5 ms·

MBO – Garmin Watch Apps for Mountain Bike Orienteering

29 points by app4soft 5y ago

Raed667 5y ago
Last time I checked, there was no way to build an app and send it to your Garmin watch without applying (and paying for?) a license. Is there a way around that?
- makepanic 5y ago
  Afaik if you have the watch locally available you can just connect it to your PC and deploy it there. Even the SDK is available for "free": https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/overview/ https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/overview/
  - Raed667 5y ago
    my bad I must be remembering things wrong or the old website was too confusing. there is no better way to get good information on the internet than to post something factually wrong! it's finally time for me to code that app
    - carl_dr 5y ago
      > there is no better way to get good information on the internet than to post something factually wrong! Good old Murphy’s law!
- sunpazed 5y ago
  I’ve been building free Garmin apps and watch-faces since 2016. Any developer can download the ConnectIQ SDK and freely publish an app or watch-face in the Garmin App Store. Does not require any license to build, install or publish an app.
- kelnage 5y ago
  That definitely wasn’t true when I developed my watch face (https://github.com/kelnage/digital-simplicity https://github.com/kelnage/digital-simplicity) - the Garmin IDE compiled it down to a single IQ file which can then be transferred directly to the device via USB. Of course if you want to distribute it via their App Store you have to apply (it was free when I did it), and the way changing settings used to work (through a convoluted path on the connected mobile device and via the store) it was often best to do that. But you could also use the settings file software Garmin included in their IDE to do it (or now do it directly on the device).
- jzwinck 5y ago
  This is not true, has not been true for years, and probably was never true at least since the public release of their app store.
kvbe 5y ago
What is a good app for mountain bike navigation? turn by turn?
- Philipp0205 5y ago
  I use Komoot. But it is not specialized on MB you can hike/walk/run with it as well.
- bratwurst3000 5y ago
  I use gaiagps. Its very good for hiking and biking. Should also work for mtb. Had a garmin watch ( fenix 5s) once and that thing sucked hard compared to my phone. Its like a bad phone that can measure your puls.
- jasone 5y ago
  I've done quite a bit of remote MTB/gravel riding/touring (e.g. much of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route [1]), and have settled on loading GPX tracks onto a Garmin head unit. Turn-by-turn is pretty useless, because the notion of a "turn" is too ambiguous to be useful. Anyway, with a GPX track loaded the head unit will display the path, and you can tell when you deviate significantly. Oftentimes the turns are onto nearly invisible tracks; situational awareness will sometimes save you, but expect to miss some turns. This may sound unreliable, but it's a huge step up from everything else I've tried. [1] https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/adventure-cycling-route-network/great-divide-mountain-bike-route/ https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/adventure-c...
germinalphrase 5y ago
I was really hoping this was about competitive orienteering, but on mountain bikes.
- app4soft 5y ago
  > competitive orienteering, but on mountain bikes I guess your a talking about MTBO competitions (Mountain Bike Orienteering Sport) and ISMTBOM maps (IOF's International Standard for MTBO Maps). If so, I'm not sure is there (or is it not) for Garmin Watch devices, but there is OpenOrienteering Mapper[0] — an Android app (and Linux, macOS, Windows, etc.) designed for orienteering mapping, which may be used also for orienteering competitions as digital map with GPS tracking. [0] https://www.openorienteering.org/apps/mapper https://www.openorienteering.org/apps/mapper
hestefisk 5y ago
Anyone done something similar with Suunto watches?

29 points by app4soft 5y ago

Last time I checked, there was no way to build an app and send it to your Garmin watch without applying (and paying for?) a license. Is there a way around that?

makepanic 5y ago
Afaik if you have the watch locally available you can just connect it to your PC and deploy it there. Even the SDK is available for "free": https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/overview/ https://developer.garmin.com/connect-iq/overview/
- Raed667 5y ago
  my bad I must be remembering things wrong or the old website was too confusing. there is no better way to get good information on the internet than to post something factually wrong! it's finally time for me to code that app
  - carl_dr 5y ago
    > there is no better way to get good information on the internet than to post something factually wrong! Good old Murphy’s law!
sunpazed 5y ago
I’ve been building free Garmin apps and watch-faces since 2016. Any developer can download the ConnectIQ SDK and freely publish an app or watch-face in the Garmin App Store. Does not require any license to build, install or publish an app.
kelnage 5y ago
That definitely wasn’t true when I developed my watch face (https://github.com/kelnage/digital-simplicity https://github.com/kelnage/digital-simplicity) - the Garmin IDE compiled it down to a single IQ file which can then be transferred directly to the device via USB. Of course if you want to distribute it via their App Store you have to apply (it was free when I did it), and the way changing settings used to work (through a convoluted path on the connected mobile device and via the store) it was often best to do that. But you could also use the settings file software Garmin included in their IDE to do it (or now do it directly on the device).
jzwinck 5y ago
This is not true, has not been true for years, and probably was never true at least since the public release of their app store.

kvbe 5y ago

What is a good app for mountain bike navigation? turn by turn?

Philipp0205 5y ago
I use Komoot. But it is not specialized on MB you can hike/walk/run with it as well.
bratwurst3000 5y ago
I use gaiagps. Its very good for hiking and biking. Should also work for mtb. Had a garmin watch ( fenix 5s) once and that thing sucked hard compared to my phone. Its like a bad phone that can measure your puls.
jasone 5y ago
I've done quite a bit of remote MTB/gravel riding/touring (e.g. much of the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route [1]), and have settled on loading GPX tracks onto a Garmin head unit. Turn-by-turn is pretty useless, because the notion of a "turn" is too ambiguous to be useful. Anyway, with a GPX track loaded the head unit will display the path, and you can tell when you deviate significantly. Oftentimes the turns are onto nearly invisible tracks; situational awareness will sometimes save you, but expect to miss some turns. This may sound unreliable, but it's a huge step up from everything else I've tried. [1] https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/adventure-cycling-route-network/great-divide-mountain-bike-route/ https://www.adventurecycling.org/routes-and-maps/adventure-c...

germinalphrase 5y ago

I was really hoping this was about competitive orienteering, but on mountain bikes.

app4soft 5y ago
> competitive orienteering, but on mountain bikes I guess your a talking about MTBO competitions (Mountain Bike Orienteering Sport) and ISMTBOM maps (IOF's International Standard for MTBO Maps). If so, I'm not sure is there (or is it not) for Garmin Watch devices, but there is OpenOrienteering Mapper[0] — an Android app (and Linux, macOS, Windows, etc.) designed for orienteering mapping, which may be used also for orienteering competitions as digital map with GPS tracking. [0] https://www.openorienteering.org/apps/mapper https://www.openorienteering.org/apps/mapper

hestefisk 5y ago

Anyone done something similar with Suunto watches?