DataFields : 367 RunFields

Forgive if I am wrong, but I was under the impression it was known through limitations and information that there would be no way of making money by making and offering apps/datafields/watchfaces. As a customer of Garmin who has spent a fair amount of money to get a multifunctional watch, which would tap in to the connect iq system, i assumed that any addition taken from this platform would be for free.

There are no tools for developers to monetize their work for a reason....you are not supposed to. If you can not/do not want to develop without getting paid for the work you have put in, then I suggest you stop or do not even start. Asking for donations is fine, there might be people out there that will respond to that (I know I have done a few times) but you should not put a crippled version out there and expect pay. You have picked the wrong platform for that, and that was obvious from the start. Even leaving the working version as is, and develop a better/more elaborate version to get when donating would have been more satisfying.

Even though I was very pleased with both the runfield and bikefield datafields, I will be un-installing them for that reason.

Just my opinion.

I agree with this 100%. "Basic" version should be free. If there is added functionality, or a more elaborate version, then that may justify charging a separate price.

Apologies to the developer for my previous post.
I stand corrected, about Garmin not wanting developers to make money out of their skills. Then the only bugbear that is left for me is the way this is done. Like I said, would have preferred a "basic" full functional, and a "Premium" pay version.
Other then that, I must admit that the datafields themselves are very good! No complaints about that.

Hey guys,

Just to be clear, the lack of direct monetization on the ConnectIQ store in no way implies that Garmin doesn't want developers to be able to make money from their work. We have a section on our developer site that details some ways that ConnectIQ developers could monetize their efforts.

Whether an app is "worth paying for" is really up to the users of that app. Some like to call it the "invisible hand of the market".

That's great for apps - but a datafield by its very nature is going to working offline for most people - so there's no way to monetise that. I'm sure NIKEOW isn't planning to make pots of cash - but getting some remuneration for his effort is fair.

Perhaps that missing option for a pay version needs to be there? Because for a one-man band in-app purchase is going to be a hard thing to manage (economically).

Enough with the negativity

Well i have to be here again and say a big thanx to te dev for these apps.
ive been using run347 and bike since the beggining and i havent changed them for nothing else
after a very helpful and kind email conversation i donated and he wrote for me a special trail run data field
i cant believe ppl wearing a 500+$ watch cannot donate 5-6 $ to have a tool for their workouts.
im fed up to see some negative posts here or at the iq store. Well if someone wants these apps must say a thanx to the dev
Or you can say thanx to all the chinese watch faces garmin has been giving us since the beggining of this well advertised store.
Or should i mention the beer counter!!!!

give this man a thanx and if u can afford donate some beer just for his time!

he did the right thing with the time limit versions. He deserves some money , garmin doesnt do something , he has to be paid.
Donate and install or uninstall and have the dancing monkey on your watch.

Thanx Nikeow and keep up the good work . Your like a jewel in a garbage can in the iq store

That's great for apps - but a datafield by its very nature is going to working offline for most people - so there's no way to monetise that. I'm sure NIKEOW isn't planning to make pots of cash - but getting some remuneration for his effort is fair.

Perhaps that missing option for a pay version needs to be there? Because for a one-man band in-app purchase is going to be a hard thing to manage (economically).

We'd like to have more options for our developers in the store, but right now things are limited (especially for apps that are not connected). We will always continue to explore our options for expanding the capabilities of the store, but there is a large gap between the simple distribution service we have now and a full-blown marketplace. I don't know if direct monetization is something that we will be able to bring to the store some day or not. As the store grows, we will continue to try to make improvements in as many areas as possible.

Well i have to be here again and say a big thanx to te dev for these apps.
ive been using run347 and bike since the beggining and i havent changed them for nothing else
after a very helpful and kind email conversation i donated and he wrote for me a special trail run data field
i cant believe ppl wearing a 500+$ watch cannot donate 5-6 $ to have a tool for their workouts.
im fed up to see some negative posts here or at the iq store. Well if someone wants these apps must say a thanx to the dev
Or you can say thanx to all the chinese watch faces garmin has been giving us since the beggining of this well advertised store.
Or should i mention the beer counter!!!!

give this man a thanx and if u can afford donate some beer just for his time!

he did the right thing with the time limit versions. He deserves some money , garmin doesnt do something , he has to be paid.
Donate and install or uninstall and have the dancing monkey on your watch.

Thanx Nikeow and keep up the good work . Your like a jewel in a garbage can in the iq store

Things that ARE the issue:
- TRUST. REMOVING core functionality from an app with little to no notice, and only RESTORING it after payment to some shady email and shady account. This is really a sad, cheesy move. How fed up you be if, after months of using it, your word processor app suddenly imposed a 5000 word cap unless you paid the developer, And you had no notice? OR if you were running a marathon and your metrics disappeared 25 minutes in?

-SECURITY. PRO version requires that you get it directly from the dev. Presumably, the ConnectIQ store has some curation (for security/quality/etc.), but with this "Pro" version, some person somewhere is sending you a link to... something....not exactly safe, in my opinion.

