If you’re a Garmin user, you may have noticed a mysterious blue triangle appear on your smartwatch screen. Here’s everything you need to know about the Garmin blue triangle bug.
If you’re trying to start a run and faced with that annoying blue triangle lighting up your wearable, you’re not alone. Keep reading to learn more about the blue triangle, including what it means, which smartwatch models it is affecting and how to fix it.
What does a blue triangle on a Garmin watch mean?
The blue triangle is a bug that has recently appeared on a number of Garmin smartwatches and fitness trackers. It seems to make an appearance when the user reboots their watch, or attempts to start a run or another activity that requires the watch to connect with satellites to track their live location.
The bug has been spotted on a variety of Garmin models, including the Fenix, Forerunner, Venu and Vivoactive lines.
Garmin hasn’t explained the blue triangle, but one theory from sports tech website DC Rainmaker theorises that the issue could be caused by the satellite pre-cache files. According to the Ray Maker, this file is updated every few days but if a bad version of the file is delivered, then “chaos can ensue”.
With no official word from Garmin on the matter, this is one of the most convincing theories we’ve encountered.
How to fix a blue triangle on Garmin?
We know that Garmin is aware of the blue triangle bug as the company updated the status on its support page saying so. However, the company has yet to roll out a system-wide update to put a stop to the bug.
In the meantime, Garmin recommends switching your smartwatch off and on again before syncing it with the Garmin Connect smartphone app or Garmin Express on your PC. If this doesn’t work, try following the device-specific instructions on Garmin’s support page.
“We are aware of an issue causing some devices to be stuck on the start up screen or a blue triangle”, says Garmin in the status update. “To resolve this, press and hold the power button until the device turns off, then power it back on, and sync with the Garmin Connect app or Garmin Express”.
Are Garmin watches still down?
As of 12:45pm GMT on January 29th, some Garmin users still appear to be experiencing problems with their wearables. This is according to reports on Downdetector and the Garmin subreddit.
However, others have reported their issues being resolved in the last 24 hours, which is definitely a positive sign. Likewise, Garmin’s Status page marks all services as being online.
