Possible to display a Timer data field on watch face?

No, unfortunately not, as Connect IQ apps don't have access to the built-in timer or stopwatch.

The only way would be if Garmin added this feature to their native watchfaces.

Thanks for your reply. That's too bad. That's like, the one thing I actually use every single day on my smartwatch, for all sorts of reasons (cooking mainly).

Do you know of a place to submit a feature request? This seems like a very achievable feature.

I'm realizing now that the Data Sources that the stock watch faces have access to is unrelated to custom watch faces.

Even a stock watch face with this data source would be fine with me. When I said "achievable" I was talking about surfacing it as a stock Garmin data source.

5673202 said:

I'm realizing now that the Data Sources that the stock watch faces have access to is unrelated to custom watch faces.

Yeah, sorry I didn't make that clear. Connect IQ (3rd party/custom) apps are very limited compared to built-in stuff on the watch.

Try submitting an idea here:

[https://www.garmin.com/en-US/forms/ideas/]

No, you're good! Thanks for your helpful response. I was curious about maybe buying a Fenix and getting familiar with the SDK but actually this has tempered my interest somewhat as trivial as it sounds.

Thanks for the link, I think I will submit something.

5673202 said:

I was curious about maybe buying a Fenix and getting familiar with the SDK but actually this has tempered my interest somewhat as trivial as it sounds.

Yeah, I get it tbh. CIQ has a lot of limitations (and a lot of bugs). There's some nice watchfaces and widgets, and a lot of killer apps that were especially great for older watches (DWMap, Dozen Run), but as a hobbyist dev I got pretty frustrated with all the limitations and issues in the ecosystem. I did end up making one app that I use every day, but I wouldn't call it essential or anything.

To be fair, CIQ has improved a lot in the past few years and it is getting better. Unfortunately with each new version, there's new bugs.

That's too bad. I was actually considering this path due to encountering limitations and bugs with the Apple Watch, lol. Not to mention the battery life differences. I think I might still check it out just because I'm interested in something with longer battery life and I might just accept the need to stick to stock functionality (of which there is a lot to be fair). I feel like Garmin would do well to consolidate their smartwatch efforts to share a core OS between the Fenix / Forerunner series - my impression is that it is a bit fractured right now, with things having different functionality despite sharing some superficial similarities. But they might not ultimately think of the products as having a rich developer ecosystem.

I like my Garmin watch because:

- it has buttons (hard to imagine Apple making a watch with 5 buttons.)
I see all the limitations in apple stuff, like you can't take manual laps in the AW strava app or you have to press both the button and the digital crown to start/stop an activity in some apps, since AW apps can't respond to a single button press.)

(I've tried a Garmin touchscreen watch and it had so many issues, including accidental touch activations during the rain or due to a sleeve brushing the screen.. People still complain about stuff like this today)

Like I just need buttons to start/stop an activity and take manual laps lol, and Apple will never give me that. If I have to use a touchscreen to navigate pages, so be it, although I do run all year round and in the rain, so that's actually a problem, too.

It's like if Apple were to create an Xbox/PS5 competitor, but their controller was fully touch based with no physical buttons. As much as I actually like Apple for a few things, I would never buy it.

- it's running focused, so it has all the performance metrics I want (and more)

- it has all the features I want (and more) (yet so many bugs)

But tbh the only reason I bought a Garmin when I started running was because that's what everyone else was using. (I actually thought the very idea of GPS watches was wack when I started running.)

And today I see more and more people buying an Apple Watch, especially casual runners. (I mean a Garmin makes for a terrible smartwatch. I don't run with a phone, so it seems that if I wanted to be fully connected, I'd need to bring both an AW and a Garmin with me, which would be very expensive and kinda ridiculous.)

Other "serious" runners buy Coros because it's cheaper yet has all the features they want. And maybe they're tired of Garmin, idk.