Things that ARE NOT the issue:
-Cost. No one cares what it costs. What people care about is that they now (with very limited notice) have to pay for something that was available for free and has no new functionality.
-Utility. Everyone agrees that this is a usefull field. That said Single Run does pretty much the same and is free--and beloved.
-Dev's right to be compensated. No one disputes that Dev should be paid for good work. But a donation is something people give freely, NOT as ransom to restore functionality.
-DEv's character. we all agree the DEv is a lovely person. We are all grateful for the work he/she has done.

My recommendation remains to not use this app until a) basic unlimited free version is restored and b) some significant added functionality is included in Pro Version that doesnt exist in basic version. It's an open source platform and no one else is doing this as a business practice.

Thanks.
T.

Reward the Dev.

Well i have to be here again and say a big thanx to te dev for these apps.
ive been using run347 and bike since the beggining and i havent changed them for nothing else
after a very helpful and kind email conversation i donated and he wrote for me a special trail run data field
i cant believe ppl wearing a 500+$ watch cannot donate 5-6 $ to have a tool for their workouts.
im fed up to see some negative posts here or at the iq store. Well if someone wants these apps must say a thanx to the dev
Or you can say thanx to all the chinese watch faces garmin has been giving us since the beggining of this well advertised store.
Or should i mention the beer counter!!!! ffs!!!

give this man a thanx and if u can afford donate some beer just for his time!

he did the right thing with the time limit versions. He deserves some money , garmin doesnt do something , he has to be paid.
Donate and install or uninstall and have the dancing monkey on your watch.

Thanx Nikeow and keep up the good work . Your like a jewel in a garbage can in the iq store

Completely agree with you, Nikeow is providing something super useful that is certainly worth for the "upgrade".
If you dislike the fact that a person gets rewarded for his work, uninstall the app and use the other options or limit yourself to few fields.
Else just contact him and I'm sure you'll enjoy the full functionality of your device (Shame that Garmin is not providing it by default, or encouraging Dev to make great apps/ functions)

I've not used this DF, but I am a 3rd party CIQ developer, and have known Nickow on the forums for many months. I've been following this whole thing with interest, and all I will say is I understand both sides.

A suggestion both for Nikeow and end users to get their reaction. The complaint here seems to be that everything stops after a certain time/number of uses, etc, with no warning.

What if instead it was more "nag-wear", where instead of stopping completely, it kept working, but introduced a "nag" to "go pro".

So, after the trial period, instead of stopping all together, when an activity is first started, it displays "trial expired" with a URL to "go pro" for a period of time and then runs normally, and then at maybe something like double the trial period, it does the same thing each mile/km. It "nags" you to upgrade, but lets you use it in the mean time...

Just an idea.

Things that ARE the issue:
- TRUST. REMOVING core functionality from an app with little to no notice, and only RESTORING it after payment to some shady email and shady account. This is really a sad, cheesy move. How fed up you be if, after months of using it, your word processor app suddenly imposed a 5000 word cap unless you paid the developer, And you had no notice? OR if you were running a marathon and your metrics disappeared 25 minutes in?

Of course it was not the best move from nikeow , i agree with you in that , but its not our choice is it?

-SECURITY. PRO version requires that you get it directly from the dev. Presumably, the ConnectIQ store has some curation (for security/quality/etc.), but with this "Pro" version, some person somewhere is sending you a link to... something....not exactly safe, in my opinion.

Is there any other option for developers to deliver pro/paid apps through the store? official way? No, so its the only way.
OF COURSE THERE ARE PLENTY SAFE AND QUALITY CODING (IQ STORE QUILIFIED) APPS FROM GARMIN - MONKEYS FLOWERS BUILDINGS COMICS AS WATCHFACES OR BEER COUNTERS AND CANGAROO STEP METRICS .

Poor but safe ? i ll take the risk and use directly the prg file!

My recommendation remains to not use this app until a) basic unlimited free version is restored and b) some significant added functionality is included in Pro Version that doesnt exist in basic version. It's an open source platform and no one else is doing this as a business practice.

Agree with your thoughts but i cant think some added functionality extra from what this DF is all about.There are some way , dev will decide
Open source yes. But cant a dev sell his apps out of this store?
Anyways
I think its 2015 and big companies like samsung and apple (many more) will step on this area.
Now they have smartwatches with extra some sport gps capabilities
Garmin has grps sport watches with some smartwatch capabilities

In 1-2 years the companies will make better sport-gps-multi samartwatches (cameras microphones stuff)
Garmin has to be smart here i think and invest on their advantage
They have to deliver Best GPS SPORT functions with good software ecosystem - good quality store - good quality apps -
Its not the start , half a year and more has passed. The store is full of garbage, there are some quality stuff , but you have to find them. Devs are not getting motivation ($ or good perspective of the future of the store)
Thats we must be from the side of the devs here and not garmin. (i love the watch i dont have complaints with that, only from the store and the situation)

thnx