We’re onto the second day of announcements here at the Garmin Connect IQ Summit. The list from Day 1 is over on my previous post, though as noted the majority of those were developer focused (except the new iOS/Android Connect IQ apps, which I’m told as of this morning the Android app should be fixed). And while the theme of the summit is of course developers in general, I think you’ll find the nuggets of consumer goodness in today’s announcements.
Or at least, understand how they could be impactful for real-world scenarios to real-world normal people (and not just developers).
Oh, and in case you missed it yesterday, you can watch my full Summit Keynote presentation on Facebook (you don’t need an account), below. The title of the talk is “Opportunities and Failures in Sports Tech”, and is as much fun as the second portion of that presentation implies. Nobody’s safe.
With that, let’s talk what’s new.
Training Plans API:
We’ll jump right into it with a super consumer-focused item – which is the addition of a Training Plan/Workouts API. This allows training site providers (like TrainingPeaks, Today’s Plan, TrainerRoad, and others) to push scheduled/planned workouts straight to your device, with no additional app needed.
Now you may be saying – didn’t they already have that? And the answer is ‘no, kinda, sorta, not really…it sucked’. Take TrainingPeaks for example, they had to write a Connect IQ app that grabbed the planned workout from your TrainingPeaks calendar and plopped it on your Garmin watch. But it was cumbersome and didn’t have a lot of flexibility.
Not only that, it was limited to certain Garmin devices that had the latest version of Connect IQ. And atop that, the success rate was pretty low. Only some 30% of the people that downloaded the Connect IQ app actually got to the point of successfully syncing a workout. The number of ways things could go wrong was high.
With the new platform though, you simply (re)-connect your TrainingPeaks account to Garmin, and it’ll (soon) start pushing your calendar workouts automatically to your device.
I got to see a short demo of it working in action, and it’s super cool. It’s not yet released, but will be pretty shortly. What’s cool is that you can even move workouts on the calendar or delete them, or update the metrics within them, and it all instantly updates on the Garmin side, and thus on the watch at the next sync.
Even more, is that this actually opens it up to really old devices. For example – this will actually work all the way back to the Garmin Edge 500 now. And there’s countless other non-Connect IQ compatible devices this will work with too (as long as it supports custom workouts). It’s a rare case of new features being backwards compatible more than existing features.
TrainingPeaks will likely be the first company taking advantage of this new feature, but I fully expect from talking to others that you’re going to see most other training platforms jump on this as fast as they can grab those cans of Redbull and Mountain Dew and code this to work. And for good reason: This dramatically increases the number of users they can reach directly, while reducing their support overhead. In TrainingPeak’s case, once this goes live, they’ll retire their existing Connect IQ app.
I’d love to see the next step of this expanded to routes. That’d benefit both Strava and BestBikeSplit, which push routes to units today in non-ideal Connect IQ app ways that are cumbersome. While that’s not on the ‘do it tomorrow’ radar, it does sound like all parties are looking at how to make that happen.
Garmin Connect API Opens Up:
There’s no topic that I’ve had more heated conversations with Garmin about, than their lack of openness in their API. My almost non-stop various public comments are only a fraction of what they hear when I talk to them in person. Good news: Things are opening up. Mostly.
Coming up shortly any developer with at least a hint of a business idea can request Garmin Connect API access, and do so for free. Previously, that cost $5,000. This umbrella API (called Garmin Connect API V2.0) access gets you two things:
A) Synced workout data from an athlete (e.g. your rides/runs/etc in .FIT file…)
B) Synced health/etc data from an athlete (e.g. your steps/sleep/etc…)
Like before (and any other platform on the web), in both cases the user has to authorize your app to utilize that data. But once that’s done, the data gets flowing.
The way Garmin is handling this is relatively similar to what Suunto announced back at CES. They’ll be opening up a webform that you can make your API application to, and then you put a bit of information behind what you’re looking to do. After which, they’ll approve you and you’ll get your account all setup. They noted that they’re not quite to the point of saying this is purely for any hobbyists akin to Strava, but as long as you can show they have a public privacy policy in place, they’ll likely grant you access. Again, roughly akin to Suunto.
It may take a little bit of time for this to be a smoothly oiled machine, as Garmin says they’re aiming for all the kinks to be worked out and launched by the end of Q2 2019 (so, about two months away). Things like ensuring all the right processes are in place, agreements, etc…
Either way – them opening this up is a huge step, looking forward to seeing what you folks do with the apps that come out of this.
