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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 dis

by 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.
      - nradov 6y ago
        On my Garmin 935 I can set an alarm directly on the device without using the mobile app.
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".

by paozac 6y ago

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.
    - nradov 6y ago
      On my Garmin 935 I can set an alarm directly on the device without using the mobile app.

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".