Today, Garmin announced the new Descent^TM G1 Series. This dive computer, based on the Instinct® 2 series, support Connect IQ System 5.

Explore both of your worlds with Descent G1. This rugged, easy-to-use dive computer features a bold design that stands out with a high-contrast, easy-to-read display. Descent G1 is built for multiple types of diving, whether you’re a recreational or technical scuba diver, or even a free diver. It’s also enabled with GPS to help mark your entry and exit points. Descent G1 doubles as a smartwatch with built-in sports apps, smart features and all-day health monitoring.

The Descent G1 series requires Connect IQ SDK 4.0.10. Get the latest SDK and the Descent G1 and Descent G1 Solar device configurations with the SDK Manager. Learn more about the Instinct® 2022 personality in the User Experience Guidelines.

Last October, we introduced System 5. Since then, the list of supported devices has grown considerably. With the announcement of the fēnix® 7  series, the epix^TM (Gen 2) series, and the Instinct® 2 series, you have many more Connect IQ devices available to develop for. These new devices add some variety to the Connect IQ System 5 family; from button to touchscreen, black and white to color memory-in-pixel (MIP) to AMOLED, and resource-constrained to resource-abundant.

In this series, we are going to create taxonomies for the System 5 devices. We will also present some things for you to consider when targeting a device or if it makes sense to target a device at all.

The Real Glamour Devices of Connect IQ

While Connect IQ devices have mostly used memory in pixel (MIP) displays, we now have multiple products with high color AMOLED or liquid crystal displays. These products have more resources and can make much richer app experiences.

epix (Gen 2)

Watch Face Memory	128 KB
Data Field Memory	256 KB
Device App Memory	768 KB
Screen	416x416 AMOLED (65536 colors)
Screen Shape	Round
Input	Five-button and touchscreen
Personality	fēnix 2022
Real Devices Tagline	I’m epic in more ways than one

The epix is the premium active smartwatch. With a gorgeous AMOLED display, over two weeks of battery life, button and touch inputs and API level 4.0.0, this is the device that does it all and can support the best app experience possible.

The epix can be used as both a touchscreen or button-only watch, so your apps should work for both inputs.  Check DeviceSettings.isTouchScreen() to see if the device is running with the touchscreen disabled.

The fēnix 7 and epix series use a different Wi-Fi solution than other wearables. If you are using the Communications.startSync2() to download content over Wi-Fi, make sure your servers support the TLSv1.2_2019 cypher set.

Venu® 2 Series

Watch Face Memory	128 KB
Data Field Memory	256 KB
Device App Memory	768 KB
Screen	416x416 AMOLED 65536 colors (Venu 2 and 2 Plus) 360x360 AMOLED 65536 colors (Venu 2S)
Screen Shape	Round
Input	Touchscreen with start and back buttons
Personality	Venu 2021
Real Devices Tagline	There’s always a time and a place for me

 The Venu 2 series offers a bright, crisp AMOLED display, wellness features like Body Battery^TM energy monitoring and the Health Snapshot^TM feature, sleep scores and insights, more than 25 built-in indoor and GPS sports apps, preloaded workouts and much more. All three of these devices use API level 4.0.0 and can take advantage of the new graphics features offered.

While Venu 2 Plus offers integration with your phone’s voice assistant, Connect IQ does not offer any integration with the device microphone. Users are allowed have music apps play through the onboard speaker.

Venu and Venu Sq - Music Edition

Watch Face Memory	512 KB
Data Field Memory	32 KB
Device App Memory	1024 KB
Screen	390x390 AMOLED 65536 colors (VenuTM) 240x240 LCD 65536 colors (VenuTM Sq Music Edition)
Screen Shape	Round
Input	Touchscreen with back and start buttons
Personality	Vivoactive 2019
Real Devices Tagline	Round or square, I’m ready to go

The Venu was Garmin’s first wearable with a round AMOLED display, and the Venu Sq - Music Edition was Garmin’s first Connect IQ wearable with a square liquid crystal display. Both devices use API level 3.3.0.

