As a developer, I'd like to do some general remarks on the state of the ConnectIQ ecosystem.
- The SDK manager is bad. You need to sign-in to download the SDK. You can not choose where the files will be installed. It's no longer possible to direct download the SDK and the devices bits. There is no documentation about how these files must be arranged to be able to launch a monkeyc command. This software is for developers, give them the control.
- The SDK is not easy to install on Linux (and it's even worst since the creation of the SDK manager). It depends on library deprecated for years. Last time I tried I had to use an old version of Java because you forgot to include some XML libraries. Garmin should provide a package for main Linux distributions and a Docker image, that's the minimum.
- Why don't you provide a Github Action to easily test an application?
- The different sizes of the icons. For my app, I have to provide icons with the following dimensions: 30x30, 35x35, 36x36, 40x33, 40x40. Is that really necessary? Instead of releasing new watches every two weeks, could some time be spent to streamline their differences?
- More generally, the differences between the watches. I had to give up a nice design to be able to support all these watches with so many form factors, screen definitions and button layouts. A simple look at the "Compatible Devices" page on you website and you can see the problem. As a single brand you have more fragmentation than Android has ever had.
- You have to add a line in a file each time a new watch is released. The worst is when you have to tell that you want to support custom editions of a watch (I'm thinking of the "Mercedes-Benz" edition. By the way, how could someone at Garmin think that's a good idea to have "Mercedes-Benz" editions of some watches?).
- The behavior of the simulator does not match real devices (try a Ui.Picker).
- The documentation could be improved especially for the CLI.
- Last time I checked, the samples provided with the SDK are of really poor quality. Some don't even work...
- Even this forum is bad. You have to scroll to the bottom to force the entire conversation to load (or click a "View more" button). I can't find a list of all my messages or a list of the topics I created. phpBB was better 15 years ago.
- Listen to your users in this forum. There are so many topics without proper answers or promises of new releases that never come.
And I have to say the problem is bigger than these issues. A few years ago I was really loving Garmin products. It was so cool. Then I don't known what happened. I think it started with the long due release of the modern Garmin Connect. Then the issues with the smartphone app. Recently the hack of Garmin Connect. As an IT guy all these events scare me. I'm thinking Garmin completely underestimates its IT budget. I no longer trust you.
Good news is it's easy to fix most of the issues. It's just a question of spending some time. If you feel overwhelmed, show this message to your boss so he can provide the resources you need to do these improvements. You are Garmin, a billion dollars company!
After all these rants, I must mention that what you achieve is really good overall. As a user, I can easily install applications on my watches from my phone. It just works. As a developer, I like MonkeyC which is simple and easy to use. It was easy to publish my app on the store.
To sum-up you really have to make your platform attractive to the developers if you want them to develop for you. Please the developers and you'll have good applications on your store.
All of this is just my point of view. Feel free to disagree.
