Garmin users report that their smartwatches go into «bootloop» when using apps that require GPS access.
Since the morning of January 28, thousands of customers complain on social media, seeing only a blue restart triangle on the screen. The problem affects many series, including Garmin Descent, Forerunner, Epix, Fenix, Instinct, Tactix, Vivoactive, Venu.
Garmin recognized problems and asked users to turn off their devices and re-synchronize them with the Garmin Connect or Garmin Express utilities.
«We are aware of an issue that causes some devices to get stuck on the home screen or blue triangle. To resolve this issue, press and hold the power button until your device turns off, then turn it back on and sync it with the Garmin Connect or Garmin Express app», — Garmin says.
If the problem persists, the company recommends resetting the devices to their original settings by instruction. However, this procedure will delete Connect IQ content (watch faces, apps), Body Battery and Garmin Wallet data, shortcuts, hotkeys, etc.
Garmin does not say anything about the cause of the failures, but the likely explanation is a firmware update that affected the GPS subsystems of the affected watches. A Garmin spokesperson did not comment on the situation when contacted Bleeping Computer.
More than four years ago, in July 2020, Garmin was hit by the WastedLocker ransomware attack. It caused a global outage of Garmin Connect, Strava, inReach, and flyGarmin navigation and fitness services. The company was forced to shut down all systems to prevent them from being encrypted.
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