Trying to write a new watch face ...

Hi all - I was wondering if someone could please help or give me some pointers to a few questions I have please.

I am a new Fenix 6 Pro Solar owner, and wanted a nice simple watch face - I found one built in one which is very close to what I would like, but alas it is missing space for a couple of data fields, so I am looking into how to develop one of my own which will also serve as a nice little project to get me back into programming.

Rather than reinvent the wheel, the Fenix actually comes with a watch face which is 90% where I want it - I just would like to tweak it a bit to add a couple more data fields - is there any way to ...

Identify the name of the watch face?
Get the source code for that particular watch face?

I have downloaded and successfully configured Eclipse & ConnectIQ and am aware there are some samples available - both in the software package as well as in a link on this forum, however given the watch face that I really like has already been written by Garmin (and therefore presumably already abides by best practice guidelines etc!), I'd prefer to modify that one as I wouldn't have to look at which font I like best etc.

Many thanks for any help anyone can give.

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jim_m_58 over 5 years ago

Native watch faces are not written in CIQ. They are native code for the device. They can also access things that can't be accessed with CIQ.

So that means you have to write your own in CIQ. You might find something similar written in CIQ where the source is available to start with but that's it

1212215 over 5 years ago in reply to jim_m_58

Hi jim_m_58 - thanks for replying and the info - I guess it's time to roll my sleeves up! ;)

Another quick question (last one until I start coding!), but I notice there are some built in field layouts for the various models - e.g. the one for the Fenix 6 is below:

developer.garmin.com/.../

Are we stuck with using these, or can devs define their own field layouts?

Ta muchly

jim_m_58 over 5 years ago in reply to 1212215

Those are for data field type apps, not watch faces. With a watch face you are free to display things anywhere you want, and you must supply/have access to the data you want to display. With a watch face you have access to the entire screen all the time.

1212215 over 5 years ago in reply to 1212215

Thinking about this a bit more, it explains why the built in watch faces can show temperature without needing an external key to a weather website being generated that I've seen some watch faces need ... I might actually stick with the built in one in that case, as temperature was one of the things I wanted - but didn't want to have to call an external site ...

1212215 over 5 years ago in reply to jim_m_58

Gotcha - thanks for the info again!

jim_m_58 over 5 years ago in reply to 1212215

Actually, on watches that have an internal temperature sensor, that can be displayed, but it's not really ambient. On many watches with CIQ 3.2 (like the f6x) you can display the garmin weather info. Only if you want info from a different provider (Open Weather maps for example) do you need a background service.

1212215 over 5 years ago in reply to jim_m_58

Thank you for the info jim - looks like a lot more reading is required ;)