Image source: Garmin

Small touches bring Garmin’s Resume Later feature to life

Garmin has quietly refined the experience of pausing and resuming activities. The latest addition, a blue person icon at the top of some watch displays, streamlines how users resume their activities after a break.

So what is the Resume Later feature. Available on many Garmin watches it allows users to pause an activity instead of saving or discarding it. You can switch back to your main watch face and later pick up exactly where you left off. It’s useful for longer breaks during activities like hiking, cycling, or even commuting on foot.

Now, certain Garmin watches take it a step further.

As shown in the screenshots below, you pause an activity using Resume Later, a small blue person icon appears at the top of the home screen. He is there both on the AOD and the regular Home Screen display. Tapping it instantly returns you to the paused activity, removing the need to press additional buttons. For those who set a timer, a similar red clock icon appears, offering a similarly seamless shortcut.


A touch of refinement for compatible watches

These indicators only appear on newer Garmin watches, seemingly starting with the Fenix 8 series and similar high-end models. For older models, like the Forerunner 955, the Resume Later feature is still available, but resuming activities requires pressing the Start button. While functional, this method lacks the visual cue and simplicity of the blue person shortcut.

This small addition is one of many refinements that make newer Garmin watches feel more polished. It’s not groundbreaking, but it shows an attention to detail that helps improve usability in everyday scenarios. Whether you’re resuming a long hike after lunch or restarting a walking activity after stepping into a store, the shortcut is there to simplify things.


Knowing when to pause or resume later

It’s worth noting – both the standard pause and Resume Later functions have their places. For short stops, like bathroom breaks, pausing and resuming is straightforward. However, for longer pauses – like stepping indoors or taking a mid-ride coffee break – Resume Later is the better option. It stops the GPS and preserves battery life.

Also worth noting is that when you choose Resume Later, you can’t start a new activity until you’ve resumed or completed the paused one. Pressing Start simply reopens the previously suspended session. So you are in a loop.


Subtle improvements for a smoother experience

The blue person icon might seem like a small addition, but it’s part of a broader trend of Garmin refining its watch interface. By introducing these visual cues, Garmin makes its watches feel more intuitive, especially for users juggling multiple activities or navigating longer workouts.

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It’s these little touches that make the experience of using a Garmin watch more streamlined and enjoyable, It keeps the focus on your activity instead of fiddling with settings.

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Ivan Jovin

Ivan has been a tech journalist for over 7 years now, covering all kinds of technology issues. He is the guy who gets to dive deep into the latest wearable tech news.

One thought on “Small touches bring Garmin’s Resume Later feature to life

  • While this a neat feature, it examplifies Garmin’s big issue, once a new iteration of watches is out. The older ones don’t get updates, even simple ones like the little blue guy or the meditation workout. Most other companies are so much better with that. So a 1000$ watch which is 2 years old is kinda left behind, even if it has the hardware to deal with the new software. I think this is frustrating and will make a lot of people reconsider the upgrade to a new Garmin, especially when these are getting more expensive all the time without really providing big ticket new feature, like with the Epix 7 Pro and the Fenix 8 or even more glaring with the new Instinct 3 in comparison to the Instinct 2.
    Time will tell if that is sustainable, until now it seems to work to Garmin…

    Reply

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