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Their products are designed to work offline. Despite the cloud being down I have full local functionality right now. (Though I can't see my history, surprised t

Their products are designed to work offline. Despite the cloud being down I have full local functionality right now. (Though I can't see my history, surprised they don't cache that locally). Last year when I did a 9-day canoe trip with no cell phone reception, all of my Garmin gear worked flawlessly (wearables, navigation devices, and their offline map app). Can't say the same about my friends iWatches/fitbits or even some stuff on various stuff of iPhones and my pixel.

paozac 6y ago
Do they? Last Garmin product I had was a Vivosmart HR: an internet connection and a Garmin connect account was required to change basic settings such as the display orientation. And there was no way to disable syncing.
- wil421 6y ago
  The Vivosmart is more like a Fitbit. I don’t see it as a stand-alone device. Does it still count steps and track your heart rate without internet?
  - thinkmassive 6y ago
    Based on my experience using a Vivosmart 4 for sleep tracking, often in remote areas w/o mobile signal, it does store that data to be synced later. Obviously it has a finite memory but I don't recall having ever lost data from the device.
  - abkfenris 6y ago
    I tracked a 20 day trip down the Grand Canyon on my VivoSmart. I think it has the storage for a few months worth of continuous tracking before it needs to sync to free space.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- christoph 6y ago
  My Forerunner 935 is basically the same story today. I can't do anything on it via the mobile apps. I guess I probably could do something with their desktop app and the USB cable, but it's really struck me how crippled the device seems today with their servers down, basically nothing is available or works at all through either Garmin Connect or ConnectIQ mobile apps. The apps don't appear to have any recent data cached locally either.
  - LeifCarrotson 6y ago
    I'd consider my Forerunner 220 almost completely un-crippled. I went for a run this morning, tracked it and got pace and distance information the whole time. If I look at my wrist, it tells me correctly that the time is currently 9:49 AM. If I unlock the device and scroll to the History tab, my run, and all previous runs since last September and their details are visible there. It acquires the GPS satellites the same as it always has. If I push the start button, it starts a new run. It's true that I can't open my phone or PC and view past activities, but that's a very small part of the way I use my watch. What are you doing with the mobile apps that makes your watch crippled without the Connect apps?
    - christoph 6y ago
      I can't alter a watch face - i.e. alter the fields displayed. I'm not wanting to download a new face, just alter one already download and present in the app and on the watch, or alter any data fields around specific activities. I get syncing to any 3rd party service is clearly totally out unless I manually transfer the .fit file via USB and I understand why this would need their servers, although it would be good if the mobile app allowed transfer of these files, without requiring a laptop and USB cable. There's no reason for the entire mobile app to be totally and utterly broken because their servers are down. There's a huge amount of functionality in there that should just work locally without needing an internet connection. I can't even set an alarm via their app without it needing an internet connection!?
      - paozac 6y ago
        There is absolutely no reason for requiring an internet connection for basic features such as setting an alarm or the 12/24h time format. I contacted Garmin customer support and they replied with corporate PR stuff, not answering my questions. I sold the watch a couple weeks later, won't buy Garmin again.
- Lio 6y ago
  Depends on the product. Something like an Edge bike computer will be fine at least. Although I do wonder if my ride this morning actually happened because it's not on Strava... :P
  - stevenwoo 6y ago
    In case you don’t know this, you can connect your garmin device to a pc and manually upload the .fit file (the device looks like a usb storage device to pc/Mac) from the device to strava
- jschwartzi 6y ago
  They prompt you when you download Garmin Connect about whether you want to upload your data or not. If you choose not to upload then they'll store a local copy and let you look at some basic stats.
  - petre 6y ago
    It's under Settings > Profile & Privacy > Data > Device upload. But it constantly shows "an error has occured now".
jmkerr 6y ago
All devices function as USB mass storage devices as far as I know, so no data is lost. I was planning to load a bike route from komoot on to my FR735 later today which will take an additional minute without Garmin servers. They're surprisingly optional.
- httpsterio 6y ago
  except for possibly the data that is in the cloud and not stored locally any longer.
quest88 6y ago
FYI for anyone else reading: Google maps lets you download maps for offline use.
- stoolpigeon 6y ago
  Getting that to work consistently is a real pain in the ass. I drive around Europe a lot and I'll download maps to save on roaming data and often I've downloaded a place and my phone still wont be able to generate directions for me. I don't know if I miss little spots that are needed to connect my end points or if it is just broken. It's been this way for quite a while. I've downloaded routes themselves and had that fail as well.
- makomk 6y ago
  Last time I tried, Google maps wouldn't do any kind of offline routing for walking or cycling, amongst other annoying limitations.
