Can I use my Apple Watch as a heart rate monitor with my Edge 830?

I don't believe it does Keith.  Not having one personally i can't vouch 100% but a friend asked me the same question and we tried to get it to work.  We couldn't and he ended up getting a MIO Link or something like that.

It looks like they do not broadcast HR publicly over BLE or ANT+ like a Garmin watch would, but instead they just talk to a paired iPhone and send HR data for recording in Apple Health or for use by Apps on the phone (I assume).

Dave

The Apple watch is paired with the iPhone.  So the only way it could possibly work with a Garmin Edge would be to have the Garmin Connect app relay the Apple watch HR to the Edge.   Kind of simlar to how one uses an Apple watch with Zwift.   I do not think Garmin will ever support this as they want to sell their own HR straps and watches.

That sucks..Come on garmin..

It's actually on Apple.  Their device does not conform to the standards used by the vast majority of sports sensors, which is kind of typical of Apple.  They dance to their own drummer.

Well, that's like saying the Fenix should be an HRM for a Wahoo...

As Garmin use standard protocols for transmitting data like heart rate you probably could pick up your heart rate as measured by a Fenix on a Whoo head unit.  Apple don't use these standard protocols.

But you can't, Garmin products like the Fenix won't share HR data with another head unit via Bluetooth or Ant+.   Apple chose not implement Ant+, which is a much cheaper standard to license than BLE which is a shame because if Apple could pair with Ant+ power meters they could have been more useful to the "sports" crowd.   And, although Apple supports BLE, they don't play with Power Meters, HRM's, etc that support that standard, further proof that Apple wants to close the ecosystem, and is not really focusing on the "sports" market more than the average fitness enthusiast their already very broad customer base. 

This video is good information on the whole BT/ANT, sensors, and certifications debacle.  www.youtube.com/watch

According to Garmin's specifications of the Fenix 5 & 6 they can broadcast HR over ANT+ so you could use them to send HR data to any head unit that connects to ANT+ HR sensors.

All of the Garmin watches with oHR can broadcast HR as an ANT+ sensor.  It has to be enable, but it does work just fine.  I have used my F5PLUS as a HRM for my Samsung phone.

I use my Garmin Vivoactive 3 as a HRM for my Wahoo...  The Fenix can also broadcast HR.