You can now monetize your apps in the Connect IQ
Store.
Watch the webinar, read the documentation and get all the details — then it’ll be time to get to work. When you're done, tell us about what you made. Happy coding!
You can now monetize your apps in the Connect IQ Store.
Watch the webinar, read the documentation and get all the details — then it’ll be time to get to work. When you're done, tell us about what you made. Happy coding!
Connect IQ System 7 is here! This release is the first that allows you to publish apps that support the new System 7 features including improved code space density, new rules for communication in data fields, and the new Tuples type in Monkey C. You can read about the changes here.
System 7 APIs are available in the following devices:
(Gen 2) SeriesVenu 2 series, Venu 2 Plus, and Venu Sq 2 Series will be getting API 5.0.0 in a future update. Get the Connect IQ 7.1.0 SDK from the SDK Manager today.
Go ahead — sign up for that race, and train brilliantly with the easy-to-use Forerunner® 165 GPS running smartwatch. With pace, distance and heart rate, you’ll see your progress shine on the watch’s AMOLED touchscreen display while Garmin Coach and race adaptive training plans help you chase your goals.
Find the Forerunner 165 device configuration on the Connect IQ SDK manager. Update your apps today.
Starting in February 2024, developers submitting apps for the first time who want to have their apps visible in the European Economic Area will need to verify their identity with Garmin. These steps are necessary to satisfy the legal requirements in some European nations. You can read the latest info about this on the Trader Verification post.
After you are approved, we will display some additional information beside in your app listing per EEA legal requirements:
For companies:
For individual developers:
We’ve refreshed the design of the Connect IQ Store website to highlight your apps even better than before. From the product pages to the developer dashboard, everything has a new look and feel. Check it out!
Connect IQ was first announced nine years ago at the ANT+ Symposium. Since that time, we have expanded our support from the original four devices (Vivoactive, Forerunner® 920XT, fēnix® 3 and Epix) to over 100 products.
The Connect IQ team is proud to announce the first beta of System 7. With our new API level of 5.0.0, System 7 represents the maturation of a platform that is now almost a decade old. The improvements in System 7 are meant to help you make better apps for your customers.
The original Venu was the first Connect IQ device with an AMOLED screen and introduced the heuristics to avoid screen burn-in. Newer devices allow watch faces to keep the screen on in “Always On” mode if the screen is using less than 10% of the display pixels.
With API level 5.0.0, we are updating the heuristic from one based on pixels to one based on luminance. Now the screen will stay on if the display is using less than 10% of the total luminance. This allows you to use more pixels.
System 7 also introduces the expansion of some of our communication APIs. In the past, data fields did not support the Communications module directly, instead requiring a background ServiceDelegate. In API 5.0.0, data fields can use select Communications APIs within the main application. This allows for data fields that can better integrate with cloud services.
API 5.0.0 devices can also pair with BLE devices using Just Works pairing. The system will remember the bonded devices and allow you to reconnect with devices you have previously bonded with.
System 7 helps you do more with less in a number of different ways. Devices supporting API 5.0.0 have new updates to the system opcodes designed to reduce the code space for common operations. Developers should expect an improvement of 20%– 30% when compiling on new devices.
In addition, one of the fundamentals of Connect IQ is the has operator, which allows you to check in code if an API exists on a particular device. For example, let’s say you want to check if a device supports the new Complications API and decide based on that to use a new or old implementation. It might look something like this:
if (Toybox has :Complications) {
// Register the new callback
Complications.registerComplicationChangeCallback(method(:complicationCallback));
} else {
// Use the old complication approach
timer.start(method(:oldHandler), 1000, true);
}
The has operator allows you to check if a symbol exists in a class or module. In the past, this compiled as a runtime check, but it will now be evaluated at the compile time in the System 7 SDK when possible. This allows the optimizer to eliminate the branch and unnecessary code, as well.
The intention of Monkey Types was to add a type system that allowed the flexibility of Monkey C but didn’t ask for a lot of overhead. While it has mostly succeeded, there is room for improvement.
Monkey Types offers two ways to type containers. Container typing, which borrows heavily from generic containers in Java or other languages, allows the developer to attach type scaffolding to the kinds of elements that can be added or removed from an Array or Dictionary. Dictionary typing allows Dictionary containers to map what keys can be mapped to what values.
Dictionary typing is almost magical, especially for commonly used option dictionaries. By comparison, Array typing feels mechanical. For starters, unlike every other language construct Arrays are not typed implicitly, requiring additional scaffolding where other elements don’t. Container typing also assumes you want a container of a single type, but in Monkey C it is very common to use an array as a cheap struct. This can be seen in getInitialView(), one of the fundamental APIs:
// So much ugly typing
function getInitialView() as Array<Views or InputDelegates>? {
return [ new StartView(), new StartDelegate() ] as Array<Views or InputDelegates>;
}
We can do better. What we needed was a Dictionary type for linear arrays that allows modeling the type per index. This now can be accomplished with the Tuple:
function getInitialView() as [Views] or [Views, InputDelegates] {
// Where did the as clause go?
return [ new StartView(), new StartDelegate() ] ;
}
Think of Tuple types like Dictionary types, except the key is implied by the order. In this example, the array being returned is automatically typed as a Tuple of types [StartView, StartDelegate]. This is typed against the allowed return value [Views, InputDelegates] and found to match.