  - jschwartzi 6y ago
    That's because Google requires their servers to offload their patented Most Dangerous Path algorithm for cycling directions.
    - petre 6y ago
      The Graphhopper routing service is great for cycling. It even has different bike profiles, walking and hiking. The bike profile is essentially a touring bike and the algo is tuned to avoid slopes. Road bike sticks to the road, MTB uses backroads and footpaths. Hiking prefers more scenic route even if they're longer.
- Causality1 6y ago
  There are also quite a few offline navigation and hiking/adventure apps. Standalone GPS devices can be rugged but that's about their only advantage. It's silly to complain about smartphones not working off the grid when all you have to do to fix that is tap a button before you leave home.
kylebarron 6y ago
What about their Inreach products, which are designed for backcountry SOS emergency calls to search and rescue? That certainly needs a network.
- izzydata 6y ago
  From my understanding it doesn't rely on the internet or Garmin servers. I believe it was called Iridium satellite network. It needs to work anywhere on the planet. It is a separate subscription based service.
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
  - petee 6y ago
    They do use Iridium, but its not clear who runs the end-service...if you use the SOS feature, it contacts a Garmin center (i believe), who then dispatch the appropriate services. Its not an actual sarsat plb. So if Garmin's system is down, there is a very real risk that these services won't have anyone on the other end to answer the call.
    - zachware 6y ago
      It doesn't contact Garmin. It's a shared emergency response center akin to some home security system companies. They share with a few tracker services. Update: The use GEOS https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=garmin+geos+response https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=garmin+...
      - petee 6y ago
        Do you happen to know the name of the company? I didn't see one while i've been browsing for it, and it doesn't seem to be iridium themselves edit: Thanks!
        6y ago
mjsir911 6y ago
I was give a garmin vivofit 3 as a gift and was soured by the fact that I had to create an account and log in to set the time. I've been very slowly working on a fork of gadgetbridge[1] to support the vivofit 3 for a while now and can successfuly set the time with no account! 1: https://github.com/mjsir911/gadgetbridge https://github.com/mjsir911/gadgetbridge
- mormegil 6y ago
  Exactly the same here, except I got Vívomove HR. My fork with WIP implementation for Garmin is at https://github.com/mormegil-cz/Gadgetbridge/tree/garmin-wip https://github.com/mormegil-cz/Gadgetbridge/tree/garmin-wip Basically everything (time, FIT data sync) is working except the primary thing I wanted (notifications) which seems to work fine, except it does nothing. (And the code is ugly and sometimes problematic.)
- lloeki 6y ago
  > to set the time. A month or two ago I was stumped by this on my Forerunner 735: the time was wrong but I could not find a way to set it, even after a factory reset. Turns out the time sets itself from GPS after a solid lock, but you have to make it trigger a lock, by e.g starting an activity. Only after the on-device setup and having a correct time did I sync it with the app (it wasn’t even phone paired)
hartjer 6y ago
I can't use the express app with my watch, even though I got the link to the express app from my watch's documentation page :D good grief
petee 6y ago
Garmin Connect app won't even show you data sync'd from a watch unless its online and connected. Simple things like hours slept, or miles walked will not show. Right now it just has a "server maintenance" message, and won't show anything that uses a graph, or historical data...nothing is stored locally. On my recent hiking trip, the watch had no problem recording and sync'ing tracks, but the connect app refused to render any of that data until mobile data was connected again.
- app4soft 6y ago
  Just never use apps that require cloud connection to store your data.
- szszrk 6y ago
  I can see current stats in app... steps, weakly activity and so on. Sync doesn't work properly, but high level stats are there.
- petee 6y ago
  Update: it won't load the weather anymore either. I'm fairly sick of the 'cloud' in general nowadays
parliament32 6y ago
I can upload basic metrics from my Fenix 3 (steps, HR, etc) and see them in the app but I can't upload an activity I did earlier today (a run) to see the stats on it.
- ssorc 6y ago
  You can upload the activity via PC: the FIT files are directly accessible via USB mass storage in the "Activity" directory. This allows you to upload FIT files to cloud-based services such as Strava to see your running stats, or into a PC-based application to do the same locally.
rconti 6y ago
I seem to recall my iWatch syncing fine without cell service. I've got a Forerunner 945 right now, it's always stunned me that the app caches nothing. You cannot so much as see how many steps you had or how many hours of sleep you got without data service to your own. And Garmin software is... not exactly first-rate, let's put it that way.
alfalfasprout 6y ago
I can't add a new device. just got a garmin index scale and it's a paperweight until they solve this.
- henrik242 6y ago
  Ouch. Index 2 is being released this autumn.
- iamacyborg 6y ago
  Don't worry, even if you could add the scale to your profile the scale doesn't currently work.
exabrial 6y ago
I concede the point though changing settings on some of their devices should not require the cloud. I appreciate their design allows you to change stuff from their web console and apps, but the dissenters in this thread make great points with good counter examples.