Connect IQ Wireless Improvements:
Finally, a slew of wireless-specific things for developers. Again, these have real-world implications, though in apps that I think will be pretty interesting.
Bluetooth Smart Access: Starting with the Connect IQ 3.1 platform, certain wearables that support Bluetooth Smart sensors can also now support non-fitness Bluetooth Smart sensors. For example, connected bike locks, water bottles, even cars (as was quietly shown at CES this past year). The idea being to add parity to the functionality that was there for generic ANT devices on Connect IQ. So a company like Stryd, which uses generic ANT communications to send their data to a Connect IQ app, could also do so via Bluetooth Smart.
Of course, this is really about opening up watches/devices to the much larger world of random Bluetooth Smart accessories. Far more companies have Bluetooth Smart on their accessories than both BLE and ANT+. So this opening it up could be huge for companies.
When it comes to compatible devices for this feature, they are: Edge 1030, D2 Delta Series, Fenix 5 Plus Series, Forerunner 645 Music, Vivoactive 3 Music, MARQ Series (the non-music Vivoactive 3 and Forerunner 645 unfortunately don’t have the right hardware inside to make this feature work).
Access to WiFi: Apps can now utilize WiFi connections for faster access to the interwebs than the existing Bluetooth Smart communications. This was first rolled out for music apps (like Spotify), but is now available to all apps. This could be particularly useful for apps like Strava, which is trying to pull larger route files for their Strava Routes app. But with apps becoming larger and larger and doing more, this capability will undoubtedly be leveraged for all sorts of ways.
Manufacturer Pages: This allows apps to access ANT manufacturer page data that may be ‘hidden’ within a normal device profile. For example, on the standardized ANT+ power meter device profile, you’ll get power/power balance/etc… But, a company like Pioneer (and Garmin until recently) also sends their advanced metrics using additional data fields located in that data stream. This allows apps to get to leverage that data, without having to code a bunch of additional information on top of that. Another example is within the ANT+ FE-C protocol, Tacx leverages manufacturer pages to communicate bits like simulating cobblestones on the Tacx Neo series. Again – things apps could leverage without having to write a bunch of custom code.
Wrap Up:
Ok, there ya have it – the full list of announcements from the Connect IQ Summit here in Kansas. I know some of you were hoping for hardware announcements here at the summit, but that just didn’t quite align this year. Still, I think what you see above – especially on this second day – is pretty substantial and has real-world benefits. Heck, even for people with really old devices still kickin’ around.
With that, I’m flying off to the Sea Otter show here in a few hours, and will be there throughout the weekend. While I don’t expect any major hardware announcements there, there’s definitely some news coming up that’s worthwhile checking back on. Plus, I’ll be giving you first impressions of some new gear as well that I haven’t fully had a chance to ride.
Thanks for reading!
FOUND THIS POST USEFUL? SUPPORT THE SITE!
Hopefully, you found this post useful. The website is really a labor of love, so please consider becoming a DC RAINMAKER Supporter. This gets you an ad-free experience, and access to our (mostly) bi-monthly behind-the-scenes video series of “Shed Talkin’”.
Support DCRainMaker - Shop on Amazon
Otherwise, perhaps consider using the below link if shopping on Amazon. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot. It could simply be buying toilet paper, or this pizza oven we use and love.
Thank for the super fresh news Ray!
It is pretty nice that they are embracing more connectivity types, on the other hand, I find it hard not to be a tiny bit disappointed that they end support to existing ANT+ devices. I had hoped they would have maintained old apps better rather than just removing them from the Connect IQ app store.
I am specifically thinking about the Garmin Tempe Data field. After sending a feature request to actually save the tempe data in the fit file, the whole data field was just removed.
Any chance you can put a good word in for the Tempe Data field by the way?
😉
cheers
Can you elaborate on this? I have a tempe sensor and when it’s paired, data from the sensor are written to FIT file – no special data field needed.
Huh? I don’t believe any support for Ant+ was removed. Anything in the connect IQ store is independent of this and are generally provided by third party developers. There is still nothing keeping a developer from accessing a Tempe through Ant+ in CIQ.
Hi Juro, which watch do you have?
I use Forerunner 920XT, and I never got the temperature in the FIT.
I used to have the data field and getting the temperature to be displayed.
The data field is no longer available to download for any watch models: link to apps.garmin.com
A quick search in the Garmin Forums also displays a bunch of users with different devices who are trying to get the tempe data: link to forums.garmin.com
Hi ekutter,
No, it is not the ANT+ capability that is the issue, it was a data field which was maintained by Garmin (one of the official apps with the Garmin logo)
As you say, it might be possible for an independent developer to make a new data field that can save tempe data into the fit file. Unfortunately I don’t have the time to learn CIQ and figure it out myself.
