Garmin has just released a new beta software update—version 23.18—for several of its popular smartwatches, including the Fenix 8, Fenix E, Quatix 8, and Enduro 3. This fresh release focuses heavily on squashing pesky bugs that caused unexpected crashes, audio glitches, and menu hiccups.
If you’ve been dealing with minor annoyances on your Garmin device lately, this patch aims to make your daily tracking and music playback much smoother.
Note: The Beta software available for the Fenix 8 series will have the ECG feature and Dive features Disabled.
Audio and Music Fixes
A significant portion of this update fixes audio-related bugs. Previously, if you turned off your Bluetooth headphones, your watch might unexpectedly start blasting music through its built-in speakers. Version 23.18 fixes this, alongside resolving an issue where spectator audio messages were getting cut off halfway through.
Garmin also addressed several issues with spoken alerts and tones:
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Hourly Alerts: Spoken time and date alerts now play each hour correctly, even if the hourly chime is turned on.
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Watch Face Controls: Pressing the back button or covering the screen with your palm will now properly cancel the spoken watch face audio.
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Button Tones: Volume levels have been adjusted so button tones are no longer silent or barely audible.
Preventing Unexpected Crashes
Nothing is worse than losing your data mid-workout or during a dive. This beta update fixes a critical bug that caused watches to crash right after an auto-dive started.
Additionally, Garmin fixed two major issues that caused devices to randomly reset—one while saving an activity and another while listening to music during a workout.
Connectivity, Maps, and Settings Updates
Beyond audio and crash fixes, version 23.18 brings several under-the-hood stability improvements:
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Dive Backups: Users can now properly restore backup dive computer settings when delivered in a bundle.
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NTN Connection: Resolved a glitch where the watch failed to connect to NTN networks after a failed transmission.
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Map Data: Fixed an issue where the watch allowed users to try editing map data even when no data was present.
You can see the full change log in the picture below!
How to Get Update 23.18
If you are enrolled in Garmin’s Beta Program, you don’t have to wait for the automatic rollout. You can grab the download right now straight from your watch screen.
Simply navigate to: Main Menu > Settings > System > Software Update > Check For Updates