paozac 6y ago

Do they? Last Garmin product I had was a Vivosmart HR: an internet connection and a Garmin connect account was required to change basic settings such as the display orientation. And there was no way to disable syncing.

wil421 6y ago
The Vivosmart is more like a Fitbit. I don’t see it as a stand-alone device. Does it still count steps and track your heart rate without internet?
- thinkmassive 6y ago
  Based on my experience using a Vivosmart 4 for sleep tracking, often in remote areas w/o mobile signal, it does store that data to be synced later. Obviously it has a finite memory but I don't recall having ever lost data from the device.
- abkfenris 6y ago
  I tracked a 20 day trip down the Grand Canyon on my VivoSmart. I think it has the storage for a few months worth of continuous tracking before it needs to sync to free space.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
christoph 6y ago
My Forerunner 935 is basically the same story today. I can't do anything on it via the mobile apps. I guess I probably could do something with their desktop app and the USB cable, but it's really struck me how crippled the device seems today with their servers down, basically nothing is available or works at all through either Garmin Connect or ConnectIQ mobile apps. The apps don't appear to have any recent data cached locally either.
- LeifCarrotson 6y ago
  I'd consider my Forerunner 220 almost completely un-crippled. I went for a run this morning, tracked it and got pace and distance information the whole time. If I look at my wrist, it tells me correctly that the time is currently 9:49 AM. If I unlock the device and scroll to the History tab, my run, and all previous runs since last September and their details are visible there. It acquires the GPS satellites the same as it always has. If I push the start button, it starts a new run. It's true that I can't open my phone or PC and view past activities, but that's a very small part of the way I use my watch. What are you doing with the mobile apps that makes your watch crippled without the Connect apps?
  - christoph 6y ago
    I can't alter a watch face - i.e. alter the fields displayed. I'm not wanting to download a new face, just alter one already download and present in the app and on the watch, or alter any data fields around specific activities. I get syncing to any 3rd party service is clearly totally out unless I manually transfer the .fit file via USB and I understand why this would need their servers, although it would be good if the mobile app allowed transfer of these files, without requiring a laptop and USB cable. There's no reason for the entire mobile app to be totally and utterly broken because their servers are down. There's a huge amount of functionality in there that should just work locally without needing an internet connection. I can't even set an alarm via their app without it needing an internet connection!?
    - paozac 6y ago
      There is absolutely no reason for requiring an internet connection for basic features such as setting an alarm or the 12/24h time format. I contacted Garmin customer support and they replied with corporate PR stuff, not answering my questions. I sold the watch a couple weeks later, won't buy Garmin again.
Lio 6y ago
Depends on the product. Something like an Edge bike computer will be fine at least. Although I do wonder if my ride this morning actually happened because it's not on Strava... :P
- stevenwoo 6y ago
  In case you don’t know this, you can connect your garmin device to a pc and manually upload the .fit file (the device looks like a usb storage device to pc/Mac) from the device to strava
jschwartzi 6y ago
They prompt you when you download Garmin Connect about whether you want to upload your data or not. If you choose not to upload then they'll store a local copy and let you look at some basic stats.
- petre 6y ago
  It's under Settings > Profile & Privacy > Data > Device upload. But it constantly shows "an error has occured now".

jmkerr 6y ago

All devices function as USB mass storage devices as far as I know, so no data is lost. I was planning to load a bike route from komoot on to my FR735 later today which will take an additional minute without Garmin servers. They're surprisingly optional.

httpsterio 6y ago
except for possibly the data that is in the cloud and not stored locally any longer.

quest88 6y ago

FYI for anyone else reading: Google maps lets you download maps for offline use.

stoolpigeon 6y ago
Getting that to work consistently is a real pain in the ass. I drive around Europe a lot and I'll download maps to save on roaming data and often I've downloaded a place and my phone still wont be able to generate directions for me. I don't know if I miss little spots that are needed to connect my end points or if it is just broken. It's been this way for quite a while. I've downloaded routes themselves and had that fail as well.
makomk 6y ago
Last time I tried, Google maps wouldn't do any kind of offline routing for walking or cycling, amongst other annoying limitations.
- jschwartzi 6y ago
  That's because Google requires their servers to offload their patented Most Dangerous Path algorithm for cycling directions.
  - petre 6y ago
    The Graphhopper routing service is great for cycling. It even has different bike profiles, walking and hiking. The bike profile is essentially a touring bike and the algo is tuned to avoid slopes. Road bike sticks to the road, MTB uses backroads and footpaths. Hiking prefers more scenic route even if they're longer.
Causality1 6y ago
There are also quite a few offline navigation and hiking/adventure apps. Standalone GPS devices can be rugged but that's about their only advantage. It's silly to complain about smartphones not working off the grid when all you have to do to fix that is tap a button before you leave home.

