Turning flashlight on/off during a workout
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@Egika how did you configure this? When I long press the bottom button I get the Control Panel menu. Maybe because this is the pinned widget??
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@Gideon-Kaempfer you were asking for “during activity”.
During activity, the long press lower button always takes you to the activity control panel. Regardless of any pinned widgets or button shortcuts, that only are active when in the watch screen and no ongoing activity. -
@Egika I see. IMHO it would be better if we could have custom shortcuts during the activity. Fiddling with menus, especially the weird flashlight menu to select brightness, is not something I can manage while running…
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@Gideon-Kaempfer Whats weird about the brightness setting?
it is also just upper button: brighter, lower button: less bright. middle button: off
Imo this is not very weird, but easy to operate even if not looking at the screen.
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@Egika the weird part is that when you press the “off” (middle button) you still stay in the flashlight menu, and need yet another longer press on the middle button to exit it. If you don’t want long press, you need to go up (top button) and select “back” (middle button). I think it can easily be made simpler: enter the menu with a shortcut. Exit on off.
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@Gideon-Kaempfer i always swipe to the right to exit the menus.
plus I was referring to you mentioning the menu to select brightness.
It is a little difficult to discuss, if you keep moving the target… -
@Egika I get it. I was trying to avoid swipes due to sweaty fingers
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It’s being improved and known to all of us.
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On the Vertical 2, a swipe wouldn’t even do anything in activity mode, would it?
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@zhangschmidt if you are in the screen for flashlight it is two presses. Off button then swipe and you are back in the activity screen.
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@zhangschmidt yes, in the activity options touch does work.
just try it. -
The tone of @Egika replies isn’t exactly the best way to have a constructive discussion about improving device usability.
The flashlight management on the Vertical 2 is inefficient. When you’re running at night during races like the TOR330 at 3000 m, the UTMB, or a 100 km alpine ultra — with gloves on, fatigue, and limited focus — needing the flashlight can be an urgent matter, and digging through menus is neither practical nor easy.
A double-click shortcut to turn it on and off could be a useful addition, and it should require minimal software effort to implement. -
@Manuel-Extreme I am sorry, if my tone does not seem suitable for you.
I tried to get the facts right. (like there’s no need to pause the activity to enable the flashlight, etc.)
To get a constructive outcome, you need to start from a common base. If this base is full of misunderstandings, I think it makes sense to get it right as a start.I see that introducing double click shortcuts could enable some features, including flashlight. Personally I would not use the watch’s flashlight for the night races you mention. I would have to hold my hand in a certain position to get light where I need it.
For these kind of activities I always use a headlamp. But this is just my personal preference.I would love the flashlight to switch on in the last state I have left it. Like when using red light one time, the next start should be with red light again.
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with garmin, i double press a button and the flashlight is on, i double click it again and it’s off. it doesn’t matter if i’m in an activity, in sleep mode, whatever - the combo always works. that’s how button shortcuts should always work. you should be able to do them blind, without looking at menus etc.
i also really like the cadence mode - when i’m running at night with garmin i can set the flashlight to my cadence, so it blinks white and red depending on my stride pattern. the light is bright so it’s almost like a bike light, so cars/etc can notice you in the darkness, and it’s less distracting/battery draining than just keeping the light on the whole time. idk if the vertical 2 allows this, but if not - it should!
