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Virtual keyboard on newer Touch-enabled devices...

Giannix
over 3 years ago

For your information I've once again Feature Requested these two.

You may want to do same so our voice can be heard.

"On newer 2022 models (Fenix 7, Epix etc..) that have Touch capabilities it would be easier and logic to add a keyboard to reply to messages (on top of pre-compiled ones). Also it may be appropriate to save/archive on the watch an incoming message so to reuse it for initiating a message from the watch, a work around to the fact we can only reply upon receiving one. It would be a huge plus especially when on training with the smartphone not handy."

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  • 0 over 1 year ago

    I work for a tech company that uses Slack for work communication and I can't quickly reply from the Fenix 7 due to this inconvenience so just letting you know I will be returning the watch and going with a simple google pixel watch for this keyboard and voice typing functionality that this awesome Fenix 7 doesn't have! Just letting you know what hundreds of other customers are probably going to do when they find out their garmin watch is not capable of this features.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to 2353725
    2353725 said:
    can't quickly reply from the Fenix 7 due to this inconvenience so just letting you know I will be returning the watch and going with a simple google pixel watch for this keyboard and voice typing functionality that this awesome Fenix 7 doesn't have!

    I've been thinking about dual wearing a Pixel Watch and Fenix literally for the same reason, but that feels utterly moronic. Workmates seem to Slack me right as I'm walking out the door for a run and the inability to reply via voice or even send a quick reply is a real issue. Ive been asking for voice to text and LTE since before the Fenix 7, so hopefully we'll see them both in the Fenix 8.

    A bunch of people will now chime in with "BuT iTs A FiTnEsS dEvIcE!", yep, but appreciate that this watch is worn by a bunch of people who both run ultras and also need to be contactable. "Your workmates will need to deal with it" sometimes isn't an option.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to 2529455

    I love my Fenix 7 and I understand why I can't dictate, I don't need that. Anyhow Garmin can well implement a virtual keyboard (even T9-style) to show up when replying a message. When running I use the presets, sometimes I may want to mention something different...I must stop and take out my smartphone etc etc...

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to Giannix
    Giannix said:
    sometimes I may want to mention something different...I must stop and take out my smartphone etc etc...

    Yeah, the smartphone. The thing is that I don't want to have to take a brick along with me on my casual runs. There are now some pretty tasty options coming out from Apple and Samsung that are starting to cover off a lot of usecases I've needed my Garmin's for - at least on the shorter runs, so I'm feeling it's probably just a matter of time before I jump ship if Garmin aren't able to figure out how to get LTE and voice into a watch. I love this thing for its support on multi-day hikes, ultras and other big events, but it's starting to fall behind other devices with its support for the 95% of life which isn't a mega workout.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to 2529455

    Venu 2 plus and venu 3 support voice dictation but then I'd go for a 'real' Smartwatch. I hope garmin won't end up like kodak and blackberry ...

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    Venu 3 has feature to reply to message by typing it. Other watches, even more expensive ones, such as Fenix 7 and Epix do not. It just one of more example of obsolete and artificial product differentiation by limiting software features in effort to sell more watches. Currently, there is no Garmin watch that has all software features, they are scattered across ever-expanding models of Garmin watches. 

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to Giannix
    Giannix said:
    Venu 2 plus and venu 3 support voice dictation

    My understanding was that this was using the voice assistant on the phone, hence really just acting like a Bluetooth microphone. Not entirely useful when you start talking about LTE where the assistant and voice to text keyboard needs run on the device itself.

    NXP (the chip maker Garmin use) have the software and hardware to do this, but can it be miniaturized and made efficient enough to run on a Fenix? It's a massive engineering challenge that Apple, Samsung and Google have solved years ago, but one that Garmin and NXP have still yet to take on.

    www.nxp.com/.../voice-processing:VOICE

    Update: looks like NXP are running it on the i.MX RT1060 which is quite a bit more power hungry than the i.MX RT500 that is in the Fenix 7/7+. This is totally doable with a process shrink and a some heavy frequency scaling.

    NXP just need to give us a more powerful hyper efficient update to the RT500. Well, the futures hopeful at least.

  • 0 8 months ago

    Hi Giannix,

    I think, this is high time that we really went to the bottom of this: This shouldn't be taken as if I didn't like the product or anything like that, I love this watch. Yet, I will ask a genuine question to the fellow developers/decision makers of Garmin:

    Why is there not an on screen keyboard option to use for replying messages on touchscreen watches?

    As we can tell; there is an option on Garmin messenger app, so, there are no obstacles in terms of software. Why not simply integrate it into the reply messages feature? Does Garmin have a business plan to also expand on messaging business? I could understand that but I do not think that is a logical explanation. So can you please indulge us why we simply can not have on screen keyboard when replying to messages?

    And may I ask other Garmin users to put their requests here, or if I have put it in the wrong spot; wherever is proper...

    Forgive me if I have used the wrong side of the forum to do this. But Garmin, really, can you please tell us why? Or just give this option already?

    Thank you.

  • 0 8 months ago in reply to 1783662

    Software is not bread and butter at Garmin...