When making always-on watch faces for Venu and Venu Sq, you need to ensure in low power mode that any individual pixel isn’t activated for more than four minutes at a time. In low power mode, use thin fonts and move elements between frames.

Best Practices for AMOLED Displays

With AMOLED displays, every pixel uses power, and apps with bright, solid-color backgrounds can drain the battery faster. When designing pages, use a light-on-dark design with gradients that fade to black as opposed to the bright solid color designs of MIP:

NO	YES

Watch faces in always-on mode on AMOLED devices are very different than MIP devices. When your WatchFace.onEnterSleep() is called, you can check DeviceSettings.requiresBurnInProtection() to see if you are rendering for an AMOLED device. When rendering in always-on mode, you need to obey the following rules:

• Your watch face can only update once a minute.
• Your watch face can only enable 10% of the pixels on the screen.
• No pixel can be on for over three minutes (Venu and Venu Sq series only).

See this article for more information on making watch faces for AMOLED devices.

API Level 4.0.0 provides new graphics tools like the graphics pool to manage resources, alpha-blended primitives, new resource-packing formats and more. With the fēnix 7 series, epix and Venu 2 series, there is a whole generation of Connect IQ wearables that support these APIs. See this article on how to take full advantage of the graphics capabilities of these devices.

The Real Slender Devices of Connect IQ

These System 5 devices have 128 KB or less allocated for device apps and 64 KB for widgets. This means your application storage can get crowded in a hurry.

Forerunner® 245 / fēnix 6s/ fēnix 6 / Enduro®

Watch Face Memory	96 KB (245,  fēnix 6s) 112 KB ( fēnix 6, Enduro)
Data Field Memory	32 KB
Widget Memory	64 KB
Device App Memory	128 KB
Screen	240x240 64 color MIP (245,  fēnix 6s) 260x260 64 color MIP ( fēnix 6) 280x280 64 color MIP (Enduro)
Screen Shape	Round
Input	Button
Personality	Forerunner 2018
Real Devices Tagline	We can run all day and all night

 While these devices are not entry-level by any means, the have siblings (Forerunner 245 Music,  fēnix 6s Pro Series,  fēnix 6 Pro Series,  fēnix 6X Series) that have more Connect IQ resources.

Of this family, the Enduro has the largest screen (280x280) but does not have any additional Connect IQ RAM, and does not have the Graphics pool of API level 4.0.0. Using a full screen 64 color bitmap on this device can quickly eat into your application memory. Keep your resource use to a minimum when possible.

Forerunner 55

Watch Face Memory	96 KB
Data Field Memory	32 KB
Widget Memory	64 KB
Device App Memory	128 KB
Screen	208x208 8 color MIP
Screen Shape	Round
Input	Button
Personality	Forerunner 2018
Real Devices Tagline	Size doesn’t matter

The Forerunner 55 is our first entry-level Forerunner with full System 5 support. From a functionality perspective, it’s not much different than a Forerunner 245. The primary difference is the eight-color (RGB111) 208x208 screen. Focus on using color for adding accents in your designs and save better imagery for AMOLED devices.

Venu Sq

Watch Face Memory	96 KB
Data Field Memory	32 KB
Widget Memory	64 KB
Device App Memory	128 KB
Screen	240x240 LCD (65535 colors)
Screen Shape	Square
Input	Touch Screen
Personality	Vivoactive 2019
Real Devices Tagline	I may be square, but I’m full of surprises

 The non-music version of the Venu Sq has less resources than the music version. In contrast to the Forerunner 55, the Venu Sq features a full-color liquid crystal display. In order to save memory, the resource compiler by default is using 8-bit dithered images rather than 16-bit images. This cuts the required memory for images in half with limited visual impact.

Unlike with round watches, data fields will not be obscured by a round screen, which means you can take advantage of the full area.

