Garmin. Smartlink

with my I Phone 5S. The Smartlink app is always on but I found that the phone must be "awake" and not in standby mode for it to be recognized by the GPS.

I'm not sure which smartphone and GPS receiver you're using but with my RV 760 and Nuvi 3597, the IPhone must be "awake" when the GPS is first turned on for the two to connect correctly.

After leaving the vehicle with the phone, sometimes, but not always, I have to reboot the GPS when I return to restore the link. I don't know the reason for the inconsistency.

Hope this helps.

I use the ios version and you need to launch the app each time and once its launch it will be running in the background until you close the app. Once the app is closed it will not connect. I have to launch the app to use the app if the GPS is connected.

Lets see others does it differently.

Bluetooth can be a funny creature. A lot depends on both your phone and the Garmin. Most phone only pair with one device at a time, so if your car has Bluetooth built in and the phone pairs to it, it won't pair to the Garmin.

If you leave the Garmin on and move far enough away with the phone (like running into a convenience store while the wife sits in the car with the A/C running) and the link is broken, it may or may not repair when you get back into range. The only thing you can do is check to see what device you are connected to and then check the device to be certain it says the same.

On my vehicle, pairing starts as soon as the key is on so my phone would first try to pair to the car. If I turn the Nuvi on before the car, pairing is attempted to the Nuvi and the car is ignored.

Copied from Garmin!

Smartphone Link allows you to connect a compatible Garmin nüvi and a compatible smartphone. Once linked, nüvi uses your existing mobile data plan¹ to share information.

While this is true, I often turn data off on my smartphone while on the open road and check traffic, weather, etc. ahead via WiFi when making pit stops for food, fuel, etc. Unfortunately at my age, that's all too often.

It seems that I have to reboot the garmin for the bluetooth to hook up, but now I noticed that not all the icons show up for the phone. And the L does not show up all the time next to other icons on the garmin.

Does it matter what you turn on first, smartling or gps

I keep Smartphone Link app running on my Android. When I connect my Nuvi in my car, it connects automatically.
Before I used to close Smartphone link app on my and always had issue with Bluetooth connection.

Do you have your bluetooth on phone on before you turn on gps?

Like Rookie8155, I keep Bluetooth and the Smartlink app running on my Iphone 5 all the time. It uses very little battery and no data when not paired with a GPS or other device. It's been my experience that Smartlink should be running and in range before booting your GPS.

Boxcar's post about Bluetooth being a funny creature is well taken. I have several Bluetooth devices paired with my phone simultaneously including the hands free phone feature built into my pickup. I solved some of the pairing issues by turning off the hands free speakerphone function on the GPS. The RV 760 and 3597 both have the ability to turn off the phone without disabling the data. I'm not sure if you can do this with your 2797.

I occasionally pair both the RV 760 and 3597 with the Iphone at the same time on long trips. When doing this, I noticed the same problem you mentioned about missing parts of the Smartlink app. Usually it's the weather and or traffic icons that are missing on one or both the GPS units. If I boot only one GPS, all the icons appear normally.

In comparing my experience with Boxcar's, it appears that these issues are indeed flaky and will vary from one situation to the next. You just have to find the right boot sequence that works for you.

Hi,

Did anyone get Smartlink (IOS version 1.7) to work with a 2595LMT? I saw some old postings that seemed to suggest it does, even if the device was not listed. I haven't been able to get it to work. iPhone (IOS 7.11) connects fine to 2595LMT and BT phone portion works correctly.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

...with Smartlink and I was wondering if anyone had a solution for it. At this point, I am baffled. Yesterday, I put the GPS in the car and fired up Smartlink. It popped up on the GPS in about 30 or 40 seconds. I drove for approximately 50 miles, stopped at Mickey D's, and upon returning to the car about 35 minutes later, found that the phone was searching for traffic. Really no problem at this point. The GPS showed that the last traffic update was 35 minutes ago which would have been correct. I drove about 10 miles and my iPhone kept searching for traffic. I stopped for approximately 3 hours at the location where I was headed and upon returning to my vehicle found that upon starting Smartlink, it brought up traffic on the phone but not the GPS. I thought it was just slow but after driving about 20 miles, still no traffic. I turned off Bluetooth, turned it back on, still no connection even though the app was saying that it was connected. I stopped at Taco Bell for about 30 minutes. Came out, got in the car and within 30 seconds, traffic was being displayed again. I am totally baffled and this is driving me bonkers. Does anyone have any ideas as to why this is happening? I have tried everything I can think of and it still happens from time to time. Maybe this thing is trying to drive me to the mental institution.

