New Garmin Vivoactive 5 update released with support for Garmin Messenger app among other changes

Garmin continues to bring new software updates to the Vivoactive 5 (curr. $299.99 on Amazon) at a steady rate, having delivered Software Version 9.27 to the smartwatch a few days ago. This time, it is the turn of Beta 10.12, an update that sees the return of 10.xx builds. For context, Garmin briefly moved the Vivoactive 5 onto 10.xx builds with Beta 10.08, which it promptly replaced with Beta 9.27.

Based on some reports, Beta 10.08 contained a bug that prevented the Vivoactive 5 from powering on without being placed on charge. According to Garmin's forum post, Beta 10.12 contains three changes. Specifically, Beta 10.12 is said to make the following improvements from earlier builds:

• Adds support for the Garmin Messenger app with a glance and app.
• During an activity, use GPS to navigate to the point where a phone lost connection.
• Adds heart rate dynamic source switching to select the best heart rate data source (watch or chest HRM) to improve accuracy during running activities.

However, it is worth noting that changes two and three were present in Beta 10.08. Thus, Beta 10.12 only adds support for the Garmin Messenger app, for which an app and glance are available. While Beta 10.12 should arrive automatically, it is possible to download the update manually by navigating through the main menu to Settings, System, and finally to Software Update. Please see Garmin's forum post for more details.