More stupidity from Garmin.

[Polar Bear]

In their latest update to my watch they have introduced a "suggested workout" feature.  Every time I go to start a session it butts in offering it's own workout recommendation.

Now, given my sight limitations this hacks me off on at least two fronts:

1:  I cannot read the microscopic drivel on my screen so I'm unlikely to accept what I don't know what it is, and,
2:  I have a routine so I know the sequence of buttons to press to start my session.  This interference changes all that.

Why do companies do such thoughtless rubbish?

Worse:  I go to the Garmin website now I am back home to find out how to turn it off.  I follow the instructions and ...
...
...
...

Yup. they don't work.

Garmin:  I hate you.

[chrisbainbridge]

I agree. This is a complete waste of space!

[Polar Bear]

Garmin's own suggestion to try and disable their junk feature is to reset my watch, unload and reload Garmin Connect onto both my phone and my pc, reconnect and update my watch, then try to delete it again.  Of course, this might not work.

What is also unhelpful is that for some reason Garmin is rejecting my login claiming that my password is incorrect even though I am 100% certain (from my meticulous records) that I am entering the correct details.

Garmin is beginning to annoy me lots.  Why don't they just fix their buggy software and stop pumping out junk instead?

[Greenbank]

Why don't they just fix their buggy software and stop pumping out junk instead?

Because they probably think that would cost more than it would bring in in new sales.

Also, the rivals might have some features nailed much better than Garmin but the overall packages are worse than Garmin.

[fuaran]

Why by a £500 watch if you're not going to use most of the features? Or can't be bothered learning how to use it?

[Polar Bear]

It is not a matter of learning how to use it, it is a matter of it not working properly.  Given it's cost wouldn't you expect it to work better than it does?

Why do some people buy bicycles in the multiple of thousands to pootle around on or buy cars for hundreds of thousands of pounds to polish and leave in underground garages?

[ian]

If you don't add new features, people don't buy new things.

[fuaran]

What doesn't work with it?
If it is working for you, why update the firmware?

[Greenbank]

Garmin firmware updates often fix annoying things like crashes, etc. They also sometimes add useful features.

The problem (and it's a general problem in software) is that new features are rushed out with no proper thought. They're often enabled by default, tricky or impossible to disable, or just wreck the existing usability of something.

It's not unqiue to Garmin but they seem quite bad at it. (Apple are generally the worst, but we'll leave that for a different thread.)

[ElyDave]

Why by a £500 watch if you're not going to use most of the features? Or can't be bothered learning how to use it?

This wasn't a feechur when I bought my watch, there are many useful feechurs on it which I use regularly. There are others I do not.

Not all of those I use are on a single other watch.

But if I decide to take up golf, and buy interactive clubs....

(click to show/hide)

...Please shoot me

[Ben T]

That reminds me, must switch the suggested workout feature off on my Apple Watch as it keeps prompting me to start an elliptical workout when I play the piano 

[Greenbank]

But if I decide to take up golf, and buy interactive clubs....

The golf features on my Forerunner 945 are actually surprisingly good (even for me hacking round a few courses on holiday).

[Polar Bear]

I have spent quite some time this morning working through various menu selection options and hope that I have found a way to disable prompts for the suggested workout feature.  It is not the method on the Garmin website.

For Fenix 6 owners:, I will refer to the top right button as "select", centre left as "Up Arrow" and bottom left as "Down Arrow".  Other devices may not be the same.

Select
Select   (chooses Run on my setup)
Up Arrow 
Select   (Workouts)
Select   (Today's Suggestion)
Select
Down Arrow
Down Arrow
Down Arrow
Select      (Disable Prompt)

Almost intuitive except it doesn't really make sense to embed a disable function so deep into the function menus for what you wish to disable.  It should be at the top level and/or in the general settings section where you can customise screen and activities.

Still, fingers crossed ...

[ian]

That reminds me, must switch the suggested workout feature off on my Apple Watch as it keeps prompting me to start an elliptical workout when I play the piano 

Is that a euphemism?

Personally, I don't want my watch to decide what I'm doing, so it's a feature I turned off. But this kind of things seems inexplicably popular amongst users, so I accept my niche with grace.

