Acknowledged
CIQQA-3734

Make the middle button on a Venu 3 available to CIQ SDK apps

Currently, our apps developed with the Connect IQ SDK can't make use of the middle button on Venu 3 devices.

I propose to make this button available to Connect IQ apps just like the top and bottom buttons are.

This would grant us so many new possibilities, such as making apps that can be controlled entirely using the buttons (UP - SELECT - DOWN and a menu system).

I hope this will be implemented as not being able to use that third button just seems like so much wasted potential...

Thanks in advance 

Aaron Eisle

4462336
Parents

  • > such as making apps that can be controlled entirely using the buttons

    Not to state the obvious, but that's what 5-button Garmin watches are for. I like to think of those watches as "touch-optional" since they have a touchscreen which can be entirely disabled, and 99% of the watch's built-in functionality remains. (There is a tiny bit of optional built-in functionality that requires the touchscreen, like certain types of keyboards.) As a matter of fact, touch is disabled for activities by default on these watches, since one of the use cases for disabling the touch screen is to avoid accidental presses during an activity.

    I like to think of watches like Venu and Vivoactive as "touch-first". Sure, you can *temporarily* "lock" the touchscreen (note the different terminology - disable vs lock), but then you lose a ton of crucial functionality (like the ability to scroll through data pages and the UI in general). 

    I think Venu and Vivoactive are not unlike Apple Watch (for example) in the sense that:

    - Apple Watch has buttons, but a big chunk of button functionality is reserved for system use. For example, on Apple Watch, apps can respond to the action button (Ultra only), a simultaneous press of both buttons on the right side, and a twist of the dial, but all other "button gestures" are reserved for system use

    - There's crucial functionality which doesn't work without touch.

    If you use a 5-button Garmin with a touchscreen, you could disable the touchscreen forever and miss out on very little functionality. Same goes if the touchscreen breaks. If your Vivoactive or Venu touchscreen breaks, the device is bascially useless.

    > (UP - SELECT - DOWN and a menu system).

    If you have your heart set on this kind of thing, it could still be accomplished with 2 buttons: use one button to change the currently highlighted item, and the second button to select the currently highlighted item

Comment

  • > such as making apps that can be controlled entirely using the buttons

    Not to state the obvious, but that's what 5-button Garmin watches are for. I like to think of those watches as "touch-optional" since they have a touchscreen which can be entirely disabled, and 99% of the watch's built-in functionality remains. (There is a tiny bit of optional built-in functionality that requires the touchscreen, like certain types of keyboards.) As a matter of fact, touch is disabled for activities by default on these watches, since one of the use cases for disabling the touch screen is to avoid accidental presses during an activity.

    I like to think of watches like Venu and Vivoactive as "touch-first". Sure, you can *temporarily* "lock" the touchscreen (note the different terminology - disable vs lock), but then you lose a ton of crucial functionality (like the ability to scroll through data pages and the UI in general). 

    I think Venu and Vivoactive are not unlike Apple Watch (for example) in the sense that:

    - Apple Watch has buttons, but a big chunk of button functionality is reserved for system use. For example, on Apple Watch, apps can respond to the action button (Ultra only), a simultaneous press of both buttons on the right side, and a twist of the dial, but all other "button gestures" are reserved for system use

    - There's crucial functionality which doesn't work without touch.

    If you use a 5-button Garmin with a touchscreen, you could disable the touchscreen forever and miss out on very little functionality. Same goes if the touchscreen breaks. If your Vivoactive or Venu touchscreen breaks, the device is bascially useless.

    > (UP - SELECT - DOWN and a menu system).

    If you have your heart set on this kind of thing, it could still be accomplished with 2 buttons: use one button to change the currently highlighted item, and the second button to select the currently highlighted item

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