Garmin‘s ecosystem has long been a haven for fitness enthusiasts relying on discreet wrist alerts, but a recent app tweak has silenced vibrations—leaving notifications visible but silent on their watches. This unheralded change, tied to the latest Garmin Connect update, has ignited frustration on forums, with the company acknowledging the inconvenience and promising a fix. As users scramble for workarounds, what went wrong in this smart notification sync?

The problem surfaced with Garmin Connect app version 5.18 for Android, released on October 8. Previously, smart notifications from an Android phone—texts, calls, apps—would trigger vibrations on Garmin wearables, irrespective of the phone’s Do Not Disturb (DND) status. Turns out users valued this for silent phone use while staying alerted via wrist buzz.

Post-update, DND on the phone now propagates to the watch, suppressing vibrations and alerts while still logging notifications in the watch’s center. This affects all models, with reports on the Garmin Forums detailing missed alerts despite permissions enabled. One Forerunner 255 owner downgraded to 5.17.2, restoring vibes, confirming the app’s role. Exceptions like certain CGM apps bypassing DND still vibrate, but most users face silence.

Users decried the unannounced shift, especially those relying on watches for subtle alerts in quiet environments. Support responses initially misunderstood, but a shared screenshot reveals Garmin confirming: “Starting with the 5.18 release… DND settings on an Android phone will carry over to notifications on Garmin watches.” They pledged a reversal in an upcoming update, though no timeline was given—potentially weeks away.

In the meantime, users who find this change inconvenient may try silencing the phone ringer/vibration instead of using DND or downgrading the Garmin Connect app to the previous version.

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The post Garmin Connect app update causes notification issues for Android’s DND users appeared first on Gizmochina.

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