Connect IQ App Development Discussion - Recent Threads

Can a 3rd-party app inject a structured workout into the native Workouts list?

mvicario — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 18:05:50 GMT

Hi there!.
We're building a training-planning platform and want to push structured workouts from our own server to our users' Garmin watches. Two questions:

1. Is there any supported way for a third-party Connect IQ app (or its iOS/Android companion app) to write a workout into the device's native Workouts list — the same list workouts land in when synced from Garmin Connect — so the athlete can select it like a normal Garmin workout and get Garmin's native run screen (segments, targets, auto-advance)?

2. Or is the only option to build our own custom Activity-type app with our own run UI, sending workout data to it via Communications messages, since PersistedContent.Workout and Activity.WorkoutStepInfo appear to be read-only for workouts already synced via Garmin Connect?

We've gone through the SDK docs and companion app SDK reference and can't find a documented path for #1 — want to confirm before we commit to building a full custom activity UI.

Thanks!

Garmin Connect IQ SDK keystore signing incompatibility

1325517 — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 16:43:41 GMT

I'm getting a keystore parsing error when trying to sign watch faces with monkeyc. The error DerInputStream.getLength(): lengthTag=109, too big appears even with JKS keystores created on Java 11. Is there a known fix for this, or specific Java/SDK versions known to work together on macOS?

SDK versions: 9.2.0 and 9.1.0
Java versions tested: 11, 17, 21, 26
Error: java.security.InvalidKeyException: DerInputStream.getLength(): lengthTag=109, too big
Keystore formats tried: JKS, PKCS12
Both keystores created with Java 11 and newer versions
Issue occurs with monkeyc compiler on macOS

Documentation says 'null' is allowed but throws error in VS Code?

dmbiggs — Sun, 30 Aug 2026 18:18:48 GMT

I'm just starting with Connect IQ development and have already bumped into an issue I don't understand.

I'm trying to get the battery status of a sensor (at this moment, any sensor). The Garmin docs says:

var batteryStatus = AntPlus.getBatteryStatus(null);  // Get the batteryStatus Enum value
                                                     // for a single component system.

In my code i have:

import Toybox.AntPlus;
...
var myDevice = new AntPlus.BikeSpeed(null);
var batteryStatus = myDevice.getBatteryStatus(null);

However, the second line gives an error:

Invalid 'Null' passed as parameter 1 of type '$.Toybox.Lang.Number'.

I realise that this is definitely a newbie question but I'm finding the whole entry into the SDK a bit baffling.

Custom complication published via updateComplication() from background service doesn't reach watch face until app is opened/closed

7390923 — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 14:01:58 GMT

Good day all

I have a watch-app type app (SDK 9.2.0, Instinct 3 AMOLED) that runs a ServiceDelegate background service every 30 minutes to fetch weather data and publish it as a custom complication (Complications.updateComplication(id, data)), declared via complications.xml with access="public".

What I'm seeing: overnight, the background service runs successfully — I've confirmed this by checking Application.Storage values (which the app's own foreground view reads independently), and they're correctly updated with fresh data. However, the watch face consuming the complication continues to display stale data from the previous update, sometimes for hours and well past when I can confirm the background fetch succeeded.

The interesting part: if I open the app itself, its own screen immediately shows the correct, fresh data (since it reads directly from Storage, not from the complication). It's only after I exit the app that the watch face's complication updates to the correct values — even though my code doesn't call updateComplication() on app startup or on exit; the only place it's called is inside onBackgroundData(), which already ran successfully hours earlier.

This strongly suggests updateComplication() calls made during genuine background execution are received/queued by the system but not reliably flushed to consuming watch faces until the publishing app has a foreground session — at which point something in that lifecycle transition triggers the actual sync.

Relevant code (simplified):

monkeyc
(:background)
function onBackgroundData(data) {
// ... merge logic, Storage.setValue(...) ...
try {
Complications.updateComplication(0, { :value => displayString, :shortLabel => "H/L" });
} catch (ex) {
System.println("Complication update error: " + ex.getErrorMessage());
}
}

No exception is ever thrown from this call.

Questions:

Is there a known/expected delay or additional sync step required for complications published from true background execution to actually reach subscribing watch faces?