Fenix 5 now, used to work with FR620 and actually even Fenix 1. Temperature from tempe shows in Garmin Connect with no data fields needed.
Juro,
thanks, I envy the fenix users 🙂
But I wont be replacing my 920xt anytime soon.
I know this is a Garmin focused post, but can i sync workouts from trainerroad to my wahoo elemnt? Or is this a Garmin only feature that is coming out?
Thanks for the great content!
There’s currently no syncing from TR to devices, they’re working on it though. They just released outdoor workouts (basically rewritten workouts to substitute for indoor stuff), but right now it’s just instructions you can take on your phone, no idea of what wahoo will come up with to allow workouts but clearly Garmin support will be on its way before too long
Thanks for the info. TR and Wahoo need this update and fast! I love training indoors in my Wahoo Kickr, but sometimes I just need to go outside for some fresh air and not being able to sync these workouts is really a pain in the butt. I feel like having the workout on my head unit would enable me to have a relatively close experience to indoors, specially for those tempo recovery rides. Indoor training may be really effective, but nothing beats riding outdoors.
Are you wanting it to send to the physical device, or whatever the device is synchronizing with? TR will definitely send to both Strava and GC. If you’re looking for some more advanced sync solutions (one I use because I’ve got a Wahoo bolt and can’t get direct to GC sync) is link to tapiriik.com which has been absolutely amazing. You name it, it’ll sync – either direction across multiple platforms, private or not it’s all under your control.
From the personal experience, Tapiriik proved to be not really reliable. After setting it up, paying for a year and doing a one month check that it works everything went fine, until a year after I noticed that there are too few workouts in Garmin connect compared to Strava. It didn’t sync about two months of data without any notifications, which was annoying. So a native way of syncing would be preferable.
I didn’t know tapirik would fail but since I’m weird and data fumes are so tiny I have my device dump to its own file that is in a drop box folder AND send to multiple services which are also all in tapirik and I have them all sync to a Dropbox folder also . So if anything I have about 7 copies of every workout file.
It’s coming to Garmin, and Wahoo isn’t that far off
link to forum.trainerroad.com
Not sure why people are saying wahoo need to get there act together. If you use Training Peaks, you can already sync the next few days workouts to the device, without having to install anything, it’s been there for over a year now. You can also use today’s plan to do the same!
The Garmin solution, like most on the platform, is buggy and not intuitive.
Wahoo are working on having the ability to have workouts saved to the device, should you decide (on the fly) to select a favourite. Similar to how Polar Vantage has a favourites section on the device.
“The Garmin solution, like most on the platform, is buggy and not intuitive.”
Seems like a perplexing statement to make, given it’s not out yet – so you couldn’t have tried it yet.
That said, this entire thread sub-thread you responded to isn’t about TrainingPeaks – it’s about TrainerRoad. Not same-same. Of which there is no Wahoo integration.
If one steps back though for a moment, and looks at the bigger picture – they’ll see why this is such a big deal and a threat to Wahoo’s way of doing things. In Wahoo’s case, those partnerships/relationships need to be manually done at a per-partner level. Once for Training Peaks, again for Today’s Plan, etc… Whereas with the new Garmin API here, any company that wants to implement can do it near-instantly without needing Garmin to do anything on any devices. It just takes the giant pipeline that’s been there for 10 years (getting .FIT file workouts to devices via the Garmin Connect Calendar) and points that firehouse in the direction of the users devices already.
Thanks for the reply.
‘When I referred to the ‘Garmin solution’ I was referring to TP app on Connect and how it is buggy and intuitive. Apologies if that was not clear.
You stated that this thread, sub thread, was about TrainerRoad, I was responding under the training api topic at the top, and an individual reply from Ricardo Mosquera, where he asked about the Wahoo Elemnt.
I’d be interested to see what Chip feels about this. Sadly, a little bit like how Polar have come late to the game with ANT+, Garmin whilst here, are having to play catch up a little, and unless they do an ‘Apple’ bring a existing product to market, with a better user experience, I can’t see Garmin getting back those Wahoo converts, and reversing the trend.
And how long before all the bugs get ironed out, current eta for most garmin products is just after they launch the new model!
