3rd part Data Fields on Venu Sq have unreadably small font

Hey, I'm the developer of AppBuilder 5.

TL;DR For older devices, when CIQ simple data field returned a string, the device would figure out whether to use a large numerical font or a small text font, based on the contents of the string. It seems that newer devices automatically use a small text font for strings, regardless of the contents of the string. Seems like a step backwards to me.

There's a few things going on here:

1) Garmin watches have large numerical fonts (numbers and certain symbols) and smaller text fonts (numbers, letters and symbols).

2) A Connect IQ "simple data field" such as AppBuilder 5 returns a value to be displayed, in the form of a "string" (numbers, letters and symbols) or a number. Simple data fields don't control the specifics of displaying the data, that's up to the watch

3) If a simple data field returns a number, then it's naturally displayed in a large numerical font

4) In the past, if a simple data field returned a string, the watch would automatically determine whether to use a large numerical or a smaller text font, based on the contents of the string. For example, numerical fonts typically support the "%" character, so if a simple data field returned a "numerical 'string such as "100%", the watch would be smart enough to display it in a large numerical font. However, if the same field returned a non-numerical string like "ABCD", it would be displayed in a smaller text font

5) It seems that newer watches don't automatically choose between numerical and text fonts anymore. If a simple data field returns a string, then small text fonts will automatically be used, regardless of the contents of the string. This means that if a simple data field returns a string that consists only of numbers, on an older device this would be displayed in a large font, but on a newer device it will be displayed in a small font. This is kind of a shame, because it means that it's impossible for a simple data field to return text like "100%" and have it displayed in a large font, even though large fonts support the "%" character.

Related:

forums.garmin.com/.../users-complain-of-very-small-text-in-simple-data-fields

Hey, I'm the developer of AppBuilder 5.

TL;DR For older devices, when CIQ simple data field returned a string, the device would figure out whether to use a large numerical font or a small text font, based on the contents of the string. It seems that newer devices automatically use a small text font for strings, regardless of the contents of the string. Seems like a step backwards to me.

There's a few things going on here:

1) Garmin watches have large numerical fonts (numbers and certain symbols) and smaller text fonts (numbers, letters and symbols).

2) A Connect IQ "simple data field" such as AppBuilder 5 returns a value to be displayed, in the form of a "string" (numbers, letters and symbols) or a number. Simple data fields don't control the specifics of displaying the data, that's up to the watch

3) If a simple data field returns a number, then it's naturally displayed in a large numerical font

4) In the past, if a simple data field returned a string, the watch would automatically determine whether to use a large numerical or a smaller text font, based on the contents of the string. For example, numerical fonts typically support the "%" character, so if a simple data field returned a "numerical 'string such as "100%", the watch would be smart enough to display it in a large numerical font. However, if the same field returned a non-numerical string like "ABCD", it would be displayed in a smaller text font

5) It seems that newer watches don't automatically choose between numerical and text fonts anymore. If a simple data field returns a string, then small text fonts will automatically be used, regardless of the contents of the string. This means that if a simple data field returns a string that consists only of numbers, on an older device this would be displayed in a large font, but on a newer device it will be displayed in a small font. This is kind of a shame, because it means that it's impossible for a simple data field to return text like "100%" and have it displayed in a large font, even though large fonts support the "%" character.

Related:

forums.garmin.com/.../users-complain-of-very-small-text-in-simple-data-fields

Thanks. It seems this bug was reported over a year ago. Can it be that difficult to fix?? Grumble grumble. So I'm using Appbuilder to report seconds above 160bpm. I tried formatnumber(sum(hr > 160)) hoping that would return a number but of course it didn't...is there anyway to get sum(hr > 160) to return a number and hence use the bigger font?? I guess that would have to be an entirely different datafield. :(