Is there an API to explicitly force a complication sync/flush, similar to ComplicationDataSourceUpdateRequester on other platforms?

Regards

Approved version visible in developer dashboard, but Connect IQ mobile store still shows old version

4617860 — Sat, 29 Aug 2026 09:10:04 GMT

Hi Garmin Connect IQ team,

My app “Atlas Rhythm” has a newer version approved and visible in the developer dashboard, but the public Connect IQ mobile store is still showing an older version.

In the developer dashboard, the app shows:

App: Atlas Rhythm
Version: 1.0.5 (Internal: 9)
Latest Release: August 29, 2026

However, in the Connect IQ mobile app store, the same app still shows:

Latest Version: 1.0.3
Update Date: August 25, 2026
What’s New: Initial release

This does not seem to be only a normal delay, because version 1.0.4 had already been approved for about a week, but the public mobile store still stayed on 1.0.3. Now version 1.0.5 is also approved in the dashboard, but the mobile store still has not updated.

Could someone from Garmin help check whether the approved release has been correctly synced/published to the public Connect IQ store?

App name: Atlas Rhythm
App UUID: AD9DCDA5-CA91-4145-ABE3-CB1BCFCE946C

I can provide screenshots of both the developer dashboard and the mobile store page.

Fenix 9 Sim: Position.hasConfigurationSupport returns false

scotts — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 06:55:08 GMT

Has anyone else noticed that Position.hasConfigurationSupport always returns false for Fenix 9 series in the simulator?

GPS Polling Rate

dustinsterk — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 02:34:05 GMT

Hello,

I am the developer of HotLap, and am very interested in the ability to change the GPS rate from the default 1Hz to 5Hz or greater. It sounds like this is already a firmware capability for the default Downhill biking/skiing/snowboarding activity (which bumps it to 5Hz) for the Fenix 8 and other models, but there is no way to use/set the rate from the API that I have found. Does anyone have any information or know of ways take advantage of the higher sampling rate as my app can dramatically benefit from these higher sampling rates for Motorsport use (at high speeds in cars/on track, etc).

Thanks in advance.

Watch face in sleep mode not off

stanspang — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 10:35:08 GMT

Hi,

After the last Beta update something changed.

When the watch is set to sleep in focus mode and the screen is set to off, the screen stays on when it switches to AOD.

With the 17.38 the screen would turn off completely. Now it switches off only in focus mode.

I think that in sleep mode the screen should switch off to prevent a disturbing light during the night.

Am I missing a setting off can this be fixed?

(I tried different watch faces, they all have this issue)

Is there a way to reset the monkey c language server?

Seb. — Tue, 25 Aug 2026 21:37:32 GMT

I have a problem that the language server decided that a file in my program is lowercase. I am not able to reset it or delete the cache so It wil get the correct file.

Natural Short Sleep

4392928 — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 11:57:04 GMT

For the few of us that are natural short sleepers that need 3.5-6.5 hours of sleep, any way to add a setting to the sleep tracking to give better sleep scores? Thanks

On web page "Getting Started with Connect IQ BLE Development" - some links are unavailable

Ladislav Török — Tue, 18 Aug 2026 15:01:58 GMT

On web page Getting Started with Connect IQ BLE Development with this URL https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/core-topics/bluetooth-low-energy/ are some links unavailable.

For example:

Please You, check and edit. Thanks.

Inconsistent handling of JSON string responses in makeWebrequest

Fsallstrom — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 15:20:37 GMT

Connect IQ’s makeWebRequest does not accept valid top-level JSON string responses when HTTP_RESPONSE_CONTENT_TYPE_JSON is used. The bug is documented here:

A possible workaround is to set RESPONSE_TYPE to plain text. This works on some devices, but many return HTTP error -400 when the response’s Content-Type header does not match the requested type, making the workaround unreliable.

I need to determine which devices and Connect IQ versions can accept a JSON response when PLAIN_TEXT is specified. Unfortunately, the simulator always accepts this combination, while physical devices may return -400. This makes it difficult to test compatibility and define which Connect IQ versions the app can support.

Has anyone found a reliable way to identify compatible devices or versions, detect this behavior at runtime, or implement an effective fallback?

The Garmin Connect IQ team has not yet addressed the reported bug, so I’m looking for a practical workaround.

