Next-Gen Garmin Apps by FeliXGear – Context-Aware, Sensor-Driven Innovation

Hello fellow developers and Garmin users,

I’d like to introduce a suite of advanced Garmin apps I’ve developed under the FeliXGear name — all focused on real-time health and environmental awareness, built on a scalable, scenario-based engine. Each app is optimized for low-memory, sensor-rich Garmin devices and designed to deliver accurate, contextual insights where it matters most.

Highlights from the FeliXGear Ecosystem

CoreTemp
Estimates core body temperature using heart rate and skin temperature sensor fusion. The algorithm is under patent protection, and it includes features like dynamic calibration, skin correction, and exertion-based intervals. It is the first of its kind on Garmin – a true innovation in temperature tracking.

ContextAI
The first AI-integrated Garmin app – available since spring 2024, ahead of any comparable offering. It monitors heart rate, HRV, recovery, stress, and sleep, generating personalized, real-time alerts and health summaries using trend-based logic.

MagniGuard
Monitors magnetic interference, industrial exposure, and hidden metallic objects with precision detection. Includes baseline calibration and warning modes for anomalies in the magnetic field.

HydroDepth
Accurate water depth measurement using pressure sensor data – with centimeter-level precision. Ideal for swimmers, divers, and water-based training.

SpeedZone
Displays current speed limit zones live from OpenStreetMap data. Alerts on zone transitions and speeding, with offline cache for continuity in remote areas.

Unique to FeliXGear – Firsts on the Garmin Platform

Unified Subscription System – one subscription unlocks all current and future premium tools
Central Notification System – daily or trigger-based server messages, even when the app is not open
Export-to-Email with Scenario Conversion – server-side JSON export with scenario naming
DataFields with unmatched precision and feature depth – not just visuals, but purpose-built algorithms

These are solutions not even the biggest names on the platform have delivered. Everything here is crafted from scratch — tested, optimized, and battle-proven in real-world scenarios.

Sunset Notice

Smart Lifestyle Monitor, the first app in this lineup, is being phased out. Its features have now been fully split and reimagined across modular, more focused apps like CoreTemp and ContextAI for better performance and personalization.

I welcome any creative idea – if it fits the Garmin platform, I’ll build it.

Visit https://felixgear.net to learn more, subscribe, and see what’s coming next.

I strive to release something new, something exciting, something unique every month – something that can benefit anyone.

Thank you for supporting independent innovation on Garmin.

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9321273 3 days ago

The subscription system is super interesting. How is it possible that it is shared across different apps? You use GPS to find the user's location and unlock other apps via internet? That's really smart but also seems like a real headache to program!

FeliXGear 3 days ago in reply to 9321273

Great observation – and you're right, it was a huge challenge!

The key to making the subscription work across all my Garmin apps lies in a deterministic device identifier – a unique 64-character hash that's generated locally from a carefully chosen set of parameters that are consistently accessible across all apps.

It doesn’t use GPS or any online identity – instead, it's based on hardware- and profile-level values that remain stable under normal conditions.

What makes it even more robust is that:

The Donor ID is stored locally during the first activation

If the device hash ever changes (e.g. after changed system settings or OS update), the first app the user opens will automatically re-link to the subscription on the server

No need to manually reconnect in most cases anymore

This system makes each app autonomous, yet they all share the same activation backbone – with privacy, efficiency, and reliability in mind.

I had to design it from scratch because there was nothing like this on the Garmin platform before. But once it worked... it unlocked a whole new level of integration.

Thanks again for the kind feedback – more surprises coming soon!

9321273 3 days ago in reply to FeliXGear

Ahh, so you essentially created something like the identifier Garmin provides. But while theirs differs across apps, yours is the same, that's excellent!

In my own app, I am planning to eventually introduce a system by which users get a unique identifier from my website and enter it into each app separately (I am not planning more than 3 data fields for the full suite). The device then communicates with the website to check if the user is still subscribed. Currently, users have to look up a device id, enter it on the website, obtain a key and enter it on the device. That's cumbersome but for now the best I can do.

FeliXGear 3 days ago in reply to 9321273

That sounds like a solid plan – and honestly, your setup is already ahead of what many apps do.

I definitely know the pain of users having to manually enter device IDs and keys – that's what pushed me to rethink everything. I wanted something completely transparent to the user, yet still secure and scalable across apps.

The breakthrough was realizing that Garmin devices expose just enough stable parameters to construct a shared identity locally, without any user input.
Once that was in place, I added logic to automatically reconnect when changes occur. That part really made the difference.

Your current direction is very structured and makes sense — especially with just a few DataFields. There’s always a trade-off between simplicity and seamlessness.

And if you're ever interested in building something closer to what I’ve done, or want to explore that direction, I’d be happy to help or share some ideas.

I really appreciate these kinds of developer-to-developer discussions!