Garmin smartwatch users flag new problem with turn-by-turn navigation

Many Garmin smartwatch users are reporting a problem linked to real-time turn-by-turn navigation. This feature provides users with alerts about an upcoming turn, with the distance to the turn shown on the watch’s display. These could be vibration or audible prompts, with maps loaded to the device when synced with the Garmin Connect app.

On the Garmin Forum and Reddit, users of many Garmin models, including the Fenix 8, Fenix 7, Forerunner 955 and Enduro 3 (51mm Solar curr. $739.99 at Amazon), have reported this problem. While some users flagged that it started after the recent rollout of system software 20.19, this issue appears to be with the Garmin Connect app, from which the navigation guidance can be pushed to the smartwatch.

It has been suggested that this problem with turn-by-turn notifications is due to missing course_point entities in the associated route files. Courses already stored on a smartwatch are not affected, but these will also stop working when you next sync with the app. Garmin has yet to acknowledge this issue, explain what is going on, or offer a solution to customers.

However, a Garmin user who goes by the name socorsu in the brand’s forum has suggested a workaround. You can use a third-party mapping tool to create your course, with Plotaroute recommended. From here, you can create a FIT file, which should contain the necessary information to trigger the turn-by-turn notifications. Users must then manually transfer the FIT file to the “Garmin/New Files” folder on their smartwatch.