Thanks! /Fredrik

Three Connect IQ things that each cost me days: swipe handling, request serialization, and simulator-only success

1402753 — Sat, 15 Aug 2026 18:58:35 GMT

I've just finished a Connect IQ companion for an Android training app, and I want to write down three things I lost days to, because I couldn't find any of them stated plainly while I was searching.

1. BehaviorDelegate's page behaviors also fire for swipes — and they fire first.

If you extend BehaviorDelegate and implement onPreviousPage/onNextPage, a swipe up arrives as onNextPage before your onSwipe ever runs. If you're using up/down to increment a value, the result reads as inverted, and no amount of staring at onSwipe explains it — because onSwipe isn't what handled the gesture.

What worked: don't implement the page behaviors at all. Take raw onKeyPressed for the physical buttons and onSwipe for the gesture, and return true from both.

class PairDelegate extends WatchUi.BehaviorDelegate {
    // Raw key events, not onPreviousPage/onNextPage — page behaviors also
    // fire for swipes (swipe UP = onNextPage) and would invert them.
    function onKeyPressed(evt) {
        var k = evt.getKey();
        if (k == WatchUi.KEY_UP)   { _view.changeDigit(1);  return true; }
        if (k == WatchUi.KEY_DOWN) { _view.changeDigit(-1); return true; }
        return false;
    }

    function onSwipe(evt) {
        var dir = evt.getDirection();
        if (dir == WatchUi.SWIPE_UP)   { _view.changeDigit(1);  return true; }
        if (dir == WatchUi.SWIPE_DOWN) { _view.changeDigit(-1); return true; }
        return false;
    }
}

2. makeWebRequest has to be serialized by you.

Firing a second request before the first one's callback returns works in the simulator and fails on a real device. There's no queue underneath it. I ended up chaining every request through its callback — request N+1 is issued from N's response handler. Unglamorous, and it's the only thing that's been reliable.

3. The simulator is much more forgiving than the watch.

Which is really the general form of (2). Anything touching network, storage, or the activity lifecycle should be believed only after it runs on hardware. Related and still unexplained on my side: on a Fenix 7 I had to flip the swipe direction I got back to make it match what my finger did. I'd welcome an explanation — but if gestures feel backwards on one model and correct on another, that's a real thing, and worth testing per device family rather than assuming.

For context, the app is offline-first, pairs with a phone app as an equal peer rather than a slave display, and builds for 41 devices from one manifest (Fenix 6/7/8, Epix, Enduro, MARQ, Forerunner). Happy to go into any of it in more detail.

Copyright question

7257317 — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 20:31:05 GMT

Long story short, I hate the timer function on the Vivoactive 5 and want to build an app that will mimic the interface of the one on the 4. I’m not familiar with Monkey C and have only a rudimentary knowledge of Python, so I want to hire a freelancer to do it for me. Someone is telling me this will be a violation of Garmin’s copyright policies if I post it to the store, which is the only way I know of to put it on my watch. I read through Garmin’s policies and can’t figure out what the guy is talking about. Can someone shed light on whether or not this would violate copyright policies? I’m not looking to sell the app if that’s the issue, but I’m not against it, either.

How to resolve "Developer account has been denied"

6420356 — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 12:55:22 GMT

I tried verifying my identity 3 times and all 3 times it failed with no reason. now my account has been suspended and my application removed. I got this message with the error "The information that you provided could not be verified, and your developer account will be closed in 30 days if you fail to verify your identity. If you feel like you have received this message in error, you can appeal this decision by emailing ConnectIQAppAdmin@garmin.com."

but surely i cant wait 90 days for a response. any ideas how to get this resolved quicker?

Garmin Connect IQ widget (Epix Pro Gen 2) controlling DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro over BLE

8916892 — Thu, 13 Aug 2026 09:36:06 GMT

Hi,

Setup: Garmin Connect IQ widget (Epix Pro Gen 2) controlling DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro over BLE (FFF0 / FFF4 notify / FFF5 write).
Works: DUML pairing (0x55, SetPairingPIN) — camera shows code, Confirm, stable connection.
Doesn’t work: Start/stop recording. After connect the camera only sends DUML; R SDK frames (0xAA, Connection Request 0x0019, Key Report 0x0011, Record Control 0x1D03) get no 0xAA response and recording never starts.
Known working: Bitsky (CIQ) and STARTRC ST012 use the official DJI R SDK / GPS remote flow.
Questions:

On CIQ, is control pure R SDK, pure DUML, or DUML pair + R SDK commands?
How do you send the ~51-byte 0x0019 Connection Request with CIQ’s ~20-byte write limit so the camera shows the verify code?
Exact sequence that starts video on Action 5 Pro after pair (0011 and/or 1D03? status subscribe first?)?
Anyone have a BLE hex log (Bitsky/ST012) of pair + one Record press?