Do you know if the Bluetooth Smart CIQ access will allow CIQ Data Fields to send control messages to BLE sensors? The specific example I’m aware of is for RunScribe pods and controlling the start and stop recording on the pods from the CIQ data field. It was tested and sort of implemented over ANT with the Gait Coach CIQ data field, but wasn’t entirely reliable due to limitations of ANT signal priority. Discussions over on the RunScribe forums concluded that the only way to make the start and stop recording communication work reliably was if CIQ allowed access to communicate both ways via BLE. I’m just wondering if this announcement will see that capability delivered.
+1!
My understanding is that it should. For example, if you dig around on the interwebs on YouTube, search for “Tap Key Garmin CES” (I’m on a plane at moment and can’t access YT). I’m told that shows the demo they did at CES using a Garmin wearable and a car, unlocking doors.
It wasn’t disclosed at the time, but that was actually this new Bluetooth Smart functionality, and wasn’t ANT+.
Thanks. That’s really promising and demonstrates a whole world of possibilities (and not just for sports tech like RunScribe).
I had a look into the SDK, it says : “The BluetoothLowEnergy module provides access to Generic BLE commumication functionality in the central role. Including the ability to scan for peripheral devices, pair with sensors, and performing GATTC operations on a peripheral”
This means you will be able to communicate with external devices and send them commands by writing values on them.
But you will not be able to broadcast data (for example HR) over BLE which correspond to the peripheral role and not the central one…
Not necessarily true. The broadcast functionality (or advertising) is not dependent on Central or Peripheral role at all. Most ICs can do this since years.
Seriously?
Do folks really need an application combined with a calendar to warm up or move their ass?
I hope I die in infarct within one year. This world is not my place anymore…
When will be Garmin connected to IFTTT?
Someone drank a big glass of Hateraid post workout.
need??? not at all in any sense of the imagination. I’m sure there are some out there that “need” some of these things and I’m thrilled for them that they do. I am the absolute last person on the face of this planet that needs this stuff as i’m pedaling my super clydesdale butt around. However, this is my part of my hobby, my fascination and my active life experience so I WANT it. All of it and more even if I never need or use it. Each to their own right? I hope you get everything out of life you could ever possibly want and more. I also hope that at some point you gain the understanding that other peoples desires and appreciations do not lessen your life in any way. Should you really hope to die within a year, then I can certainly embrace your hopes and dreams as well. good luck with it, may success be yours.
I don’t think the calendar is really intended as a reminder for people to go and workout in the first place
I see the primary benefit being for people following a structured training plan – eg. today’s workout is 4 x 5 minute Zone 4 intervals, with 3 minutes of recovery between them, while tomorrow’s is 3 x 10 minute Zone 3 intervals, etc. Structured training plans can be quite complex and a pain to load workout-by-workout, but they have significant advantages of hitting the right zones, building progressive overload and ensuring sufficient recovery along the way.
Feel free to continue using a notepad and a pencil to plan and track your workouts.
To get out there? Nope. To remind myself which item in my rather carefully structured marathon training plan is up today? I need something, might as well be popping up on the gadget on my wrist I’m actually going to use for the workout, no? It’s not like I’m trying to get a device to run the miles for me!
It is all about prioritizing… You want a nice tidy garden, while your house’s roof is collapsing.
Same with Garmin. There are big issues with Garmin Connect, disabled features, but as you can see, important updates are elsewhere…
And yes, I know many athletes, a world record holder personally, who’s training plans are made of pencil and book.
Now, imagine Bob Bowman digging in e-plans or Eliud Kipchoge creating e-training plans for young athletes or Arnie in a gym with Vivofit repetition counter for weight lifting…
As a Garmin user since 2009 I can tell, that I love their devices, but I honestly hate Connect, the direction development is going, their support.
Garmin doesn’t have a visionist like Steve Jobs was, they just copy what competitors implemented.
At the end, they have Ray, who is able to put this crap into a different light filled with optimism.
“At the end, they have Ray, who is able to put this crap into a different light filled with optimism.”
Or, just to realize what people – real users – actually care about. This feature is one of those things. Every person I talked to at the conference noted how big a deal this is. Check out the TrainerRoad threads on this for the same reason. Or the peoples responses here.
The whole point that Garmin is making with this feature is that it’s athlete first, not follow-Apple-to-do-something-athletes-don’t-care-about first. As for your examples of top-end runners doing e-plans. Umm, that’s exactly what they’re doing. Seriously, exactly. And this very specific API is what’s delivering them.
RE Workout Sync – any word on whether the number of steps/intervals will be increased? I’m guessing this is most likely a device limitation rather than Garmin or Garmin Connect one.
