Forerunner 230, 235, and 630

Garmin announced a collection of new Forerunners today, the 230, 235, and 630, which are expected to hit stores sometime around the end of the month. We also recently released a beta version of the 1.2.0 Connect IQ SDK, and the full release of this SDK version is also expected around the end of the month.

It's not unreasonable to expect these new Forerunners to support the 1.2.0 SDK. In fact, they will, but not immediately:

Upon initial release, the Forerunner 230, 235, and 630 will only support the 1.1.4 SDK. This means:
- 1.1.4 SDK apps will work fine
- 1.2.0 SDK apps should work as long as no new 1.2.0 SDK features are used
- 1.2.0 SDK apps that use new features will probably crash on these devices
Within approximately one month of release, the devices will be upgraded to support the 1.2.0 SDK
- Everything built on either 1.1.4 or 1.2.0 will work absolutely perfectly! ;)

So, what options do developers have if they wish to support the 230, 235, and 630?

Move to the 1.2.0 SDK and make good use of the 'has' operator to perform checks on 1.2.0 features
Move to the 1.2.0 SDK, but avoid using 1.2.0 features until 1.2.0 support is added to these devices
Move to the 1.2.0 SDK, but delay supporting these new devices until 1.2.0 is supported
Stay on the 1.1.4 SDK until support for 1.2.0 is added to these devices

We'd like to see everyone using the new SDK and support these new devices as early as possible, so the first option is recommended. This should allow your apps to run on all devices now and provide you with a smooth transition later.

This is an unusual situation, and we understand that it's not ideal for developers or folks that use our devices. We're working closely with the device team to minimize the delay in getting these new Forerunners to the latest SDK release.

Please respond here with any questions you have!

jim_m_58 over 9 years ago

Guess we all know what the "Semi-Round Watch" target devices in the SDK are now!

So something built for a square or round display may require changes to the screen layout. No biggie!

Brandon.ConnectIQ over 9 years ago

Yes--I probably should have mentioned that! The generic semi-round profile in the 1.2.0 beta SDK is a placeholder for these devices. We'll be including profiles for these devices in the final 1.2.0 SDK. This will allow everyone to target these devices and upload compatible apps to the store.

jim_m_58 over 9 years ago

Another thing to note. The 630 is a touch screen, and the 23x's aren't, if you're porting something that does user input.

Former Member over 9 years ago

Could someone give me an example on how to check whether the notificationcount(since sdk 1.2.0) is supported on a watch? How do we publish an app that supports both sdk 1.1.4 and 1.2.0?

jim_m_58 over 9 years ago

In initialize() I do this:

CIQ12x=(Sys.getDeviceSettings() has :alarmCount ) ? true : false;

then for the new settings:

if(CIQ12x && settings.notificationCount>0) {
//display the info
}

------
CIQ12x is false on pre 1.2.0 devices, so in the "if", it fails on the first condition and never checks the second condition.

I set the boolean CIQ12x in initialize as "has" can be a bit expensive, and this way it's only checked once.

Nikeow over 9 years ago

What sort of memory allocation are provided with these new forerunners? 16Kb datafield / 64kb app?

jim_m_58 over 9 years ago

What sort of memory allocation are provided with these new forerunners? 16Kb datafield / 64kb app?

from devices.xml in the SDK, that seems to be the case

<memory_limits>

                <watch_face>65536</watch_face>

                <watch_app>65536</watch_app>

                <widget>65536</widget>

                <data_field>16384</data_field>

            </memory_limits>

jim_m_58 over 9 years ago

As the 23x/630 devices will start out with the CIQ 1.1.4 VM, I'd kind of expect a hick-up in GCM or GE if your app allows user settings and the user tries to change the settings, as the device isn't ready to work with that.

Brandon.ConnectIQ over 9 years ago

This should actually still work--our little secret is that we had a lot of the app settings stuff in around 1.1.2. :) Also, I expect that 1.2.1 support will be added to 230/630 within perhaps a week.

mappicus over 9 years ago

Releasing for new Forerunner models from SDK 1.1.4

Is it possible to create apps using SDK 1.1.4 that will be shown as compatible with the new Forerunner 230/235/630 in the newly updated CIQ Store? Is it just a matter of adding the correct <iq:product> tags to manifest.xml (and if so, what are they)?