Goal: Either a working R SDK pair on CIQ, or the correct DUML command to start recording after DUML pair.

Thank you!

How to format floating number values for Garmin Connect statistics properly?

CYBERMAN54 — Wed, 12 Aug 2026 12:59:44 GMT

I have a datafield that generates a fit session value. Purpose is to display the value in garmin connect in the "statistics" tab:

FitContributor.DATA_TYPE_FLOAT,

{

:mesgType => FitContributor.MESG_TYPE_SESSION,

:units => WatchUi.loadResource($.Rez.Strings.ActivityEnergyLabel) as String

}

In ressources.xml i have this:

It works, value and unit are shown. But sometimes i see bad formatting:

a) 0,1 is displayed as ,1 -> missing leading zero

b) Floats are sometimes displayed like 0,1344634412 -> to many digits

How to control the field format in garmin connect?

EGym

chashob — Tue, 11 Aug 2026 17:17:16 GMT

Hi as EGym equipment is becoming more common place in gyms, are there any plans to add the equipment to the exercise options on the strength training section

Tinymetrix, install/crash analytics for Connect IQ apps (client SDK now open source)

testica — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 17:43:18 GMT

The problem I kept hitting as a Garmin dev: once an app ships, you're mostly flying blind. The store page gives you a rounded install count and nothing else, no breakdown by device, version or country, no idea if a firmware update broke something for one watch model. Garmin does have ERA for crash reporting, but it's coarse, you get a ciq_log file per crash with no easy way to correlate it with your own app state, no aggregation across users, and no visibility into installs or usage at all. iOS and Android devs have had Firebase and App Store Connect for over a decade. We've mostly just gotten used to not having anything close to that.

So I built Tinymetrix. It's a small SDK (a Connect IQ barrel) you add to your project that tracks installs, active devices, breakdown by device/version/country, and logs crashes and errors with your own context attached, custom events, user properties, whatever you want tagged onto an error before it happens, not just a raw stack trace after the fact. Metrics get sent to Tinymetrix's backend, and you view them in a dashboard once you sign up and register your app there.

Integration, roughly:

1. Create an account on tinymetrix.com and register your app to get a token.

2. Download the barrel and add it as a dependency in your jungle file.

3. Initialize it in your app's entry point with that token, and optionally call logInfo/logError/track wherever you want extra visibility.

The part I take most seriously is the size cost, since I know background memory is tight on older devices. Current measured overhead is roughly 10 to 13 KB depending on how old/constrained the device is, measured per device rather than guessed. Happy to share the numbers for specific devices if anyone wants to check before adding it.

The client SDK, the actual barrel that runs inside your app, is open source: github.com/tinymetrix/client (Apache 2.0). If you want to take a look at the code, report an issue, or contribute, it's all there. Two example apps in there too (a watch face and a widget) if you'd rather see it wired up than read through the whole thing.

There's a free plan and it's meant to stay genuinely usable, not a crippled trial, the goal is every Garmin dev having a real baseline of analytics to improve their apps, not just the ones who can pay. Running the backend costs money though, so extra features and longer data retention are what's paid, not the basics.

Installs and crashes solve the visibility problem, but they're not the only thing missing here. No easy way to sell anything in-app, no way to see how your app is actually doing in the store over time beyond a snapshot, no way to fix a bad default without a full review cycle. I have loose ideas about some of that, nothing built yet, curious if any of it would actually be useful to you, or if the real gap for you is something else entirely.

Genuinely want feedback on this, and to hear what problems you're running into that this doesn't solve, that's what actually shapes what gets built next. And if cost ends up being the reason you don't try it, say so, I'd rather sort you out a code than have that be the blocker.