I haven’t heard of anything there.
Ray – any chance you can ping or follow up regarding the above?
I’ve created several workouts but due to the step limitation they ‘end’ midway through.
Garmin 245????????
This is both good and bad for me. Bad because I have a Bolt and I am kinda sorta waiting to see if Wahoo finally comes out with their watch. This is good because I have Training Peaks and Trainer Road and the ability to get workouts directly to my watch (old Fenix 3 for now) sounds fantastic. I guess if Wahoo doesn’t come out with their watch I am all in on Garmin for now.
link to forum.trainerroad.com
If you have an Edge unit, you can export TrainerRoad workouts directly to your cycling GPS soon.
Good news on calendar integration… Looking at you Aaron, let’s see what you can come up with for sporttracks!! 😉
Wifi and bluetooth is interesting – could we see direct gopro integration through either?
I’m a pure hobbyist, no commercial interest whatsoever, with a few itches that I would like to scratch:
Combine open water swimming data with an extra, accurate, gps track
Automate editing of messed up laps in the pool
Simple editing of “didn’t stop my watch before I sat down the car to drive home” mistakes
I want to import the actual gym exercises with weights and reps from FitNotes into my gym sessions.
Better integration of data between my Withings devices and Garmin.
It would be nice to be able scratch at least some my itches but I’m not holding my breath.
I don’t think there has to be a specific commercial aspect in the sense of a grand plan to make boatloads of money. Rather, I think they’re looking for a bit of formality that if they’re going to sync user data somewhere, that it’s protected.
From what you’re talking about, I suspect there’s honestly interest in some of those things that you’ve outlined for other people as well. Which is more or less all Garmin is looking for.
All this effort into new features. How bout they invest some effort into fixing the notoriously useless altitude meter on the vivoactive 3.
Is there any hope, we might see Google Fit integration with the new API?
It’d honestly be up to Google. From a systems standpoint, they’d be treated just like any other platform. The Garmin API is there to sync to, so it’d be relatively easy to do if Google wanted to.
Certainly third party would be able to do this, similar to Fitbit to Google fit sync?
Will training app be compatible with the Fenix 3?
Assuming you’re talking the Training API bits, yes.
Man, I’m pretty stunned there was no 245 or 945 announcement with the couple image leaks we’ve seen recently. I kinda don’t know what to do now. I’m in the market for a 935 or Fenix 5s+. Guess I’ll try to be patient a couple more weeks, but I need a watch soon (recently sold my Apple Watch S4 to move back to Garmin)!
Youre probably not going to see a new product announcement at a developer conference.
Lots of images of the new 945 leaked last night.. it’s hapenning!!!! If the images are to be belived (and they look legit), the 945 will include Music, NFC (Garmin Pay) and new Firstbeat metrics. And likely the new Sony GPS chipset.. Fingers crossed for a quick release (no pun intended).
The FR935 won’t be getting generic BLE GATT?! WHAT FRESH HELL IS THIS.
That’s some hardcore bullshit. I’ve been waiting on this for YEARS.
Check the units supporting it. It’s only the ones which support music playback, and Ray points out that where there are non-music variants of those units, the hardware rules them out. (Excluding the Edge, possibly, no idea if that handles music offhand).
Not that I don’t understand your annoyance, but the hardware factor hints that there’s more to it than arbitrary decisions by marketing.
It’s purely related to specific hardware chipsets leveraged.
Absent very specific, very good justification though, it’s hard to come up with any reason this particular feature would be limited to those devices, besides “we only felt like writing the code for one chipset.” And even that is questionable, since most of the legwork to support sensor access HAD to be baked into the firmware to support the sensors they currently do. Writing a whole new developer API is nontrivial. But if they currently support, say, heart rate sensors on two chipsets, there’s CIQ code written to abstract GATT on those two chipsets.
The music support split makes EXCELENT sense: audio requires A2DP, which is a Bluetooth profile, not BLE. Two very different things. And it requires storage for the music itself. Makes total sense that a 935 with a BLE chipset and like 64MB of flash wouldn’t support music. Plus the power management around running a Bluetooth 2.1 stack in addition to BLE.
OTOH, this is all BLE. So either the power management is so bad on their non-music BLE subsystem that they’re scared to give developer access (IMO, that’s a super annoying reason), or they’re just creating product differentiation, and doing so by deprecating current flagships prior to releasing a successor, which I find to be a bad look. Ray, I’d love a detailed, engineer-ready response for why the split, if you can get one. Otherwise, this is just obnoxious.
