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Garmin Bounce: Additional Features / Functions

Hi, feel free to add. So far here are my wishes. 

1) The voice messages are great for 99% of the time, but I wished I could reach my son for a voice call, next time he's lost. This should be possible in principle given the LTE connection, but it's neither possible now nor announced as a feature for future FW updates.

2) Equally important, the tone and vibration for incoming messages are hardly ever enough for my 6yo to notice, even more so in winter with heavy jackets and hats. My messages hang there, evidenced only by a small icon on the screen, my son unaware of it. I would like to see an "emergency mode", where incoming messages from guardians are accompanied by a continuous sound until they are read, or even a ping option in the app that triggers such sound on the watch. Right now I send a message and get no reply, I know where my son is but not if he's ok, until he replies.

3) scheduled on / off. When my son arrives to Kindergarten he might take the watch off and then wear it again when the morning is over. Same when he goes to gymnastic, or other activities. It would be great to be able to switch off the watch directly from the app, and plan an automatic restart after a set time (e.g. auto turn on after 3h, etc.). This way battery life would significantly improve.

4) "intermediate GPS modes"; currently I cannot choose the geolocation frequency, only look at history, or live track. I also use other GPS trackers, they all offer the option to choose a geolocation frequency, quantified in minutes between pings. 

  • 5) Since noone yet chimed in, let me answer to myself: as a parent, I would also like to have access to all chats my son has via the Garmin Jr app, not only those I am part of. I would like to be able to see all conversations between the Bounce and other community members, which of course go beyond myself and my wife. 

  • 6) VERY IMPORTANT: I have additional caretakers setup in the Garmin Jr. App so that my son can message them, e.g. grandparents. I have no possibility to enable or disable localization services for them, i.e. at any point in time, ANY caretaker can also see where my son, and therefore the whole family, is. They also get notifications when we (my son) move, exit boundaries, charge it, etc. They also are included in all "Family" chats, although most messages are intended for only my son, my wife and myself. This is ABSURD. 

  • Have you reached out to support with this issues?  I messaged them this morning and was told that a caretaker can not see location unless it is shared in real time from the watch. I am waiting for my son to get home to try it out as set up a caretaker as a test.

  • Hi, for sure the one caretaker I have listed, gets notifications when my son leaves a boundary, disconnects the phone from the charger, etc. We live in different counties, I will be able to experiment when I visit next time… 

  • I can also confirm that the Caretaker I have set up gets boundary notifications.  I walked her through turning off the alerts in the Garmin Jr App.

  • #6 IS CRUTIAL, I hope they implement this ASAP

  • completely agree. Furthermore, the messaging functionality is so limiting. Why wouldn’t our kids be able to participate in family group chats (SMS)? Contacts we trust and chats we ourselves are involved in?  My wife and I end up having to retype everything in the Garmin jr app. Also, why couldn’t we send pictures to our kids?  If there are concerns about inappropriate content, there’s AI that can flag it and notify the authorities but give us basic functionality so we can interact with some semblance of normalcy. I’ll pay more for the service or buy an option app. Otherwise I don’t have a choice but to consider other kid smart watches. I assume many on the development team have kids?

  • #7 Enable Messaging and Rewards on WiFi (without an LTE subscription). Currently the watch does not allow messaging or rewards unless an LTE subscription is active. Would be awesome if these functions were available if families didn't activate the subscription and want to use the functions on WiFi only. In theory even periodic location can be sent via WiFi (watch gets GPS from GPS coordinates chip and then sends the information over WiFi instead of LTE). 

    Seems like the watch can send messages via WiFi https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/healthandwellness/f/bounce/335566/garmin-bounce---connect-messages-only-over-wi-fi (in this thread the watch is not sending via LTE due to some coverage issues but then sends the messages via WiFi when the child gets home)

    Would like to have these messaging functions without an LTE subscription as an option too.