What's the thing that would actually stop you from adding something like this to your app? That kind of pushback is more useful to me than anything else in this post, so tell me if I'm wrong about parts of this too.

Hike recorded by app has shorter distance than actual

flocsy🤠 — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 12:59:39 GMT

Recently I started to get reports about the Hiker App recording shorter distance than the actual. Finally I could communicate with a user who experienced this on their Vivoactive 5 and they sent me the link to their activity. The records shows distance as 5.1miles while the user claims it was 6.67miles. Looking at it on the Garmin Connect website this is what I see:

1. When looking at the graphs and the map "by Time" they all look right *. The map has a round route, and the elevation climbs up then back to the same elevation where it started, etc.

2. When I switch to "by DIstance", then the graphs get "cropped". When I follow them and look at the map I can see the pointer on the map going on the path, and then stops in the middle. All the graphs (HR, pace, cadence, etc) are the same.

*) So all the graphs in the "by Time" view have 2 hours 30 minutes "width", the only interesting thing I can see when looking "by Time" is that around the same point where the graphs end in the "by Distance" view, the graphs on the "by Time" view are a bit unstable. There's a 12 minute section where the pace has some gaps, the cadence has some more dots above and under the "average". I can even see from the "GPS accuracy" graph that the accuracy was 4 for the whole 2:30, even during those 12 minutes.

So it looks like the watch did record the data, even the GPS coordinates look correct, it's on the path, the sensors did record data for most of the 2h30m (the last half an hour was totally normal on all of them) but somehow the distance reported by the watch misses the last ~40 minutes.

My app does have experimental "auto pause", but it's disabled for this user, and even if that would kick in it would have a similar effect on the recorded data as stopping the activity, and then 12 minutes later resuming it (it uses session.stop(), session.start()), so I rule that or any related possible bug out because if that would happen then we wouldn't see the graphs during the "paused" period.

Did anyone ever got similar reports? Any idea if this can be somehow fixed by me?

All I can think is that there might be some Garmin bug, as my app doesn't have anything to do with the distance calculation, recording, it's all being done by the watch.

How to param connectIq on smartphone

Baptou_250 — Sun, 09 Aug 2026 10:39:59 GMT

Hello Everyone

from a couple of week, I developp my own ConnectIq App intended for my old Fenix 5.

I would like Know How I can param my app from my smartphone

I have build the ApplicationStorage sample but I havent the button "Parameters" on my smartphone

Anyone can help me ?

Has anyone been able to map strength exercises to Garmin Connect?

jpcams — Sat, 08 Aug 2026 15:45:02 GMT

We’re in the process of building a strength training coach. We’ve managed to sync a workout to the watch and’s the activity as a strength training activity in Connect. But we have not been able to get the exercises, sets & reps along with set times into Garmin. We push the data but it comes up blank.

Heart rate and other stuff appear but come across as 1 exercise only. When there could be 4+ exercises in someone’s routine.

I’m curious if anyone has any experience and what the outcome was if you were successful.

cheers!

Face It – option to hide data field icons

4487734 — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 16:28:07 GMT

Add an option to hide the icon/symbol displayed next to data fields such as temperature, battery, steps, etc., while keeping the actual value visible.

This would allow users to create much cleaner and more minimalist watch faces.

Connect Developer Program — what should a solo developer do while applications are paused?

5953788 — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 02:41:45 GMT

The Connect Developer Program access form has been removed, and a team member wrote here that new API access requests are paused with no projected reopening date:

https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/f/discussion/434761/apply-for-connect-developer-program-access-request-form-down

I build debrief (debrief.fit), an AI training-analysis app for runners. I want one-way Activity API sync: FIT files, each athlete's own data, nothing else.

Three questions:

1. Is there a queue or waitlist a developer can join?

2. Is there another application channel while the form is down?

3. When the program reopens, will it be announced anywhere besides developer.garmin.com?

There's no public forum for the program itself, so I'm asking here.

Sub Second Flashing Graphic

DaveBrillhart — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 15:09:16 GMT

Is there a clever way to flash someone on screen in a datafield for less than a second. Say 300ms or so? onUpdate() fires approx once a second. But maybe some kind of animated GIF that is rendered once a second but only displays for a fraction of a second? I doubt that'll work. But there might be a way.