I’ve long since learned that making developer assumptions related to chipsets and power aspects is a recipe for Monday morning quarterbacking.
I’ll ask, but I’m pretty sure they won’t detail why or what specific chipset isn’t working (since they never talk chipsets). Further, we can pretty plainly see the common thread: All those units have music. Which again, implies a certain chipset or device limitation (perhaps around processing even).
I’m not sure why it would reflect poorly though on a company though that they’re opening up something backwards compatible for a years worth of devices (the FR935 is two years old). And in general, every company in the space finds nuances in BLE sensors/devices that limit what they can and can’t do – things that weren’t there 3 years ago (when the FR935 development would have started), versus 2 years ago when it actually started shipping).
It was Saturday morning, damnit!
I just downloaded the Connect IQ Store App, but it won’t connect to my FR935. It’s there, in the “manage devices” list, and yet it doesn’t see it.
I wonder if I have to re-pair the device in order to make it work? Though it is working fine if I open the old Garmin Connect App, so I assumed re-pairing won’t be needed. I am also afraid that if I pair it with the Connect IQ Store App, then it will stop being recognized by the old Connect App… But maybe I’m overthinking…
Double-check that your regular Garmin Connect Mobile app is paired/working. I’m not sure clear on how one depends on the other. But I noticed the other day that it wasn’t initially seeing my FR935, then I double-checked the regular GCM app and went back to the IQ one and it seemed fine then.
Thanks for the advice Ray. I also thought doing that may help so I tried, unfortunately it didn’t solve the problem. I guess I’ll give it some more time and hopefully it’ll fix itself.
In case it won’t I’ll try re-pairing it, hoping that this process won’t cause the old Connect App to forget the device at the same time.
Thanks Ray for the very interesting post anyway! (as always ;-))
Does this new API affects swim workouts? We will finally be able to export swim workouts from TrainingPeaks to garmin watches?
That would be great indeed. Still need to solve the issue of how to handle different pool lengths though. I recreated my swim workouts in GC with different pool lenghts…
Could this mean that with Manufacturer Pages, Pioneer is also going to expose advanced power metrics as they do with their own and Wahoo headunits ?
They could, but honestly, my guess is they would just use the opened Cycling Dynamics standard now instead. Favero’s beta’ing it, Wahoo’s planning to implement it, etc…
Garmin Connect API is really nice.
Hope that both big companies like Wahoo and small ones (like the developer behind HealthFit) will update their software quickly.
Hi Ray,
Do any of these updates bring us any closer to having third party running dynamics interpreted by the Garmin watch (like Wahoo TICKR X’s)?
Was this even a topic for discussion in the Summit? It has now been two years since a standard was released and nothing has happened. Who’s move is it on this? Garmin or Wahoo?
This lag seems concerning given the pace at which the industry moves.
Thanks!
Definitely Wahoo’s move here (or Stryd’s or whoever). Not Garmin’s move, they adopted the standard, updated all their products, etc…And everyone else dropped the ball.
What’s so frustrating about it though, is that eventually Garmin’s just going to stop bothering to ratify standards around these things. Take Varia Radar for example, another standard-friendly product. Everyone asks Wahoo for support of it, and for years now Wahoo keeps punting it down the road.
Even today, of all days, I was in the Wahoo booth taking some pics of the blue/pink units and some random husband/wife couple came in and started asking the sales rep questions and was almost totally onboard with switching over to BOLT until the husband said to the wife ‘Oh, wait, your radar’, and then turned to the Wahoo person and said ‘Will that still work?’.
The answer: No. Sale lost.
It really is a shame, but more importantly a huge business opportunity lost for Wahoo (and others).
I own a TICKR X, and a ser of wahoo bike sensors, and last year I was on the fence between buying a Bolt or an Edge…ended up going with the Edge for the exact same reason you mentioned, even though I prefer the Bolts interface and was already in Wahoo’s “ecosystem”. Yet I also had an eye out for some lights….And the same thing may happen this winter when I finally decide to upgrade my old Tacx Vortex to a Neo or KICKR.
I don’t think Wahoo truly understand the importance of having products that integrate well with others…and this plays right into Garmin’s hands: if you want everything to fit together, buy Garmin.
And for triathletes that is a huge thing.
