Garmin should provide Connect IQ developers with much better visibility and communication tools.
At minimum, developers should be able to:
- See accurate download and active-install statistics.
- Have their review responses displayed directly inside the Connect IQ app.
- Access clearer ratings, version adoption, device distribution, refund, sales, and conversion data.
- Analyse performance over configurable periods rather than relying on limited summary information.
- Distinguish between technical failures, compatibility problems, configuration issues, and users simply not following the documentation.
Developers currently have very little ability to defend or explain their work. A customer can leave a damaging review because they did not read the manual, misunderstood a setting, expected every watch face to behave identically, or encountered a device-specific issue. The developer may provide a detailed response, but that response is not sufficiently visible to other users inside Connect IQ.
This creates an unfair situation: the negative rating remains highly visible, while the developer’s explanation, troubleshooting steps, or correction receives far less visibility.
The merchant analytics also need major improvement. Garmin charges developers more than €100 + a percent of every sell to operate a merchant account, yet the available statistics are too limited for serious product analysis. Developers need enough information to understand which devices and versions are affected, whether updates improve retention and ratings, and where purchases or installations are failing.
Developers invest significant time in development, testing, documentation, customer support, localisation, device compatibility, and long-term maintenance. Garmin should provide the tools required to manage that work professionally.
Better analytics and visible developer responses would benefit everyone:
- Customers would receive clearer support.
- Developers could identify genuine issues faster.
- Misleading reviews would have appropriate context.
- Garmin would have a healthier and more trustworthy Connect IQ ecosystem.
The current system does not provide developers with sufficient visibility, analytical capability, or a meaningful right of reply. This should be treated as a platform priority.
