Garmin releases new update to various smartwatches with GPS activity crash fix
Garmin has now finalised the development of an interim update for AMOLED and Solar variants of the Instinct 3 plus the cheaper Instinct E (curr $249.99 on Amazon). To recap, the company rolled out System Software 9.20 a few weeks ago with Rucking activity and sleep improvements, among other refinements. Subsequently, it then bundled these changes within its May 2025 Feature Updates that it is offering across various recent smartwatches.
As it turns out, System Software 9.20 shipped with a bug that Garmin promptly addressed with Beta Version 9.21. Now, the company has transitioned this update to its stable software branch, which it is rolling out globally as System Software 9.21. As it stands, System Software 9.20 should resolve a bug that caused activity crashes when using GPS.
Currently, Garmin reports that around 20% of Instinct E and Instinct 3 smartwatches should have received a notification to download their new update. If that is not the case, then you should be able to grab System Software 9.21 manually by navigating through Menu, System, Software Update and then tap 'Check for Updates'. Please see Garmin's forum posts for more information.
