Rowing App for Waterrower

I think that a lot of people are serching for a witged / datafield / app to record her training on garmin connect.

This was not possible because the Rower had no bluetooth module. But now there is such a module and it would be a phantastic thing if there would be a IQ App to record the rowing activity on the Watch. I think this could be a good Idea for a developer to make such app to get some money because there is nothing in this direction on the market.

What do you think?

  • Sorry I missed the screenshot that shows Bluetooth...

  • Yes but just once then it kinda detects and ask or connects automatically if you put the pairing code at the ERiq app

  • if the idea is to auto connect you have to add the pairing code at the erqiq menu

  • I was following this thread. Thank you for all the details infos. 
    I have a basic question about using ErgIQ.
    If everything is setup and connected, do you select ErgIQ as a sport activity, and then it starts / stops by its own? I don t see a way to manualy start recording, like the garmin activities, where you have to start them. 

  • How are you discovering that pairing ID?

  • Yes starts when you start rowing.  if you want to stop you have to put on hold the waterrower S4

  • I think it shows in the when you get into "about" menu.. 

  • For the sake of someone comtemplating buying the Com Module, sharing my own experience. I’ve been tinkering with it and the Erg IQ app (with a Forerunner 645M) for a while but had not much success.

    The Com Module is a 1980s construction with Usb Mini (not Micro) for charging, that sits on the top of 4 AA batteries powering the main unit. It needs to be turned on separately but it also requires the main unit to be switched on. Since the main unit turns off after 2 mins of inactivity the whole system is fiddly and not v trustworty - easy to lose your workout if you do interval training. For me it the Com Module never stopped blinking rapidly with blue colour, although it connected successfully to the main unit (it shows “PC” when the connection is OK).

    Your options are:

    1. Using the WaterRower app that is rudimentary with no option to start/stop the workout, it can only sync with Strava and the total list of info it shares with Strava is the following: distance, moving time.

    2. Using the Erg IQ app. For me it’s a hit or miss, sometimes it connects immediately (after manually connecting the Com Module unit to the watch), with the green “Row” indicator showing up; more often I had to disconnect-reconnect-reboot etc. everything. Even then, there is no start/stop activity option and if you accidentally press the Lap button on the watch, the app quits and you lose your workout (and the connection to the Waterrower). If you want to record your heartrate with the watch you cannot, bc the Com Module registers as an extra HR unit, thus the Erg IQ app constantly shows  - -  HR. Strokes are not recorded correctly (e.g. for a 2,000 m workout with a 22 - 30 spm average, it recorded 35 _total_ strokes, not 220), and you need to manually add the distance in Garmin Connect, thus if you have a Strava auto-sync enabled, Strava will show 0 for the distance. 

    EDIT: there are additional Garmin IQ fields showing your actual power and stroke metrics, but these are only visible on the connect.garmin.com website and the app still shows the bogus, near-0 metrics so not much value.

    All in all, for me the Com Module is currently a worthless piece of equipment and I’m better off starting an indoor rowing session on my watch and adding the distance manually.

  • I have been on the fence about getting a water rower. Given that my gym is going to be closed for some time. I think I will order one. Now looking at the data question. I just wonder if anyone else had tried this setup and if it is working to collect data.