The rules of Tuple type A matching Tuple type B are as follows:
Arrays created with the [ value, value...] syntax will now be typed as a Tuple instead of an Array<Any>. You can use Container types if that better matches the pattern you are implementing, but Tuples have a natural compatibility with Container types. Tuples of type [A, B, C] shall be instance of Array<A or B or C> if the types A, B, and C are in the polytype definition of the container type.
function sumArray(x as Array<Numeric>) as Numeric {
var result = 0;
for (var i = 0; i < x.size(); i++) {
result += x[i];
}
return result;
}
function sumThisTuple() as Numeric{
// This should pass type checking because the
// Tuple [Number, Number... ] should instanceOf Array<Number>
return sumArray([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]);
}
Tuple types are also mutable. As the underlying array changes with literal indexes, they are modified as long as the type system can keep up.
function foo(x as [Number, Number, Number]) as [Number, Number, Number] {
x[1] = "Hello"; // Allowed, type is now [Number, String, Number]
return x; // Error, type mismatch
}
The following APIs have been changed to use Tuples over Container types:
AppBase.getInitialView() as [Views] or [Views, InputDelegates]AppBase.getGoalView(goalType as GoalType) as [WatchUi.View]?AppBase.getGlanceView() as [WatchUi.GlanceView] or [WatchUi.GlanceView, WatchUi.GlanceViewDelegate?] or NullAppBase.getServiceDelegate() as [System.ServiceDelegate]AppBase.getSettingsView() as [Views] or [Views, InputDelegates?] or NullAudioContentProviderApp.getPlaybackConfigurationView() as [Views] or [Views, InputDelegates?] or NullAudioContentProviderApp.getSyncConfigurationView() as [Views] or [Views, InputDelegates?] or NullGraphics.getCurrentView() as [WatchUi.View?, WatchUi.InputDelegates?]ViewLoopFactory.getView(page as Number) as [WatchUi.View] or [WatchUi.View, WatchUi.BehaviorDelegate?] or NullThis should hopefully lead to less boilerplate typing getting in your way.
In addition to Tuples, the Array type now has a sort method in API level 5. The default implementation uses the Comparable interface, but you can also implement your own Comparator interface to create your own ordering.
Previously, resource identifiers in the Rez module were typed as Symbol, but in the System 7 SDK they are now typed as Toybox.Lang.ResourceId. This applies to all devices and not just API 5.0.0 devices.
The System 7 SDK beta is available today from the SDK Manager. You can try the new features using the epix2pro47mmsystem7preview device. If you have signed up for the device beta program, you will get beta firmware in January.
Happy November! We have many updates across Connect IQ we are excited to share.
The new Connect IQ SDK 6.4.0 and Monkey C Visual Studio Code extension 1.0.10 are now available. By popular demand, we've added a manifest editor into the Visual Studio Code extension. The manifest editor provides a user interface to edit all aspects of the manifest.xml file. We have also added a new Test Explorer that provides a powerful user interface for executing unit tests on your application.
At last year's GDVC we announced we were updating Face It. Those updates are now live and will be available to the following devices getting the latest quarterly update:
Mach 1 Pro 2 (Gen 2) ProFrom a developer perspective, the most exciting features are the new Face It complications. Developers can now create complications that integrate with Face It using the Complications API. Any app that publishes data can have their information live on the user's watch face. See the Complications chapter to learn more.
Want to try the Test Explorer, or make a Face It complication? Get the SDK and the Visual Studio Code extension and update your apps today!
An update to the Connect IQ mobile SDK for iOS is now available from GitHub. This release addresses an issue with newer devices and iOS 17, as well as other fixes.
Know the real you with the vívoactive® 5 smartwatch, the ultimate on-wrist coach designed to support your goals — whatever they may be. Featuring a bright, colorful display and up to 11 days of battery life, this GPS smartwatch is purpose-built with essential health and fitness features to help you better understand your body.
You’ll find vívoactive 5 support available today from the Connect IQ SDK manager. Update your apps today.
We have just released Connect IQ SDK version 6.3.0, which introduces the wheelchair API, increase sampling rates for accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer, and the addition of the Venu 3/3s devices. There are also a handful of bug fixes that were addressed from previous SDKs. Here is the full list of updates and changes:
General Changes
Simulator Changes
AppBase.onActive() and AppBase.onInactive().makeOAuthRequest() on Windows.Compiler Changes
initialize().