The policies of the Connect IQ store give the developers the opportunity to publish monetized content, and we want that content to make money for you. Here are some tips to consider when creating monetized content for the store.

No Surprises

As a user, there is nothing worse than being caught off guard that an app you downloaded is monetized. If your app requires the user to pay in order to use the primary features of the app, you should mark the app in the app detail description as requiring payment. Your primary features should be listed in the app description. Note that for watch faces, it is assumed that viewing the time is a primary feature of the app. This will show the "Payment Required" badge in the app store.

If you have secondary features that the user can pay for, like additional levels in a game, we do not require you to mark the app as "Payment Required," but your app description must make clear which features are free and which require payment to upgrade.

Good Payment Experience

The user should always understand how to purchase your app or pay for a feature. If there is a flow the user has to go through to pay for your app, you should provide user guidance to help them through it. Make an FAQ or video and put a link to it at the top of your app description.

Even if you have marked your app as requiring payment, it's always a bad experience to show a paywall without some kind of warning. If your app has a trial period, make sure to clearly communicate the remaining time to the user in your experience. With a watch face, it could be as simple as showing the time remaining in the trial at startup.

Putting a paywall up in a watch face can be frustrating for the user. Rather than display the paywall, guide the user to where they can learn how to pay for the watch face. Implement a payment flow using on-device settings.

Read the Guidelines

We updated our guidelines at GDVC this year, which you can read or you can watch a summary video. Some highlights:

• Use your or your company’s real name or an alias that does not impersonate another person or company.
• Keep your contact information up to date.
• Avoid claiming any partnership or affiliation with Garmin, unless we have given you express written permission.
• You must not perform or encourage any action that creates deceptive reviews or manipulates your app’s rating.

Violation of these guidelines could result in the removal of your app from the Connect IQ store.