Instinct 2 Series

Watch Face Memory	64 KB
Data Field Memory	32 KB
Widget Memory	64 KB
Device App Memory	96 KB
Screen	176 x 176 2 color MIP
Screen Shape	Semi-Octagon
Input	Button
Personality	Instinct 2022
Real Devices Tagline	When you enter the octagon, you never leave

For all of you who said that Connect IQ devices couldn’t surprise you any more, we present the Instinct 2. It is a rugged entry-level outdoor wearable with many of the features that customers love from the fēnix line. It has a black-and-white octagonal screen with a sub-window and has the lowest memory limit for apps. Surprise!

Let’s start with the sub-window. Think of the sub-window as the sidekick to the main screen. You can put iconography in the sub-window to provide context for your page, use it as a data field, add a button hint and more. The sub-window does not use a separate Dc; the screen is treated as a single image. Use the WatchUi.getSubscreen() API to get the boundaries.

With the Instinct 2S, the sub-screen extends a few pixels past the primary border of the screen. To allow drawing to the full sub-screen area, the Dc.getWidth() extends to include the sub-screen. This means that while the screen advertises itself as 163x156, outside of the sub-window it is 156 x 156. The seven pixels to the right are under the lens. Data fields will advertise their boundaries correctly.

Speaking of data fields, the data field shapes and obscurities are more complex than with round watch faces. The bottom portion of the screen can be used as a data field, which is a smaller space than most devices:

Best Practices for Entry-Level Devices

When building for these devices, make sure you optimize your resources to use the minimum bit depth necessary. Focus on including the just the core functionality for your app, and where it makes sense, use build exclusions to remove functionality.

Next Time on the Real Devices

In part 2, we will focus on the music capable wearables and the Edge® devices.

Today, Garmin announced the new Instinct® 2 series. These wearables, supporting API level 3.2, are the first of the Instinct line to support Connect IQ System 5.

Whatever you do, own it with Instinct® 2. This rugged GPS smartwatch is tough enough to keep up with you and unique enough to fit your style. Do more of what you love with preloaded activity profiles and stay connected to what matters with smart features.

The Instinct 2 requires Connect IQ SDK 4.0.10. Get the latest SDK and the Instinct® 2 device configuration with the SDK Manager. Learn more about the Instinct® 2022 personality in the User Experience Guidelines.

Today, Garmin announced the new D2 Air X10, a new aviation wearable using API level 4.0.0.

Navigate your day with D2 Air X10. This GPS aviator smartwatch has piloting tools you’ll want preflight, in-flight and postflight. And it offers advanced health and fitness features to help you track your wellness — plus keep you connected between flights.

Use the SDK Manager to update your device library to add D2 Air X10 support to your apps.

Developers live and die by their tools. A development environment for a software developer is like a video editing suite to a video editor; it's the tool of creation. Any change in that tooling can be very disruptive when you're familiar with what you have.

For those of you who have used the Eclipse environment over the past few years, Visual Studio Code can be an adjustment. In developing the new extension, we have taken the philosophy of trying to make something that would feel natural to a Visual Studio Code user. This can be alienating to developers moving from Eclipse, which has its own philosophy and approach. Though we are continuing to maintain the Eclipse solution, any new features going forward will only go to the Visual Studio Extension.

Let’s talk through some of the changes between Eclipse versus Visual Studio Code, and how the two environments are the same but different.

Projects, Workspaces, Folders, and Windows

In Eclipse, the workspace is set at startup and is the directory on disk where your projects and your Eclipse settings live. You cannot change your workspace folder without restarting Eclipse. A project is a collection of related resources, but the Monkey C plugin usually represents the root folder of a source code tree. While you can have just one project in your workspace, it is more common to have multiple (even unrelated) projects all within the same workspace.

In Visual Studio Code, a window is an instance of the Visual Studio code environment. A folder is the root directory of a collection of related resources, but with the Monkey C extension a folder usually represents the root folder of a Monkey C source code tree. A project is a collection of folders but is not a subdirectory on the file system like in Eclipse. It is very common in Visual Studio code for a single project to have its own workspace, but it is also possible to have multiple folders in a workspace. You can have multiple windows editing multiple projects with multiple folders open at the same time.

