Garmin Connect™

I’ve been using Garmin connect since 2015 and used to enjoy getting on the app to look at my stats, but since the recent update, I care a whole lot less about looking and keeping up with what the app tracks. The tile layout is hard to read and having to click an extra “see all” to look at all the stats I want to see is obnoxious. Scrolling down the rows was much more efficient and showed a better “at-a-glance” view. I also don’t agree with many of the “suggestions” it gives, such as workout for the day and recovery time, and I don’t think the app takes into consideration a person’s overall fitness level when it calculates the recovery times, and will tell me I’m “overreaching” when I do normal workout levels that are consistent with my activity history. Also, I used to pay for the extra add-on to track my ballet activity, but stopped using it and cancelled the subscription altogether because it didn’t track anything worth tracking; in fact, it was junk. But Garmin customer service raved about how the developer won an award for the app, but the developer has obviously never taken a dance class before. And forget about the basic Yoga tracker that comes with the watch, because in a real yoga class, it’s unrealistic to click the button when moving through multiple poses, which means all my yoga activities have “1” pose recorded. I like the ability to track my active lifestyle and sleep, period, etc., but unless some improvements are made to the app, the watch is useless. I may consider going back to an analog watch if improvements are not made…

This app has been with me for the better part of five years now. I’ve been through two devices, the Garmin Tactix Bravo and the Tactix Delta solar, both great watches with a lot of functionality. However without the use of the garmin connect app I wouldn’t be able to really dial in my training the way I do today. One of the coolest features is being able to import your own Gpx file to the app and side load to your device for custom routes that you can build from various running websites. Additionally the ability to utilize the virtual coaches have helped me become a far better runner than I could have been on my own. By using the coaching I’ve now completed multiple 5ks a 10k and I’m working my way through a half Marathon plan now. Over all this app has a smooth feel. The customizable Home Screen allows me to see all the data that I want and none that I don’t/ or do not care about. I also really like the “social media” part of the app through what’s called “connections”. Me and a few of my buddies are on similar training plans and it’s really motivating to see who’s cranking out the most miles in a week. This is the first review I’ve ever made on an app and that should be pretty compelling information because I’m one of those people who rides off the backs of other honest reviews. If you’re not using this app in tandem with your garmin device, you’re really missing out.

I’ve used a Venu for 4 months now primarily for running, and overall I love it. Neither it nor the Connect app are very intuitive and both take a while to learn to use, particularly where stuff is located in the menu(s) on the app. That said, once you get through the learning curve, the data available through the app is very very helpful. My main beef is that there is no goal management or tracking in the app; you have to go to the website on a computer (going to the website on your phone browser takes you back to the app.) In my opinion, if you have a Garmin watch, you care about your fitness/activities a good bit, and are likely to be a pretty goal-oriented person. So why is goal setting/tracking reserved only for the website, on the side bar, way down at the bottom?? I like to check my goal progress frequently and if I’m out and about away from my computer, I can’t do that, which seems silly when I have loads of other health and fitness data from the same device available at my fingertips. Other improvements: - A mobile calendar feature would also be helpful (it’s a very helpful tool for goal tracking on the website) - This is less about the app and more about devices, but there should really be more activity options and better ways to track them. Like how is hiking not an activity option?? Also, if I’m doing yoga, I’m not going to pause mid-flow to press a button to signal a change in pose... number of poses is not a thing anyone tracks in yoga. FWIW.