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Feature Request: Add Alternative Map Providers to Garmin Connect for Android

Alex W

I would like to submit a feature request for the Garmin Connect Android application.

Please add support for alternative map providers in Garmin Connect for Android, including OpenStreetMap and, where feasible, HERE Maps, or/and provide a user-selectable map provider option similar to what is already available in Garmin Connect on the web.

Currently, Garmin Connect on Android depends on Google Maps for activity map display. This creates a significant usability problem for a growing group of Android users whose devices do not include Google Maps or Google Mobile Services by default, or whose users intentionally choose not to use them. This includes GrapheneOS users, people using de-Googled Android environments, users of certain Chinese-market Android phones, users of Nothing Phone and other niche manufacturers, and potentially a broader audience in the future as privacy-focused Android options continue to expand.

This is not a niche concern. It is an important issue within the free and open source software community, where many users are also Garmin customers and long-term Garmin supporters. It is also personally important to me. Several people in my circle, including myself and friends who have moved to GrapheneOS, found that Garmin Connect stopped displaying activity maps on Android because of the current map provider dependency. As a result, an important part of the activity experience is lost even though the activity data itself is recorded correctly.

What makes this especially frustrating is that Garmin Connect on the web already supports alternative map providers such as OpenStreetMap and HERE Maps. Since Garmin already uses multiple map providers within the broader Garmin Connect ecosystem, extending that flexibility to the Android application would improve compatibility, reduce avoidable user friction, and make the platform more accessible to a wider range of customers.

I respectfully ask Garmin to consider one of the following solutions:

  1. Add OpenStreetMap support to Garmin Connect for Android.

  2. Add a selectable map provider setting in the Android app.

  3. Implement an automatic fallback to a non-Google provider when Google Maps services are unavailable.

This change would make Garmin Connect more robust, more inclusive of privacy-focused Android users, and better aligned with the flexibility already present in the web version.

Thank you for your consideration.