Eclipse has a feature of linked folders, where a source folder can be soft-linked into a project. The Visual Studio Code extension does not mimic this feature, but you can add paths to the sourcePath or resourcePath of base in your jungle file to bring in folders. See the Jungle Reference Guide for details.

Workspace Settings Versus Project Settings

In the Eclipse plug-in there are two sets of settings: workspace settings and project settings. The workspace settings allow configuring the plugin. You can also edit the project settings for a Connect IQ project itself.

Visual Studio Code also has a separation of extension settings and folder settings. The extension settings allow for configuration of how the extension interfaces with the SDK, while the folder settings allow configuring the jungle, manifest, and type check level for the folder.

Connect IQ Menus Versus Command Palettes

The Eclipse plug-in adds extra Connect IQ specific options by adding a Connect IQ menu to the Connect IQ perspective:

With the Monkey C extension, the commands have been added to the command palette, which can be summoned with Ctrl + Shift + P (or Command + Shift + P on the Mac). You can see all the extension commands by typing “Monkey C”:

The command palette auto-complete filters on all words in the command, allowing quick access to tools.

Manifest Editing

One of the most important files in the Connect IQ project is the manifest.xml file, which provides important metadata like the supported products, app type, and permissions. In the Eclipse plug-in, there is a special editor that breaks down the manifest into its component parts.

With the Monkey C extension, you can use the following commands to edit the manifest:

 

COMMAND	DESCRIPTION
Monkey C: Edit Products	Edits the products in the manifest.xml; only allows selecting products that support the minimum SDK version
Monkey C: Edit Permissions	Edits the permissions in the manifest.xml
Monkey C: Edit Languages	Edits the languages in the manifest.xml
Monkey C: Edit Application	Edits the application metadata (name, label, identifier) in the manifest.xml
Monkey C: Configure Barrel	Wizard to add or remove Monkey Barrels from your project
Monkey C: Set Products by Connect IQ Version	Allows mass selection of all products that meet a Connect IQ version
Monkey C: Edit Annotations	Allows adding new annotations to Monkey Barrel projects
Monkey C: Regenerate UUID	Creates a new application UUID for your project

 

Documentation and Tools

The Eclipse plug-in Connect IQ offered links to the Connect IQ SDK documentation and tools. The Monkey C extension does as well via the following commands:

COMMAND	DESCRIPTION
Monkey C: Open ERA Viewer	Opens the Error Reporting Application tool
Monkey C: Open Monkey Graph	Opens the Monkey Graph tool
Monkey C: Open Monkey Motion	Opens the Monkey Motion tool
Monkey C: Open SDK Manager	Opens the Connect IQ SDK Manager
Monkey C: View Documentation	Provides access to all the Connect IQ SDK documentation

 

Build Configurations Versus Launch Configurations

In Eclipse, you can create a run configuration for any project in your workspace. Run configurations allow you to create a custom project configuration for how to build or run your application. The Connect IQ plug-in allows you to create configurations that launch a specific project in the simulator with a specific device:

Visual Studio Code allows you to set and create launch configurations using the launch.json file. To create a launch.json file go to the Run start view and click create a launch.json file:

By default, the Monkey C extension will create two launch configurations for a project: one to run your app and one to run your tests. The default run task will ask you which device you want to use when you run or debug, but you can create a custom launch configuration with a preset device. The easiest way to add a launch configuration to a launch.json is to go to the last configuration and type Ctrl-Space:

Customize the configuration by setting its name, the device, and if it stops on launch when debugging by default. Once you have added a configuration, you can set the current launch configuration in the Run and Debug view. This configuration will be launched with the when you start debugging or run without debugging:

App Settings

The Eclipse plug-in provides an app settings editor that allows you to alter app settings for your app in the simulator:

With the Visual Studio Code extension, you can use the simulator to edit your app settings. After starting your application in the simulator, go to File > Edit Persistent Storage > Edit Application.Properties data to bring up the editor:

Side Loading Applications

Once you are ready to test your app on a device it needs to be sideloaded. With the Eclipse plug-in, you used the Build for Device Wizard from the Connect IQ menu to create a PRG executable:

In the Monkey C extension, you use the command Monkey C: Build for Device. You’ll be asked which device to build for from your manifest, and the export directory for the PRG file.

