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Can 3rd party apps use the full multiband GPS?

KrapfenKringel
over 3 years ago

Do app developers have full access to multiband for best accuracy for their 3rd party apps? 

Or would it be best to use native Garmin apps and change the activity type afterwards to get the best accuracy? 

  • over 2 years ago in reply to flowstate

    thanks i guess when i get to coding i may use like the sample in online docs

    if (Position has :CONFIGURATION_GPS_GLONASS_GALILEO_BEIDOU_L1_L5) {
  • over 2 years ago in reply to OttawaDeveloper

    I'd probably hold off doing much until the GDVC on Oct 12th as some things may be clearer at that point.

  • over 2 years ago in reply to OttawaDeveloper
    OttawaDeveloper said:

    thanks i guess when i get to coding i may use like the sample in online docs

    if (Position has :CONFIGURATION_GPS_GLONASS_GALILEO_BEIDOU_L1_L5) {

    Yeah, the problem is if you make the GPS constellation an option in your app config:

    - none of the newer values will work for any devices today

    - you don't have a good way of hiding inapplicable values (assuming your config is in "app settings" on the Connect IQ phone app and not on watch itself). You could hardcode available values based on devices (using jungles) but it's still possible that a device like Fenix 7 could be on old firmware which doesn't support the multiband and SatIQ constellations (in CIQ). So you would probably have to select a fallback constellation if they pick a new one which isn't supported in CIQ on their device

    If your GPS constellation config is only the watch itself, that approach would work perfectly tho. You could build the list of available options dynamically and display it in a menu.

  • over 2 years ago in reply to jim_m_58

    well clear as mud. videos not yet available. and i am not really eager to upgrade to system 6, just figure out what is going on with satellite use within an app.

    The latest production SDK is 4.1.5 and once you install it, the documentation does not mention all the satellite options at all.

    Does this mean these functions are not in the 4.1.5 SDK i have downloaded?

    If i look at the online docs, they talk about support in API 3.3.6.

    Did they just forget to update the docs for the 4.1.5 SDK download? Are they hidden in there?

    It seems to me that the ideal would be CONFIGURATION_SAT_IQ which automatically selects the best. I would hope that it might be the option used for apps that have not explicitly made a selection. Docs do not mention what default value is.

    Somewhere i read about being able to select satellite mode based on activity. But those are built in the watch i guess. when i set up ActivityRecording and choose sport/subsport - does the app inherit the settings user has made for that sport(activity?).

  • over 2 years ago in reply to OttawaDeveloper
    OttawaDeveloper said:

    Does this mean these functions are not in the 4.1.5 SDK i have downloaded?

    If i look at the online docs, they talk about support in API 3.3.6.

    Did they just forget to update the docs for the 4.1.5 SDK download? Are they hidden in there?

    TL;DR if Garmin says "since 3.3.6", they probably really mean "since 3.3.6 for CIQ 3 devices, and since 4.1.6 for CIQ 4 devices." So I'd expect to see this feature become available in SDK 4.1.6, for CIQ 3 devices with >= 3.3.6 firmware, and CIQ 4 devices with >= 4.1.6 firmware.

    As alluded to previously in the thread, ever since 3.3 and 4.1 ("System 5") came out for devices with 3.x and 4.x firmware respectively, Garmin has been adding features to *both* 3.x and 4.x firmware, in parallel. That's why they came out with the "System 5" (and System 6) branding.

    So:

    - We know that "System 5" refers to CIQ 3 devices which have 3.3 firmware and CIQ 4 devices which have 4.1 firmware (not because Garmin explicitly said so, but only because of the CIQ versions of the System 5 preview devices in the SDK)

    - We know for sure that 4.0 firmware does not have all features that 3.3 firmware has. (3.3 is System 5, 4.0 is not). If Garmin says that a certain feature exists "since 3.3", you can be 100% sure it's not in 4.0.

    - By the same reasoning/pattern, 4.1.5 firmware probably does not have all the same features that 3.3.6 has. (I'm guessing 4.1.6 is analogous to 3.3.6)

    - Similarly, the 4.1.5 SDK doesn't reference features which are gonna be available in 3.3.6 firmware. It's probably the case that 4.1.5 < 3.3.6, as far as 3.3.6 features go

    - 3.3.6 firmware has not been released yet, as far as I know. My 945 LTE was recently updated, and it's on CIQ 3.3.3. It's possible that 4.1.5 firmware hasn't been released either, although I don't think it would matter in this case.

    We know for sure that 3.3.* and 4.1.* are analogous (Garmin refers to both as "System 5" even if they don't make it clear.) Simiilarly, 3.4.* and 4.2.* will be "System 6". I'm guessing that 3.3.6 is also analogous to 4.1.6. IOW, if Garmin says "since 3.3.6", they probably really mean "since 3.3.6 for CIQ 3 devices, and since 4.1.6 for CIQ 4 devices."

    Long story short, now whenever Garmin says a feature exists "since 3.3" (for example), it's no longer a linear thing where 4.0 > 3.3 (for example.) As far as System 5 features go, actually, 4.0 < 3.3 in a sense. The same issue applies to "minApiLevel" in the manifest. You can't use it to include System 5 devices and only System 5 devices. The same would be true if you wanted to select devices that only have a "3.3.6" feature like this.

    It's a huge mess because it doesn't make sense to anyone (devs or users), and Garmin *never* explains it. You sort of have to read between the lines. It's only gonna get worse if and when CIQ 5 devices come out, and Garmin starts adding features to CIQ 3, 4 and 5 firmware.

    EDIT: Or maybe System 6 is actually CIQ >= 3.3.6 for CIQ 3 devices, and CIQ >= 4.2.0 for CIQ 4 devices. Who knows? Garmin never explicitly documents this stuff. I just know that System 6 is CIQ >= 4.2.0 for CIQ 4 devices, because of the firmware version in compiler.json for the System 6 preview devices. Unfortunately, there's no CIQ 3.x System 6 preview devices, so it's hard to say for sure what System 6 means for 3.x devices.

    Either way, all we need to know is that versions aren't "linear" anymore, as far as determining feature support goes. 4.0 is not > 3.3, as far as 3.3-specific features go.