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Glucose not updating on your Garmin watch: what to check

GGlance keeps asking for your latest value in the background, so when a number looks stale the cause is almost always further up the chain. Work backwards and you will usually find it in a minute.

The chain

Sensor, then phone app, then your sensor maker's cloud, then your watch. A break anywhere upstream shows up as a stale number on the wrist, which is why checking the watch first is nearly always wasted effort.

Check in this order

  1. Your phone's app. Does LibreLink or the Dexcom app show a current value right now? If not, nothing downstream can.
  2. The sharing service. For Libre, open LibreLinkUp and confirm a value is visible there. For Dexcom, confirm Share is on and you still have a follower.
  3. Your phone's connection. Offline, in aeroplane mode, or with the app force-closed, the upload stops. Battery savers on Android are a frequent culprit.
  4. Garmin Connect. The watch reaches the internet through your phone, so if Garmin Connect is disconnected, the watch has no route.
  5. Finally the watch. Open the glance to force a refresh. If it has been sleeping, the first value can take a moment.

Things that look like faults but are not

  • A reading a few minutes old. That is normal. The value crosses two clouds and a background refresh window to reach you.
  • Nothing during sensor warm-up. There is no value to show yet, and GGlance tells you so rather than repeating an old number.
  • A gap after changing sensor. The chain restarts when the new sensor begins publishing.

If it is Dexcom and it mentions your login

A password that you are certain is right, rejected repeatedly, usually means Share is not actively sharing rather than the password being wrong. See Dexcom Share setup.

Common questions

How old can a reading get before something is wrong?
A few minutes is normal. Beyond about fifteen, check your phone's app: the upload has usually stopped there.
Does opening the glance force an update?
Yes. Opening it triggers a fetch, which is the quickest way to tell a sleeping watch from a broken chain.

GGlance is free on the Connect IQ Store. Questions? Get in touch.