BLE or bluetooth. Looking at the Tactix watches

Former Member over 6 years ago

Revised:

I originally asked the question: why some watches support BLE and others Bluetooth standard for communication

On the developers site, in the API docs, there is a module for BLE. I didn't know if this was for communicating through GCM or creating a separate connection: click here

Is Tactix able to connect to my android phone still, just not via BLE?

jim_m_58 over 6 years ago

If you're talking the CIQ BLE stuff, the Tactix is really just a variant of the fenix 6, and with the chart you linked to it does support Bluetooth Smart (BLE). As far as CIQ is concerned it's just like the f6x. As far as using GCM on the phone, it's just like the f6x. What may be confusing is the bluetooth for connecting to headphones.

There's a blog post that mentioned what devices support the BLE API, but it's a bit dated - it's from before the f6 devices were even announced.

https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/b/news-announcements/posts/connect-iq-3-1-connects-you-to-the-world

What is it you want to do? That might help to answer your question about what you can or can't do.

Former Member over 6 years ago in reply to jim_m_58

I want to write location data to the watch face/app/widget and tell it where it is on maps. I also want to draw poly lines and stuff.

I was referring to the connectivity row of the "Daily Smart Features" table

So you're saying I can use the CIQ BLE module? I guess I was confused because the sample projects in eclipse doesn't allow me to choose a Tactix target device when running some BLE apps

jim_m_58 over 6 years ago in reply to Former Member

You can write a companion app for the phone and use that to get the data. You don't need to do your own BLE - just the use Communications module.