I have some sympathy with modern software and product development these days. Users want new features, existing customers may complain they don't, but they just want the feature they want. That it's. But they all want a different new feature. If you consolidate and focus on the existing core features, competitors pump out new features, even existing customers grumble. Competitors are better, harder, faster. You're viewed as lagging and old. Sales gripe at you. You lose customers. You do the end-of-year revenue march of shame by the ELT. This is mostly B2B, I can imagine consumers being an order of magnitude worse. They're people like me. God help them. What, sorry, God is on the other phone. Sorry.

Bugs are another things. Modern stuff is massive complex. It's chaotic. You can't catch everything in regression and testing. You can't think through every product and software combination, how they interact, and you can't redesign existing stuff on the fly, you have to fit features and options into the existing.

So I almost have some sympathy for Microsoft. Not quite though, they're still set up for eternal torment.

[Mr Larrington]

Correlation does not imply causation, of course, but after eight years of sterling service Emily the Garmin TwatNav started playing the goat after the factory updated her firmware fnarr and, moreover, fnarr.  Now she reboots spontaneously at intervals ranging from five seconds to two hours, but only when she's connected to a motor-car's 12-vole supply.  Which, given that her battery is as decrepit as this Unit, renders her Unfit for Purpose chiz.  Therefore Garmin is a bunch of bastards.

And Garmin^* don't sell a TwatNav with UK, Europe and North America maps any more, no, you have to buy the UK & Europe one and then fork out MOAR wonga for Leftpondia onna SD card.  I am holding off buying a new one until the Coronalurgi has been vanquished and I am once more able to terrorise the “gas” pumps of USAnia with lack-of-ZIP-code-related Bad Swears.  I think you can get one Over There with the map arrangement the other way round but it'll probably end up twice the price if you order it from the Mega-Global Big River Corporation of Seattle, USAnia's FOREIGN operation.   Therefore Garmin is a bunch of bastards.

* tbf, nor do TomTom

[Ben T]

That reminds me, must switch the suggested workout feature off on my Apple Watch as it keeps prompting me to start an elliptical workout when I play the piano 

Is that a euphemism?

Genuinely, no!
(I think if it was, it would have decided on "indoor walk", or something different   )
I'm not sure whether I should take it as a sign I'm doing it right, or not - but it is (was) annoying

[ian]

To be fair, I think the correct euphemism would be 'play the jazz piano.'

[Jaded]

I understand that if Toobin wore an Apple Watch he might have had a few inadvertent Elliptical Workouts during Zoom calls.

[Polar Bear]

I have spent quite some time this morning working through various menu selection options and hope that I have found a way to disable prompts for the suggested workout feature.  It is not the method on the Garmin website.

For Fenix 6 owners:, I will refer to the top right button as "select", centre left as "Up Arrow" and bottom left as "Down Arrow".  Other devices may not be the same.

Select
Select   (chooses Run on my setup)
Up Arrow 
Select   (Workouts)
Select   (Today's Suggestion)
Select
Down Arrow
Down Arrow
Down Arrow
Select      (Disable Prompt)

Almost intuitive except it doesn't really make sense to embed a disable function so deep into the function menus for what you wish to disable.  It should be at the top level and/or in the general settings section where you can customise screen and activities.

Still, fingers crossed ...

It would appear that this has worked for me.

Garmin still publishes the wrong information on their website...

[fuaran]

Looks much the same as the instructions in the release notes.

[Polar Bear]

The ToJ has remained erratic in my health and performance readings and so I have got used to ignoring all of the background noise of garmin algorithmic data, just using the watch as a watch and to record my running routes including splits, distance and time.  This is not really anywhere near what a Fenix 6 Pro Sapphire should be capable of but I have found the functionality largely irrelevant.

Samsung is releasing it's new Galaxy Watch 4 in a month or so.  This watch will do all that I am using the Fenix 6 for and has full esim capability* (like the current Galaxy Watch 3 in fact).  Garmin shows no sign of going full esim so it looks like I shall be trading in the fenix and moving to the Samsung instead. 

The Garmin is a hugely capable watch but I have no need of it's extreme capabilities.

* make and receive calls without the need to have my phone with me.