penalties appear to be a worrying pattern with health watches and trackers just lately. Get the most recent information from Android Central, your trusted companion on this planet of AndroidI instantly remembered the Fitbit Charge 5 fiasco earlier this 12 months: Fitbit up to date the Charge 5 with new clock faces and languages, with the unintended facet impact of overworking the Charge 5 battery to the purpose that customers reported the 7-day health tracker may solely final half a day at most. A month later, tech websites caught wind of the problem; Fitbit stated the replace wasn’t accountable with out explaining why Charge 5 trackers broke after manufacturing facility resets or may not observe sleep. I’m not sure if this downside was ever resolved. At the time, Google gave customers 50% reductions for a Charge 6 substitute, however many long-time Fitbit followers swore off the model for good. (Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)While I positively reviewed the Polar Vantage V3, it too had a tough begin. My overview unit would crash throughout any lengthy mountain climbing or working exercise, inflicting a boot loop that will solely finish when the battery ran out or I discovered a approach to manufacturing facility reset it. Other reviewers and day-one patrons reported related points.The newest firmware updates did nothing to resolve the issue, so Polar despatched me a brand new watch. This unit by no means crashed as soon as within the month or so I used it. The truth stays, nevertheless, that Polar could not discover a approach to resolve this main software program problem remotely. Then it delayed its Polar Grit X2 Pro launch to take extra time resolving firmware points.No matter which health model you like, you are extra prone to run into severe software program points nowadays. I believe there’s one clear perpetrator: ambition. Too many watches, not sufficient help(Image credit score: Michael Hicks / Android Central)We’re seeing a pattern at the moment the place health watches are attempting to develop into smartwatches to compete with mainline smartwatches. Because of that, manufacturers like Garmin and Fitbit are dedicating extra effort to post-launch updates to maintain their watches related for years — simply as a Galaxy or Apple Watch will get three or 4 years of function updates and help.Mainline smartwatches even have extra highly effective CPUs, extra sources, and fewer fashions. If Samsung desires to check a brand new Wear OS 5 function, it should examine the Galaxy Watch 4, 5, 5 Pro, and 6. That’s not unreasonable for such a large firm. Garmin sells dozens of watches at any given second. Even in the event that they share the identical basic software program and UI, a $1,000 Fenix has extra highly effective capabilities than a $250 Venu Sq 2. So, every watch will get its personal updates and (presumably) requires its personal QA testing with each new function replace. Most different health manufacturers take an identical multi-device method. Amazfit sells about 20 smartwatches, not counting its older fashions, which nonetheless obtain help. Google and Fitbit have about 10 merchandise mixed. COROS solely has 4 watches however nonetheless updates watches launched years in the past with brand-new software program like turn-by-turn navigation. With so many watches in the marketplace without delay, made by manufacturers with smaller groups, bugs are certain to slide by way of the cracks.(Image credit score: Garmin)Garmin’s boards are filled with bug experiences; some are particular to at least one damaged watch, and others are all the way down to person error. So when an actual, widespread bug exhibits up, just like the Venu Sq 2’s app block or the Forerunners’ HR inaccuracies, the help staff will reply with canned recommendation till sufficient folks yell about it for them to escalate the problem. And even then, it could take time to discover a correct resolution. Again, this is not about Garmin particularly. Other manufacturers might need taken longer to acknowledge the issue, or fail to pin down the issue’s trigger. It’s about the truth that these manufacturers used to launch a product after which transfer on to the following one, not often including quite a lot of new options after launch. That made it simpler to keep away from bugs. Now that customers anticipate correct post-launch software program replace, for health watches, these manufacturers need to squeeze options onto chips that have been optimized at launch for as a lot battery life as potential. In some instances, that is prone to trigger issues, and athletes with a beforehand useful watch need to spend weeks ready for an answer. And with so many watches in the marketplace, you by no means know if yours will slip by way of the cracks.