Beginner, stuck after development of App

See the new developer FAQ:

https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/w/wiki/4/new-developer-faq#testing-purposes

You might know this, but it is often really helpful during development to create a LOG file on your device to capture console println output on the real device. It is also tricky to create using the (new for some devices) MTP mount method. What seems to work best for me is to create the empty LOG file on your computer and copy/paste it into the device's folder. The NAME of the PRG is also a pain, as it can change. But for device builds it is a little easier. If you know all this, great. If you have questions about how to do this, let us know.

Yes you can make a CIQ datafield that uses the whole screen. You will have to implement a "complex" data field, which handles drawing itself. Simple data fields just return a value (e.g. string or number) and the system takes care of the rendering. 

But typically [*] it's up to the user to add your data field to a page with a 1 field layout. The data field itself cannot enforce this.

This type of CIQ data field was so popular in the beginning that Garmin's support article for adding CIQ fields tells users to change the data page layout to 1 field, whether or not the CIQ field actually needs that.

[*] Current Garmin watches (like FR255 / FR955 / Fenix 7 and newer) have a new automatic set up process for CIQ data fields. After the user installs a data field from the store, the watch prompts them to select activities to add it to. For each of the selected activities, the watch automatically adds a new page with a 1-field layout and assigns your data field to it.

Some various kinds of CIQ data fields I've seen:

1) Optimized for smaller layout (if you use 1-field layout, it's not unusable, but the field doesn't use the whole screen) (most CIQ data fields - every "simple" data field is like this).

2) Only works properly with 1-field layout (if the user sets another layout, it just looks bad and is mostly unusable - most of the information is cut off) (e.g. Dozen Run)

3) Automatically adapts to 1-field layout or smaller layout (e.g. Stryd Zones)

To determine whether your complex data field is being displayed on a 1-field layout or not, you can look at the size of the data field DC in onUpdate - if it's the same as the device display, then the field must be in a 1-field layout.

BLACKEND said:

I read and old thread about not being able to see settings, if app was uploaded in developer/meta mode, is that still valid.

Yes settings should be available for apps uploaded to the Connect IQ store, including beta apps (provided the apps implement them, of course).

Do you see settings in the sim? File > Edit Persistent Storage > Edit Application.Properties Data

Also, I assume you are aware that settings defined this way (in resources) are "off-device" settings which are set in the Connect IQ phone app or Garmin Express.

If you are expecting to see settings on the watch, you need to implement your own UI and code for persisting data. For data fields and watch faces, the view which implements all of this should be returned by getSettingsView() in your app class. 

For device apps, you ofc can push any view you want (which can accept all kinds of input), so you can implement your own settings view that way. (e.g. if the user presses the menu shortcut, which is a long press of the UP button for 5-button watches, you could push your settings view then. Or your settings view could be triggered when the user selects an item in a menu.)