Garmin issues extensive new update for mid-range smartwatches with battery manager, sleep guidance and dozens of other improvements

While Christmas is now around the corner, Garmin has not stopped with major software development just yet. Earlier today, the company delivered an extensive update for the Fenix 8 and associated smartwatches that introduced over 80 changes from their most recent stable software update.

At the same time, Garmin has released an equivalent update for the Forerunner 570 and Forerunner 970 (curr. $749.99 on Amazon). Specifically, the company has started v16.xx development for Beta Program participants, which it has kicked off with Public Beta Version 16.11.

Currently, Garmin reports that it is offering Public Beta Version 16.11 on a 'pre-rollout' basis. Thus, 0% of Beta Program participants are said to have received the new update at the time of writing. Nonetheless, one can request the update manually by navigating through the Main Menu, Settings, System, Software Update and then selecting 'Check for Updates'.

As for the update itself, Garmin claims to have made 34 changes from Software Version 15.33 that landed earlier this month. Of these, a new Battery Manager and a sleep guidance glance are arguably the highlights, as well as timed workout training plans. Moreover, Garmin has included two Forerunner 570-specific improvements. The full Public Beta Version 16.11 changelog is as follows:

Forerunner 570 specific:

• Supports the adventure race profile.
• Supports beginning navigation via a voice command.

Forerunner 570 & Forerunner 970

• Adds a floors climbed card to the evening report.
• Adds a glance for tracking your favourite sports teams.
• Adds a glance that tracks battery life details and performance.
• Adds a glance that tracks your weight.
• Adds a glance to track how daily behaviours affect certain health metrics.
• Adds additional alarm sounds.
• Adds an activity to record multiple sports in a row.
• Adds colour filters to the watch settings.
• Adds help text for some settings.
• Adds insights to the sleep glance for your ideal bedtime and wake time.
• Adds more details to a course including cut-off times and aid stations.
• Adds smart notifications to the stage menu to allow notifications to be delayed until after the activity.
• Adds the "Ripples" watch face.
• Adds training plans that focus on timed workouts, cardio workouts, and optional strength workouts.
• Adds voice alerts to the watch settings.
• Adds voice alerts when using a compatible radar device.
• Allows showing lap step speed loss and lap step speed loss percent as data fields on the lap banner.
• Download a watch app that displays recent WhatsApp messages.
• Fixes an issue that caused the connected apps list to be slow to load.
• Fixes an issue that could cause a blank screen to appear after accessing the music player during an activity.
• Fixes an issue that could cause a workout not to be marked as complete.
• Fixes an issue that could cause audio prompts to be incorrect for workouts with power targets.
• Fixes an issue that could cause garbled text to show in some languages when the device is connected to a computer.
• Fixes an issue that could cause partial failures when using Wi-Fi for uploads.
• Fixes an issue that could cause suggested workouts to be regenerated when the target type is changed.
• Fixes an issue that could cause the evening report to incorrectly suggest a 12:15 p.m. bedtime.
• Fixes an issue that could cause the evening report to provide an inaccurate time for an upcoming race.
• Fixes an issue that could cause watch faces not to be restored correctly after a backup.
• Fixes an issue that could result in excessive HRM 600 low battery alerts while swimming.
• Fixes other minor issues.
• Fixes some issues with volume adjustments to system tones.
• Improves pace to be more responsive.
• Supports additional strength personal records.
• Updates your training guidance with consideration to recent dives.