Garmin has released the first round of updates for the Garmin Fenix 8, although these updates are currently exclusive to users enrolled in Garmin’s Public Beta program. These updates don’t introduce any new features to the best Garmin watch released this year, but they do bring quality of life changes and fixes to features like PacePro, Breathwork, and Heart Rate.
The updates to the Public Beta program, first announced on November 1, have nothing to do with the update released a few weeks ago that was designed to fix the issue of the watch crashing in cold water where Fenix 8 users suffer from this. While that update seemed like a stopgap, this is a much more routine round of updates and changes for Garmin’s beta testers.
While this update won’t be rolling out to Fenix 8 owners who aren’t part of the program (i.e. most users), it’s a good indication of the changes coming to your watch.
The changes include adjustments to Breathwork functionality, to remove the alert setting and fix an issue with the Disabled Touch setting during meditation activities. Other changes include fixing a possible crash issue with the heart rate gaze, and fixing a bug that caused increased battery drain if the user was wearing a watch face from Garmin’s Connect IQ store. PacePro plan names were also missing from race calendars, and that has also been addressed.
It seems like these are all minor fixes to issues that few people outside of serious, power users would have noticed, but after a somewhat rocky launch of the Fenix 8 thanks to the cold water crash issue, it’s good to to see that the beta program is now being rolled out normally. The The full list of updates is available on Garmin’s website here.
How to enroll in Garmin’s public beta program
If you would like to enroll in Garmin’s public beta program and test the latest incomplete versions of your device’s software, you can Sign in via the Garmin Connect website and agree to the terms under Device Settings > Join the Public Beta Program.
Normally, participants in the public beta program will receive these updates automatically on their watches. However, Garmin says you’ll have to manually choose to download it this time.
Garmin says: “This update is available via ‘Check For Updates’ on your watch. Instead of manually loading files to update your watch’s software, you can download this update via Wi-Fi/Bluetooth. To download the update, on your watch go to Menu > System > Software Update > Check for Updates.”