It would seem Garmin has had a running problem with Bluetooth and SmartLink. Unreliable on reconnects. Unreliable on initial connects. It's also even more flaky if you go into the app and turn off HandsFree.

Wake up Garmin! GPS has always been a poor handsfree option, and nearly all new cars for the last few years have had an infinitely better Bluetooth Handsfree option. Concentrate on the SmartLink portion and forget the HandsFree.

Agree 100%!

Yes, it happen some times for me

...this past week and compared the in-car navigation with my 3597. Interesting results! I took a trip to Tennessee over the weekend and compared the routing between the built-in unit and the 3597. They followed the exact same route routing with the exception of a slight route deviation about 5 miles before our destination. The 3597 tried to route us over a small country road where the in-dash unit kept us on the main highway. (We would have reached our destination using the 3597 route but my brother stated that the road was very narrow and windy.) On the way back home the in-car nav tried to keep us on the main road while the 3597 sent us through town. So, the routing was quite similar on both units. The 3597 had more detail than the in-car unit, but the in-car unit provided great directions. But, the thing that amazed me was the fact that the 3597 would link with the SmartLink app on my iPhone and also pick up bluetooth in the car. I figured it would either pick up the Smartlink or the bluetooth, but not both. I could receive a phone call and then go the 3597 and it would show the traffic provider as being Smartlink. From everything that I have read, either Smartlink would work or bluetooth connectivity would work. Not both. That was a pleasant surprise. All in all, I think I would put my faith in both units, but I still like the 3597.

...that Smartlink will now connect to my GPS without me opening Smartlink first. Last week, after downloading the new map update, I took the 3597 out for a test run. I placed Jack (the GPS's nom de plume) on the dash and started driving. I never opened or connected Smartlink before connecting Jack to vehicle power. About 15 minutes into the drive, I noticed that traffic was showing on Jack. Fast forward 6 hours after work, I had the same thing happen on my way home. I never had this happen before and was wondering if anyone else has noticed this occurring. It's only happened on these two times since it is the only time I have had Jack out. It would be nice if this would happen every time you use your GPS.

It has been doing this for a while for me. At least more than half the time. There are still times when I need to at least access the smartphone app before it connects but that may be my phone too.

The SmartLink has been connecting automatically basically always to my 3597 and previously 2495 as far as I can remember. No need for me to open the SmartLink App.

I just checked the iOS setting and this may be related to the iOS setting for the app called "background app refresh" that lets the app refresh content in the background, it may be able to link up with the unit during the refresh. Turn off the background app refresh and see if it still connects.

If you turn off this setting, SmartLink will only refresh if it's running on the screen. If you put the program to the background it will stop refreshing. If it's dormant, it will only connect if the Garmin initiates the connect routine, and maybe not even then.

Personally, I think the problem is in the 3597, because it will often connect automatically to the phone only and not the SmartLink, even if SmartLink is in the focus on screen.

...that there was an update to the SmartLink app. Funny thing though; it stated that you should re-start your phone after downloading this update. Something about BLE communication issues-whatever that is. Updated with no problems. (At least not that I've noticed.)

I also updated my iphone last night or this morning and restarted my iphone as per their instructions. This morning my phone connected to Nuvicam right away. I was happy that they might have fixed connectivity issue finally after three years. In the evening, when started my car, phone connected right away and then disconnected again. I had uncheck and recheck bluetooth on nuvicam to make it working again. So not sure if this update is going to make any difference.

Mine has been staying connected.

Had a online chat with a Garmin rep named 'Kevin' yesterday (2/21), said the 2019.10 map WAS pulled and they are waiting for their map maker to replace it.

He would not give a reason why, nor would he commit to a get well date.
Just 'soon'.

Edit: this should have wound up in another thread.

Smart Link app connectivity with Garmin NuviCam is still hit and miss. Even now after they updated their app with a note they have fixed BLE issues I am still having connectivity issues with Nuvicam. Some times I have to uncheck Bluetooth in Nuvicam Settings and check it back and then enable IOS service to make it working. I am doing this atleast once a day. It is working fine on my Nuvi 3597.
For some reason, Garmin could never fix BT issues on Nuvicam.