Related
This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Connect +

5567186
7 months ago

Shame on Garmin for locking the comments on the first feed.

The changes made in the Connect 5.0 app made it prime for a premium version. Anyone who looked at it logically then could see this coming. The way they removed so much of the customization and limited what users could put on their dashboards, how they decimated the web version with that update, this was always going to happen. They just started out slowly getting users warmed up to the idea by introducing the premium watch faces. 

How long until they start putting the more robust training features behind the paywall and users who don't subscribe are left with the basics like heart rate, steps, and sleep? I am betting 6-12 months. Connect+ is already limited to which watches it works with - Venu3/3s, Vivoactive 5. FR165/255/955/265/965, Fenix7/7Pro/8/E, EpixProGen2, Quatix7, Tactix7/8, Marq2, and D2Mach1/Pro according to DesFit. Now users who actually want the subscription features and don't have one of those watches are going to have to upgrade - everyone knows that Garmin watches are already overpriced. In Canada the price of the Fenix 8 has been going up since it was released not down. Even the sale prices are exaggerated for what you get. 

  • 0 7 months ago

    Looks like they are deleting posts to!

    I did a comment on a thread 1 hour ago and now i cand find it!

  • 0 7 months ago in reply to seilogramp

    well i cant find it!

  • 0 7 months ago in reply to seilogramp

    There were threads about Connect+ on both the Connect iOs and Android threads that seem to be gone now.

  • 0 7 months ago in reply to 5567186

    I merged the thread from the Garmin Connect Mobile iOS forum with the one in the Garmin Connect Web forum.

    Garmin Connect+ Released - Garmin Connect Web - Mobile Apps & Web - Garmin Forums

    Nothing has been deleted.

  • 0 7 months ago in reply to seilogramp

    Thank you for clarifying. It seems that is was quickly locked by Garmin

  • 0 7 months ago

    I paid my watch 1000€ and Garmin wants to charge me 89€/year for Connect+! Are you serious?!

  • 0 7 months ago

    We probably should've seen this coming as Garmin has been trying to "modernize" / play catch up with Apple Watch for years by adding smartwatch-ish features, music, a touchscreen on almost every device, etc. (none of that stuff is necessarily bad - the UI/UX on the watches has improved a lot, too)

    As an occasional user of the Connect website (I prefer the Connect app, strava app/website, and runalyze tbh), I (and many other users) saw that old super-flexible home page was ditched in favour of a clone of the new Connect app home page. While the new home page was def an improvement on the app, it was arguably a step backwards on the website. (For sure we can say that functionality was lost).

    As a forum user, I noticed that the forums for older devices (like FR935 and older) were archived en masse a little over a year ago. (This was definitely a sudden change, as the last post on *all* of the archived forums is around February 2024, so it's not like old device forums were being auto locked when they reached a certain age.)

    As a Connect IQ dev, I noticed that, starting in late 2023, old devices stopped getting new CIQ features. (For several years prior, Garmin had a strategy to bring new CIQ features to both old and new devices.) I also noticed that the new Connect IQ monetization system is only available for new devices.

    So yeah, they're moving away from their old model of letting you pay once for hardware to get *all* the features, and more towards the subscription-based stuff that all the more modern companies love to do. At some point, Garmin probably noticed that many users would keep their watches for 5-10 years (a lot longer than anyone would keep a phone or apple watch), and decided it's bad for business.

  • 0 7 months ago

    This worries me greatly - it's one of the reasons Fitbit lost so many customers. After Fitbit came out with "premium", they stopped developing new features for the basic platform. They also put a priority on bug fixes in their premium platform and  bugs on the basic platform went unfixed for years. When connect+ becomes a major revenue stream - Garmin will want developers to focus on enhancing that platform rather than the free platform.