From One Platform to Another : Tales of a Pebble Refugee

Yes, it was a nice read. In particular, I liked this part:

While it’s too soon to tell, the team at Garmin seems responsive and willing to listen to issues and feature requests from both users and developers alike. The CIQ team are great listeners, and are willing to consider features that developers want no matter who proposes them. In many ways, this feels similar to the early days at Pebble. While there’s a smaller dev community, in general folks seem more willing to help out, and share their code & knowledge at the drop of a hat.

This seems very nice in theory, but in practice, I'm having the simple issue of not being able to connect to an iOS companion app, and nobody posted any hint in the thread on this forum: https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?368413-iOS-Companion-App I even wrote a direct message to some of the Garmin's team members, who are taking part in this forum, but no response from them either.

If there's another channel to get help from Garmin's team and the developers alike, what is it?

eir3apps: We monitor the forum, but we're not always able to respond to every thread. Aside from the forum, we have a general inbox at [email][email protected][/email] that the whole team checks. We typically use it when we need to work directly with a developer to sort out an issue (e.g. receive error logs, source code, etc.).

I'll review the other thread you linked above and follow up with you about it.

eir3apps: We monitor the forum, but we're not always able to respond to every thread. Aside from the forum, we have a general inbox at [email][email protected][/email] that the whole team checks. We typically use it when we need to work directly with a developer to sort out an issue (e.g. receive error logs, source code, etc.).

I'll review the other thread you linked above and follow up with you about it.

Thanks a lot for the tip, and for looking into my issue!

Oh, and two more things a Pebble "refugee" might find that Pebble provided and Garmin does not:

• iOS SDK with clear instructions how to build and submit to Apple's App Store. Not only does Pebble provide the detailed instructions and resources necessary to build an app acceptable to the App Store, but they also provide Photoshop templates for the image assets that would be required when submitting an app.
  
• No hardware needs to be provided to Apple, in order to have your iOS companion app for Pebble published on the App Store, it is sufficient to have your app whitelisted by Pebble. Unlike for Pebble, Apple requests developers to provide Garmin hardware to Apple, in order for them to be able to test and review the submitted app, before it is allowed to be included in the App Store.
  

Unlike for Pebble, Apple requests developers to provide Garmin hardware to Apple, in order for them to be able to test and review the submitted app,

I'm not sure that it is something “Pebble provided and Garmin does not”, though. If Garmin offers hardware to reviewers such as DCRainmaker (who apparently makes it his personal policy to return the offered gear after testing it, not that Garmin requires or requested it), then I'd hazard a guess Garmin also has no issue with giving Apple one or more test units. However, Garmin doesn't control Apple's policies or how Apple distributes test units it receives from the manufacturer.

The user/developer experience is not the source of truth of what Garmin has or has not provided within its power directly to either Apple or to developers.

I'm not sure

True.

If Garmin offers hardware to reviewers such as DCRainmaker (who apparently makes it his personal policy to return the offered gear after testing it, not that Garmin requires or requested it), then I'd hazard a guess Garmin also has no issue with giving Apple one or more test units.

I guessed the same. We might want to guess again.

The user/developer experience is not the source of truth of what Garmin has or has not provided within its power directly to either Apple or to developers.

Wow, we're getting a bit philosophical here. I don't know what you think is the source of truth. Personally, I think it's Jesus Christ.

But, the end point is that when a Garmin developer tries to publish an iOS companion app (a scenario which is supported by Garmin, since they offer an iOS SDK), then that same developer has to provide Apple some Garmin hardware for them to test on!

A much smaller, and now not-existing company, such as Pebble, made sure that when developers for their smart wear decide to build an iOS companion app, they won't need to supply Pebble hardware to Apple.

It's not the source of the truth, but it is the developer experience which, presumably, companies such as Garmin want to make better. They published an SDK, tutorials, developer sites, this forum which they also monitor, etc. One thing that seems to be missing is the "publish for iOS" part.

I write this hoping for someone to prove me wrong. That's what I need.

Hi Brandon,

this is still an ongoing process, and I'm posting as things develop. The main thread for this issue is: https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?370322-Submitting-to-Apple-s-App-Store-pt-2-Hardware-needed!

I wrote to Apple, asking them to clarify if Garmin sends them the hardware or not, as I am not the hardware manufacturer myself.

I just got a response from Apple, they agreed that instead of sending hardware, I could send them a video demonstration of my app. This is great news for me :-)


P.S. If you're developing a companion app for iOS, you may want to check this thread as well: https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?369925-Unable-to-upload-a-Connect-IQ-companion-app-to-the-App-Store

• iOS SDK with clear instructions how to build and submit to Apple's App Store. Not only does Pebble provide the detailed instructions and resources necessary to build an app acceptable to the App Store, but they also provide Photoshop templates for the image assets that would be required when submitting an app.
  

I agree that we need to do better here.

When Connect IQ first made its debut, we expected a lot of developers would be interested in creating mobile companion apps, but we really weren't sure exactly what people would want to build. The majority seemed to focus on watch faces and data fields that didn't require mobile apps, and as a result, the mobile SDK silently languished on the periphery. However, the recent influx of Pebble developers (who have shown a particular interest in the mobile SDK and building companion apps) has forced us to shift some attention to the mobile SDK. I can't promise any great strides in the short term, but at least know that those of you interested in doing more mobile SDK work have been heard. We're open to ideas and suggestions, and will definitely help out anyone that's encountering trouble.

eir3apps, in particular, has run into a couple of issues recently and has done a lot of leg work to find solutions on their own. I understand how hurdles like this can be discouraging, especially if you're used to working with another ecosystem that was more polished in some areas than ours. That extra work is greatly appreciated, however. It contributes to the Connect IQ developer community in a big way, and helps us identify needed improvements to our tools and resources.