Exporting Applications

When you’re ready to upload your app to the store you need to export it as an IQ file. In the Eclipse plug-in you would use Export Wizard. In the Monkey C extension, you use the Monkey C: Export Project command. After setting your export path it will build the IQ file.

Today Garmin announced the new fēnix® 7 series and epix (gen 2) series of wearables. All of the new devices are use API level 4.0.0.

There are 7 days in a week. And the fēnix 7 multisport GPS watch is built to go strong for all of them. Meet any athletic or outdoor challenge with cutting-edge training features, sports apps, 24/7 health and wellness monitoring and more. Use trusted button controls or a new touchscreen interface to access selections. Gain performance insights and metrics that help you manage your exertion and build stamina. Optimize recovery and overall wellness by monitoring heart rate, respiration, stress, sleep and more¹.

With epix, the premium active smartwatch, you can take on every day with the stunning AMOLED display, 24/7 health and wellness monitoring  and smart features. Train how you want with built-in sports apps that fit all the ways you move, performance metrics and Garmin Coach training plans. You can download global TopoActive mapping, or get it preloaded on Sapphire editions. Plus, Sapphire editions support multi-band GNSS technology for stronger, better, more accurate positioning in challenging environments.

Learn more about the Fenix 2022 personality in the User Experience guide, and use the SDK Manager to update your device library and add fēnix 7 and epix support to your apps. 

 

^{1See Garmin.com/ataccuracy}

Happy 2022! Today Garmin introduced the Venu® 2 Plus. This watch supports API level 4.0.0 and helps you understand your body better with advanced health and fitness features. Once it's paired with your compatible smartphone, you can enjoy the convenience of making calls from your wrist.

Use the Connect IQ SDK Manager to update your device library and add Venu 2 Plus support to your apps.

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.

We released version 4.0.7 of the Connect IQ SDK this afternoon, along with the VS Code 1.0.1 extension, which address several bugs. Of particular significance, this update includes fixes to address problems working with file paths that include space when using VS Code as your IDE. See the SDK release notes below for more details!

General Changes

• The minimum supported macOS is now 10.12.
• End the Visual Studio Code debug session if launching app failed or sim crashed.
• Show crash message in debugger if app crashes during startup.
• Fix a memory leak that would occur when using makeWebRequest on a Wi-Fi/LTE connection to download an animation manifest.
• Fix a memory leak that would occur when using makeWebRequest on a Wi-Fi/LTE connection and the response JSON included duplicated value strings.
• Reduce application memory usage when processing makeWebRequest responses from a Wi-Fi/LTE connection.
• Update Graphics API documentation to use the FontType typedef instead of the classes that make up the typedef.
• Fix broken link in WatchUi.IconMenuItem documentation.
• Fix parameter typing on Communications.registerForOAuthMessages().
• Prevent memory corruption when using small coefficient arrays with the IIR filter.
• Fix the PRG not getting pushed if its path contains a space.

Simulator Changes

• Fix AppBase.onAppInstall() not getting launched for the first app run in a newly opened simulator.
• Fix issue where the current day’s vigorous intensity minutes were used when calculating the total moderate intensity minutes.
• Fix memory leak with makeImageRequest for some simulated devices.

Compiler Changes

• Improve initialization checking on symbols that are confirmed to exist for an object using a ‘self has’ check.
• Add type checking to ‘object[:variable]’ syntax.
• Fix a type check bug that caused an error when using ‘NaN’.

Hosted this past October 13, the Garmin Developer Virtual Conference 2021 provided an inside look at ANT, Connect IQ and Garmin Connect Developer Programs. We hope those of you who attended enjoyed our State of the Union and Breakout sessions. 

Our breakout sessions provided educational content about our developer programs and an in-depth look at the latest updates and features announced during our State of the Union session.

Our breakout presentations are now available to watch anytime. Click here to view.

Our keynote presentation by Ray Maker from DC Rainmaker is also available to watch. Click here to view.