Wh00p, the training API sounds fantastic, especially since you mentioned Training Peaks, i work with the TP IQ App for a while, but every day you have to sync the Trainings,would be fine, to sync the whole training plan with more or less one trigger!
cheers
f|33tStA ¶;-)~
“Coming up shortly any developer with at least a hint of a business idea can request Garmin Connect API access”
-> Do I need to have a business? What is with personal development? I really like to create Apps for personal use. Right now, I need to go via strava first, to get at least some data.
Garmin isn’t aiming for pure hobbyist in this case, but also isn’t looking for you to be a Fortune 500 company either. They talked about modest goals, like perhaps an app having 100 users after a year, etc… as targets for who this API is aimed at.
Certainly, I’d have preferred the Strava route, but this is better than the current situation by a long shot.
Will the Fenix 5 Series will support connect il 3.1 ?
“Synced health/etc data from an athlete (e.g. your steps/sleep/etc…)”
Does this mean applications like TrainerRoad could now receive weight updates from the Index Scale?
Yup, absolutely.
Regarding TrainingPeaks, do you know if the workouts need to be ‘structured workouts’ as they call them? I have purchased two workouts (100$ each, by Joe Friel), but they are not structured. Will I have to edit each and every one of them manually, each time I use them to make them ‘structured’?
I believe the line in the sand is that they have to be on your TP calendar (or draggable onto it).
Yes, they are in the calendar, but honestly, I cannot see a way in which they could be transferted to the garmin/watch calendar they way they are, they are just run/bike workouts with description text about how that workout should go. Even until now, the workouts that could be ‘transferred’ with the IQ Connect app needed to be structured (i.e. specify how many intervals, at what power, what duration, etc.). So my questions needs to be redirected to trainingpeaks, that they save my structuring of the workout for the next year. Anyway, thanks for the great work!
I am really happy about opening up the API for GC, but it seemed,that it is a read-only access for 3rd party sites. Am I interpreting this wrong? I understand, that if a mobile app could write data to my GC account, I woulnd’t need a watch to use GC itself, which could result in some decrease in the sales. On the other hand, if GC is only a source for data flow, and not a target, it may never build a “real community” (although other features would be nice for that too, like group runs, something like Strava Flyby, etc.). Do You know anything about this? And in general, what is Your opinion on this matter?
Any word on Garmin Connect being an available source in Apple Health?
But it is already?
Not really Garmin related but any rumors regarding similar training plan integration to Polar and/or Suunto?
Sort of in the market for a replacement to my Fenix 3 (battery is dying faster than my Ironmans are improving at the moment…) and not having to cope with the hassle of manually create new workouts that match my TrainingPeaks-workouts would be a significant ups
Suunto doesn’t support structured workouts like that, so that’d be the first step.
Did Garmin mention anything about having a phone app that can be used to set up Edge/Fenix etc in the same way Wahoo has for the Bolt?
No, we talked about it a bit though. In general, I think they want it as much as anyone else. It sounds like the bigger challenge they have in doing it is how to reconcile the vast array of devices they have. Wahoo has it easy, since they have a whole two devices (that are basically one device). Whereas Garmin has something like 50 current fitness/outdoor products supporting just CIQ alone, let alone lower end ones that don’t. Slightly different formats/etc…
It sounds like it’s a bit of a paralysis on where to start, having all that legacy baggage. Personally, if I were them I’d just draw a line in the sand and say ‘Look, we can do this, but only for X new products going forward or what-no’. Sure, people won’t like it today for older products, but if we skip forward a year or two, then it’d be ubiquitous.
Any talk of an offline mode? Arguably the biggest weakness about this whole system is that a user can’t see/sync data on mlthe phone without internet access… Up in the air/in the ‘wild’/out at sea/temporarily international.
Haven’t heard any discussion there unfortunately.
Any mention of when they might get round to fixing the firmware issues causing terrible battery life on Vivoactive 3 units?
Any idea if the new open API will allow for non-Garmin watches to integrate their HR and step data in the same manner True-Up does now?
I’d love the ability to wear either a Garmin watch or third party (WearOS as an example) during the day, my Garmin for activities, and have the data all merged and treated as one stream.
Not for non-Garmin watches. Honestly, that’d be pretty hard to do, as watches all do totally different things there. I suppose a first step would be other companies dumping that data into Apple Health or like (Garmin does, but for example Fitbit doesn’t).
I notice that the Garmin Connect API page now redirects to the Garmin Health API page with a form to get the API which states it’s free for approved developers. Based on what’s available in the Health API, and what this post lists as being available in the Connect API, it does seem like they may be one and the same thing.
Does this mean that they’ve just gone ahead and merged the two APIs, and I can fill out the form for the Garmin Health API, or should I be waiting for the end of Q2 for something new to be announced.
