Garmin Releases Varia Update With Known Safety Bug to Forerunner 965
Reader @BrianTR pointed me to a rather unusual situation on the Garmin beta forums.
Forerunner 965 software v20.29 has now gone live. No big deal you might have thought.
It’s gone live with a bug. Again, these things happen.
However, this is a safety bug related to Varia Radar that was reported well over a week ago, dangerous to the point that @kansasironman commented “This makes the radar mostly useless! Come on Garmin, get this fixed!”
S/he goes on to say
The radar gauge (green, yellow and red on the right side) appears only randomly with no rhyme or reason. Mostly, just a half bubble at the top saying vehicle approaching and then a beep when it thinks everything is all clear… When the gauge does appear, it has the number of vehicles BUT quickly disappears most of the time. As for vibration, I have the 965 mounted on the handlebars out front… So don’t know if vibration or not. BUT I do HEAR notifications in my ear buds that a vehicle is approaching just no visuals anymore that are consistent. Really a pain and not safe.
It seems that in this instance Garmin has software publishing deadlines to meet.
Last Updated on 21 January 2026 by the5krunner
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors.
Thanks for getting the word out on this!
There is also a bug in the readiness area.
It was reported quite early in the 20.xx beta : https://forums.garmin.com/beta-program/forerunner-965/forerunner-965—public-beta-bug-reports/i/public-beta-version-20-xx/varia-radar-notification-screen-not-working
Garmin didn’t even looked at it.
I experience loads of bugs and annoyances with my 965. All garmin does is compile a list of people who are annoyed by a bug. And maybe, if it is a crash that is easy to reproduce, developers might look into it.
I don’t think garmin allows it developers to spend much time on bug fixing and quality assurance.
The real safety bug is the ear buds in the dudes ears during a ride/commute. Shame on you OP.
Same exact thing is happening with the 955 too. I upload a video of the problem to Garmin’s support website