I'm sticking with Garmin because it has the form factor I like along with the "ecosystem" (data) and features I want, even if the UX is not the greatest, to say the least. (This is such a common theme with Garmin that extends across the devices, the Garmin Connect website, the mobile apps, and even this forum.)

5673202 said:

I feel like Garmin would do well to consolidate their smartwatch efforts to share a core OS between the Fenix / Forerunner series - my impression is that it is a bit fractured right now, with things having different functionality despite sharing some superficial similarities.

They kinda do, as the Forerunner 935/945/945 LTE/955 have been very similar (not identical) to the corresponding Fenix devices released around the same time. AFAIK the similarities far outweigh the differences, for the most part.

Having said that, lots of ppl are complaining that they dislike the touchscreen implementation for the 955 compared to the Fenix 7, especially with regards to maps. It all goes back to UX and attention to detail, IMO.

Maps have issues in the 945 LTE, too.

5673202 said:

But they might not ultimately think of the products as having a rich developer ecosystem.

Well, FWIW it's better than all their other competitors in the *sportwatch* space (besides Apple/Android.) I don't think Polar, Suunto or Coros have 3rd party apps.

At least Garmin is trying, and I actually appreciated the ability to make somewhat useful apps (for me). I also appreciated some of the 3rd party that apps that made my older, entry level Forerunner so much more useful.

The Apple Watch is a really great product for someone who has absolutely no specific requests. If you're just a casual, average person who's just curious about smartwatches in general, that's who the Apple Watch is for. And that was me. But now I want to have something that I can take in some more demanding situations (multi day backpacking, open hikes that involve placing arbitrary GPS waypoints, long trips without charging, more advanced running metrics, ANT+ broadcast, outdoor visibility, and so on) and the AW doesn't really cut it. Plus I also think the LED flashlight on the 7X is so cool lol.

I forget the details but one of the YouTubers comparing the current crop showed that like for example, the compass behaves different and actually gives different results across models. You're right it's similar but it seems kinda clear that they're worked on separately, and then updated in an effort to get more consistent.

5673202 said:

The Apple Watch is a really great product for someone who has absolutely no specific requests. If you're just a casual, average person who's just curious about smartwatches in general, that's who the Apple Watch is for. And that was me. But now I want to have something that I can take in some more demanding situations (multi day backpacking, open hikes that involve placing arbitrary GPS waypoints, long trips without charging, more advanced running metrics, ANT+ broadcast, outdoor visibility, and so on) and the AW doesn't really cut it.

Yeah, I mean I tried to explain why Garmins are better (for me) to a casual normie runner who was training for his first marathon.

Me: "The display is readable outdoors"

Him: "Same with my AW"

Me: "The display never turns off"

Him: "My AW display turns on when I turn my wrist"

Me: "It has long battery life"

Him: "I just plug it in every night"

etc.

He just came away with the impression that I was some sort of elitist who looked down on him for not having a Garmin lol. (Like I thought that "real runners" need to use a Garmin haha.)

Also, a waitress at a bar once told me that my watch "doesn't look real" lmao. I assume she meant that the display looks like garbage. I mean to be fair it does look terrible indoors.

I mean I've tried to explain that Garmin vs. AW is like Kindle vs. iPad. No one would say the Kindle has a beautiful screen or that it's a good general-purpose tablet. But it's great for reading.

I just feel like for a lot of people, an Apple Watch is enough, just like a lot of people don't mind reading on their phone or tablet. The advantage of your phone, in this case, is that it's always with you and it can do lots of other stuff. Which is kinda of the same argument for the Apple Watch. If you want to be able to make calls and send texts, a Garmin isn't gonna cut it.

And I was looking at the Epix 2 at a race expo recently -- I have to admit the screen is beautiful. Even though I know that the battery life would be worse (especially with "always on display" enabled), and even though I heard that Garmin AMOLED screens have burn-in issues, it was hard to dispute that the screen just looks nicer.