Smart Bike Lights (Data Field) / Bike Lights Control (Widget)

I've made two open source CIQ applications to control ANT+ lights:

- Smart Bike Lights (data field): https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/0d9fd828-c932-4470-9c37-fd2828881888

Configurator: https://maca88.github.io/SmartBikeLights/

- Bike Lights Control (widget): https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/fa3c2332-76e3-4ba1-8528-32a0fd617ab1

Configurator: https://maca88.github.io/BikeLightsControl/

Smart Bike Lights features:
- Automatic light control (Smart mode) based on the configured filters (sunset, sunlight, speed, ...)
- Manual light control (only for Edge devices with a touch screen or devices with CIQ 3.2 and more than 32KB memory)
- Records lights modes that are displayed in Garmin Connect

Bike Lights Control features:
- Manual light control (available to all devices)

Both applications can be installed on the same device, which can be useful for low end devices (e.g. Edge 520) where "Bike Lights Control" can be used to change light modes manually and "Smart Bike Lights" for automatic light control.

Currently registered ANT+ lights:
- Bontrager Ion Pro RT
- Bontrager Ion 200 RT
- Bontrager Flare RT
- Garmin Varia RTL500
- Garmin Varia RTL510
- Garmin Varia RTL515
- Garmin Varia HL500
- Garmin Varia UT800

in case your ANT+ light is not on the list you can help by doing the following:

1. Install Bike Lights Control
2. Pair your bike light with your Garmin device
3. Open the widget:
- Edge with a touch screen: post which numbers are displayed on the buttons and what mode each button represents when pressed
- Other devices: Select the "Light modes" menu and post which numbers are displayed in the menu and what mode each menu item represents when selected

Example for Bontrager Ion Pro RT:

1 -> High steady beam
2 -> Medium steady beam
5 -> Low steady beam
63 -> Day flash
62 -> Night flash

There are some features that could be possible to add in the future, but would require Garmin to add them to the CIQ api. In case you are interested in any of the below features, consider upvoting their feature request thread:

1. Control lights based on the ambient light sensor available on some devices:
https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/i/bug-reports/ambient-light-sensor-api-access

Known issues:

1. Unable to use Tempe Visualizer or TyreWiz Data Field alongside Smart Bike Lights:
https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/i/bug-reports/lightnetworklistener-onbikelightupdate-not-called-when-certain-data-fields-are-installed

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_slash_ 4 days ago in reply to maca88

Thanks for the explanation — that makes perfect sense.

Regarding the workaround you mentioned (tracking the current mode internally instead of relying on the broadcasted one):
I completely understand the risk of the internal state getting out of sync with the real mode.
But in this specific case, I think that would still be much better than the current behavior.

For the FR300, the light never confirms mode changes anyway, so Smart Bike Lights essentially has no reliable state to work with.
If the app simply assumed:

“whenever I send a mode change, the light applies it”

…that would already be more functional than the default ANT+ approach, and the occasional desynchronization wouldn’t be a big issue.
Especially because the user typically changes modes manually through the app, not through the button.

If you ever decide to create a side version / experimental build with this internal-state workaround, I’m absolutely willing to test it and provide feedback.
Given how many limitations the FR300 has, even a partially-working solution would be a huge improvement.

Let me know if that’s something you’d consider — I’d be happy to help with testing.

Badgerman 3 days ago

Just moved from 530 to 1040, is the best way to move between configs of lights the triple tap of the off button? No other quicker way to add a button for config primary, secondary etc? Thanks

tjj1664 2 days ago in reply to maca88

Hello

For some reason, my Edge 1050 cannot update to the latest version; it remains stuck at version 0.27.1. Removing and reinstalling it doesn't help, and Garmin Express doesn't provide any update notifications.

3181690 2 hours ago

Hello,

I was using the app on the Garmin 830 with the Garmin Varia 515 and it worked great. But now i have a Garmin 840 and I can't get it to work properly with the configurator. I would like the light to be off by default, but when a car comes within 300m, it will flash (dayflash) and then go back to off.

When I test the light at home in the evening, it works fine, but when I cycle during the day, it defaults to solid, and when I'm driving, it flashes and then goes back to solid. So apparently, it behaves differently outdoors during a ride than it does at home in the evening for testing.

Thank you in advance for your help