No, I believe the application form right now is basically geared towards the existing stuff. Once the new form is lit up though, it will give you pretty much a checkbox as to which (or both) API’s you want access to.
They see Garmin Connect 2.0 API as an umbrella, with two (or more down the road) components with it.
Ray, I’ve been really excited about this news since you posted it the other day. I had been recently frustrated that I use Zwift & Garmin and can’t have a single calendar to plan my workouts and then ride wherever I want with a single shared plan without having to recreate everything everywhere. Not to mention creating a training plan on Garmin would be incredibly painful anyway. I recently had gone back to using Training Peaks to build out my training just because it’s the easiest place to do it.
How do you think this changes what training platform to use? Before if you wanted serious workouts you went with Trainer Road and if you wanted a more free form environment you could go with Zwift. But now with the new Garmin API, I can build a workout plan in TrainingPeaks and push it to Garmin or Zwift and I assume TrainerRoad? I really like the freedom that provides me and honestly I think that’s a big win for Training Peaks since now I have a reason to pay them. I feel like buying training plans there also becomes more valuable.
I have heard there is possibly a garmin forerunner 45 coming out soon. Any truth to that or is it a unicorn?
🙂 link to dcrainmaker.com
Yyyaassss!!!!! Lol!????
@DC Rainmaker this is really good news considering how unstable the TP IQ app is. NO you happen to know any schedule when TP is implementing this?
I think you’ll see it very very shortly. If you were looking at typical build cycles within a training plan, I suspect before your next build cycle completes. 🙂
While I’m excited about the new API, it seems to be busted right out of the gate for triathletes. I scheduled a tri training plan on Training Peaks last night and only the bike and run workouts transferred to the Garmin Connect calendar and my FR945. Sadly TP pulled the IQ app, so transferring that way is out too.
I sent an email to Training Peaks and received “…please note, swim workouts and strength workouts are not exportable to Garmin devices at this time. This has to do with a limitation on the Garmin workout screen not working with either of those sport types. The current compatible workout types with the new Garmin Integration are Run, Bike, Cross-train, Mtn Bike, Custom, XC-Ski, Rowing, Other, and Walk.”
So, that’s a bummer 🙁 Hopefully Garmin will fix it sooner than later.
Any updates on Connect enhancements focusing on “Time in Zones”? For the live of me I cannot understand why this is so difficult for apps to provide. Garmin – No, Strava Premium – No, Strava Elevate – No, Polar – Yes, Training Peaks Premium – ?, MapMyFitness Premium – ? For those of us looking to tailor workouts based upon zones and time in each, Garmin – well they suck.
Hmm, maybe I’m misunderstanding – but I do get time in zones. I get it both on watches/units themselves (power and HR), and then also on the smartphone app (Garmin Connect Mobile).
On the app, just open up your activity, and then click the little graph icon on the right side, and then scroll to the bottom, you’ll see time in zones listed for power and HR.
So Garmin has stopped allowing activity uploads? When Tapiriik.com migrated to Garmin Health API, they said activity uploads are not supported – and not on the roadmap.
Source: link to github.com
Tapiriik now displays this alert: “Due to new limitations in Garmin Connect’s API, tapiriik can no longer upload activities to your Garmin Connect account, or download historical activities from before you connected to tapiriik.”
So everyone who records an activity outside of Garmin is out of luck?
“So everyone who records an activity outside of Garmin is out of luck?”
For the most part, that’s always been the stance. I suspect Garmin would say that a sync app that pulls in 3rd party hardware uploads doesn’t serve their business goals. Do I agree with that? No. But that stance hasn’t ever changed to my knowledge.
They say the point of activity uploads was 3rd party apps like TrainerRoad & Zwift that weren’t competing with Garmin but had large numbers of users wanting to get their data on a Garmin device.
So are TrainerRoad and Zwift also cut off? As a frequent Peloton cycle rider, it would be nice to get those workouts into Garmin. I’d like to overlay data from my Fenix 5 (performance condition, temp, etc) on top of Peloton data (power, speed, cadence, distance).
I wonder if RunGap app will be affected? Maybe time for people like me to look at Suunto watches again?
Nope, they still work just fine as of yesterday (though, they’ve never contributed to the Physio TrueUp type metrics for whatever reason).
I don’t believe RunGap has access to the Upload API either. I really think it’s only a handful of companies that have access to that, and even back in June there were companies that I thought would be viable fits for that portion (upload), that Garmin was saying No to.