Garmin watch update brings surprise new features for Instinct owners

Garmin has made a new version of the software for one of the best Garmin watches – definitely the most popular among younger users – the Garmin Instinct 2 and Instinct 2S, available to download on its website. While a lot of the changes are simple bug fixes, Instinct 2 owners do also get some substantial new features. Version 10.05 adds “Surf, Windsurf and Kiteboard” modes, according to the update’s release notes, published over at the Garmin forums.

[Garmin also recently applied some updates to its Fenix 7, Enduro 2 and Epix (Gen 2) watches]

It also adds the Tides app, which lets you see the high and low tide times each day. This is a very significant update for those who use their Garmin for coastal activities rather than just as a simple running watch. You won’t find the Garmin Instinct 2’s 10.05 update just by syncing your watch with your phone, though, as it's an Alpha release. 

This means it’s not automatically available to those who have signed up for the Beta Program either. You need to manually download the file, connect your watch to your laptop/PC and drag the update file over to the watch manually. There’s a full “read me” guide with each download available at the Garmin Forums. As this is an Alpha release, it may introduce some stability issues that won’t be present in the final release.

Other changes made in version 10.05 seem relatively minor. It fixes a problem where the Instinct 2 can freeze after pausing or resuming a “hunt activity”. There’s now a setting to alter backlight behaviour while in a sleep state. You can check out the full list of changes and fixes over at the Garmin forums. It seems to be a fairly stable update, judging by the relative lack of folks reporting bugs, though.

One person complains of crashes while charging, although it is not clear if this is specific to the 10.05 update. You can download both Instinct 2 and Instinct 2S packages through this link.