Garmin announces beta update with new feature and bug fixes for Forerunner smartwatches

The Garmin Forerunner 165, Forerunner 265 and Forerunner 965 smartwatches are receiving a new beta update: version 21.18. This software arrived a couple of weeks after its predecessor, version 21.16, which brought bug fixes for issues with sleep tracking and heart rate data.

The beta version 21.18 change log states that Garmin Coach strength training plans, also known as the Garmin Strength Coach, have finally been added to these wearables. The feature launched earlier this year and recently arrived for the Venu 3 and vivoactive 5 smartwatches. The software also resolves a problem experienced by triathletes, where copies of this profile were shown as run profiles. A bug that caused users to return to the previous page from the weather glance has been fixed. Plus, an issue where sleep mode resumed even though it has been manually exited has been sorted.

Garmin has confirmed that beta version 21.18 is a Release Candidate, signalling its plans to roll out a stable version of this software to all users in the near future. In the same post on the Garmin Forum, a representative for the company stated that at least 50% of Forerunner 165, Forerunner 265 and Forerunner 965 smartwatch users who are signed up for the beta program can now download the update. You can trigger the installation process from the System settings under Software Update.

Buy the Garmin Forerunner 165 smartwatch (curr. $199.99 at Amazon)