How to add a resource for a large launcher icon

The large IQ is the default launcher icon  In resources/drawables. you'll see launcher_icon.png.  Replace that with the icon you want.

Starting with the SDK 4.0 SDK, your launcher_icon will be sized for the device being targeted.

I've done that.  And I do see my custom launcher icon . . . when I see my app on a list with other apps.  That is, I can see it if my app is one of two or more favorite apps or if it's not a favorite app at all.  If my app is the only favorite, I get the big IQ instead of the launcher icon.

I should mention I'm just looking at my Vivoactive 3 music.  I haven't verified that other devices have the same issue.  Maybe a picture will clarify the issue I'm trying to describe.

Are you doing a sideload or updating from the store?  If you are using the store, it could be a couple hours before you get the latest verson on the watch.

In this app, all I did was put in my own launcher icon but you can see where the icon is visible.

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/116a5b59-29ae-4397-a70e-907d7e5f8e44

My app is on the store and I have the latest version.  I just downloaded your Hike2+ app on my V3m.  I un-favorited all my apps and then I selected yours as my favorite.  It now looks just like the image I just shared (except with "Hike2+" in place of the blotch).  That is, I get a big IQ instead of your hiker icon.

looks like this only happens if you only have one favorite.  This could even be something that was planned as with  only one favorite there is lots of available space.

But if it's not, the va3 is now a fairly old device, and might only get updated once or twice a year, and the simple work around is to add a second favorite.

Yes, I agree it makes sense to use the available space.  That's exactly what I'd hope would happen.  I just wish Garmin would use the image I provided (or rather, allow me to upload a second image of the correct size) rather than their own.

What you're suggesting isn't really a work around.  I can't tell all of my users to make sure they never select my app alone as their favorite app.

Honestly, I don't believe very many of my users will ever see what I'm seeing.  However, those who do see it will have done so only by selecting my app as  their one and only favorite.  In that case, I kind of think I deserve to have my launcher icon displayed nice and big

If it's not already possible, I'd just like someone from Garmin to step in and say "We'll consider that" or "Heck, no.  It ain't gonna happen."  If it is possible, I'd like to know how to make it happen.

I'll do some digging on Monday to find out if other devices do the same thing.

Thanks for your help, Jim.

7555607 said:

I'll do some digging on Monday to find out if other devices do the same thing.

I'm pretty sure 935 does the same thing - I haven't tried your scenario with a CIQ app, but when I had Run as my only favorite, it had a huge launcher.

Obviously the problem here is that is that this edge case wasn't considered (or it wasn't deemed to be important) - sorry to say, but this happens a lot with Garmin.

EDIT: I mean obviously it was considered in the sense that the decision was made to display a giant CIQ logo in this case, but IMO that's not the best way of handling it.

jim_m_58 said:

looks like this only happens if you only have one favorite

That's literally what the original post says.

jim_m_58 said:

This could even be something that was planned as with  only one favorite there is lots of available space.

Of course it was planned. I don't think anyone is saying that the huge launcher itself is a mistake - just the fact that when a CIQ app has a huge launcher, it gets a giant IQ icon as opposed to the developer-supplied icon. That 2nd part seems like an oversight, especially since Garmin went out of its way to suggest that devs supply appropriately-sized app icons for devices with different resolutions.

I mean an easy fix here would be to just display the small app icon even for the huge launcher. IMO it would look a lot better than a giant IQ icon.

jim_m_58 said:

But if it's not, the va3 is now a fairly old device, and might only get updated once or twice a year, and the simple work around is to add a second favorite.

I wonder if this kind of bug has a worse effect on Garmin's image as opposed to Connect IQ devs. Especially when most CIQ devs are doing this just for fun. Sure CIQ devs are often blamed for Garmin's bugs/quirks, but at the end of the day, most CIQ devs can probably just stop being CIQ devs at any time since I'm guessing it's not a primary source of income for most.

7555607 said:

What you're suggesting isn't really a work around.  I can't tell all of my users to make sure they never select my app alone as their favorite app.

7555607 said:

I'll do some digging on Monday to find out if other devices do the same thing.

I checked and this actually works properly for my 945 LTE.

If a CIQ app is the only favorite, then the launcher icon is displayed along with the app name.

So it's cool that Garmin fixed this issue, but as Jim pointed out, older devices may not get the fix :(.

(EDIT: as evidenced by the fact that it works on a 935, an older device than the VA3, it's possible that it was only a problem for certain devices, so maybe it was never "fixed" per se.)

Here's a screenshot from the device.