kylebarron 6y ago

What about their Inreach products, which are designed for backcountry SOS emergency calls to search and rescue? That certainly needs a network.

izzydata 6y ago
From my understanding it doesn't rely on the internet or Garmin servers. I believe it was called Iridium satellite network. It needs to work anywhere on the planet. It is a separate subscription based service.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- petee 6y ago
  They do use Iridium, but its not clear who runs the end-service...if you use the SOS feature, it contacts a Garmin center (i believe), who then dispatch the appropriate services. Its not an actual sarsat plb. So if Garmin's system is down, there is a very real risk that these services won't have anyone on the other end to answer the call.
  - zachware 6y ago
    It doesn't contact Garmin. It's a shared emergency response center akin to some home security system companies. They share with a few tracker services. Update: The use GEOS https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=garmin+geos+response https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=garmin+...
    - petee 6y ago
      Do you happen to know the name of the company? I didn't see one while i've been browsing for it, and it doesn't seem to be iridium themselves edit: Thanks!
      - 6y ago

mjsir911 6y ago

I was give a garmin vivofit 3 as a gift and was soured by the fact that I had to create an account and log in to set the time. I've been very slowly working on a fork of gadgetbridge[1] to support the vivofit 3 for a while now and can successfuly set the time with no account! 1: https://github.com/mjsir911/gadgetbridge https://github.com/mjsir911/gadgetbridge

mormegil 6y ago
Exactly the same here, except I got Vívomove HR. My fork with WIP implementation for Garmin is at https://github.com/mormegil-cz/Gadgetbridge/tree/garmin-wip https://github.com/mormegil-cz/Gadgetbridge/tree/garmin-wip Basically everything (time, FIT data sync) is working except the primary thing I wanted (notifications) which seems to work fine, except it does nothing. (And the code is ugly and sometimes problematic.)
lloeki 6y ago
> to set the time. A month or two ago I was stumped by this on my Forerunner 735: the time was wrong but I could not find a way to set it, even after a factory reset. Turns out the time sets itself from GPS after a solid lock, but you have to make it trigger a lock, by e.g starting an activity. Only after the on-device setup and having a correct time did I sync it with the app (it wasn’t even phone paired)

hartjer 6y ago

I can't use the express app with my watch, even though I got the link to the express app from my watch's documentation page :D good grief

petee 6y ago

Garmin Connect app won't even show you data sync'd from a watch unless its online and connected. Simple things like hours slept, or miles walked will not show. Right now it just has a "server maintenance" message, and won't show anything that uses a graph, or historical data...nothing is stored locally. On my recent hiking trip, the watch had no problem recording and sync'ing tracks, but the connect app refused to render any of that data until mobile data was connected again.

app4soft 6y ago
Just never use apps that require cloud connection to store your data.
szszrk 6y ago
I can see current stats in app... steps, weakly activity and so on. Sync doesn't work properly, but high level stats are there.
petee 6y ago
Update: it won't load the weather anymore either. I'm fairly sick of the 'cloud' in general nowadays

parliament32 6y ago

I can upload basic metrics from my Fenix 3 (steps, HR, etc) and see them in the app but I can't upload an activity I did earlier today (a run) to see the stats on it.

ssorc 6y ago
You can upload the activity via PC: the FIT files are directly accessible via USB mass storage in the "Activity" directory. This allows you to upload FIT files to cloud-based services such as Strava to see your running stats, or into a PC-based application to do the same locally.

rconti 6y ago

I seem to recall my iWatch syncing fine without cell service. I've got a Forerunner 945 right now, it's always stunned me that the app caches nothing. You cannot so much as see how many steps you had or how many hours of sleep you got without data service to your own. And Garmin software is... not exactly first-rate, let's put it that way.

alfalfasprout 6y ago

I can't add a new device. just got a garmin index scale and it's a paperweight until they solve this.

henrik242 6y ago
Ouch. Index 2 is being released this autumn.
iamacyborg 6y ago
Don't worry, even if you could add the scale to your profile the scale doesn't currently work.

exabrial 6y ago

I concede the point though changing settings on some of their devices should not require the cloud. I appreciate their design allows you to change stuff from their web console and apps, but the dissenters in this thread make great points with good counter examples.