glance without widget

All CIQ 4+ devices have dropped support for the CIQ app type of widget. This includes all devices which are currently supported with feature firmware updates and monetization. Instead, the widget functionality has been merged with the existing watch-app / device app app type.

End users can see this from the fact that if they open the CIQ phone app and click on the search field, the available app types to filter by do not include Widget, if they've selected a newer a device. If they select an older device, the app types do include Widget.

The way it works on CIQ 4+ devices is:

- Any app with a type of widget in manifest.xml is actually compiled as "watch-app" (device app) instead. (You can see this by looking in the .IQ file that's generated when you export your project - it's really just a ZIP file with a bunch of PRGs and manifest files - one set for every part number.)

- Any device app can provide a glance view, in addition to being available from the app/activity launcher. To do so, simply implement getGlanceView(). NOTE: older CIQ 3 devices which supported glances but still had a widget app type would provide a default glance view for widgets that do not implement getGlanceView(). If such an app is ported to a CIQ 4+ device without implementing getGlanceView, it will lack a glance view. This is a problem for certain older widgets which need to function with "widget-like" properties, such as the ability to be launched while an activity is running. Unfortunately, irl a few older widgets have been ported this way, leading to complaints that they're no longer useful on new devices

- If a user launches your device app via the glance, it gains widget-like properties, such as the inability to record an activity, and the fact that it will time out and exit after a period of user inactivity

- There's no way to implement an app available as a glance but not from the app/activity launcher

zmullett said:

A user is scrolling through the glance views, and then... can they select one? And then what happens?

Just as with older devices that support glances, a CIQ app with a glance loads the smaller part of itself that supports the glance view (returned by getGlanceView) when the glance in question becomes visible (i.e. due to user scrolling). When the user "selects" the glance (by tapping on it or pressing START), then the full app is loaded and the primary view (returned by getInitialView) is displayed.

Thanks for this explanation.

flowstate said:

Unfortunately, irl a few older widgets have been ported this way, leading to complaints that they're no longer useful on new devices

Hmm right. I encountered some of your commentary on that earlier: https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/f/discussion/245387/super-apps-and-widgets-in-ciq-4-0/1843614

There are two exceptional devices that are CIQ 4+ and the compiler.json indicates they support both widget and watchApp types; etrextouch and gpsmaph1. In both cases they don't support glance. Are these erroneous inclusions of "widget" into "appTypes"? Or is there some special interpretation of "widget" on these devices? Or is it as you say that the app is launched in *widget* mode on these devices and is subject to timeout and inability to record activities?

Sorry instead of "CIQ 4+ device" above I should've have written "CIQ 4+ watch". (I actually had that in an earlier edit.)

I don't know as much about the situation for Edge and handheld mapping devices like the two devices you mentioned.

I do know that more recently, Edge has done something similar for CIQ widgets - moved them to "glances" instead. (The big difference is Edges still have separate concepts of widgets and glances - widgets seem to be mostly settings-related, while native glances offer a quick way to look at training-related data.)

> etrextouch and gpsmaph1

I would guess that those devices don't have the concept of glances at all (like most Edges until recently).

EDIT: the concept of the glance/widget loop - where you normally start at the watch face (which serves as a "home screen"), and you scroll up or down to see all your glances/widgets - is usually discussed in reference to Garmin watches. For other Garmin devices (Edges and handheld mapping devices) you don't necessarily access the widgets by simply swiping up or down from the home page.

For example, according to the Edge 530 manual, to access widgets (including CIQ widgets):

- From the home screen, press the up button to access the status screen

- Select widgets (now you can press the up and down buttons to scroll through the widgets)

From this we can already see that widgets on an Edge 530 (an older Edge) are not nearly as conveniently accessible as they are on a watch.

Then again, Edge 1050 is much newer and this is one of the Edges which now has CIQ glances instead of CIQ widgets (there is still a separate concept of built-in widgets tho). For Edge 1050, you simply swipe up from the home screen to access glances. So in this case, Edge glances are pretty similar to Garmin watch glances.