Yay more shit that nobody asked for.
this post was submitted on 27 Mar 2025
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A parallel comment to my rant yesterday, I see the pushback has already begun in Garmin's reviews against this nonsense. All of the recent reviews of their Android app are now overwhelmingly complaints about the subscription addition, and I suspect iOS is the same. If you haven't done so already, please be sure to blow Garmin up over this on any platform you can get your grubby hands on.
I know posting this here is probably more like spitting on a forest fire; I'm sure the seven or eight nerds here on Lemmy dedicated enough to care have already put Garmin on blast for this (myself included), but it never hurts to make sure.
What's crazy is I'm on the fence about a beeline moto because they have subscription for basic shit like traffic, thinking Garmin would be better.
Welp.
Garmin is at the top of the game for health tracking and fitness bar none but if your looking to monitor traffic a different type of smart watch would suit you better.
I loathe saying this but a pixel watch with Gmaps might be your best bet. Someone else could offer an open source option though perhaps.
I agree to leave a review on the Appstores. However Garmin can censor the negative reviews if they want. So i recommend in addition to that leaving comments on social media, review webpages, videos where Garmin can't delete the comments.
Of all the ais gemini is the worst lol
For the android users, just gonna put this here
Thank you. Installed for when I finally find my charger.
JFC, is nothing safe?
I was just talking about dumping Fitbit as Google destroys it and jumping to Garmin...
Me too. What now?
What now?
Some options:
- Gadget Bridge allows connecting most devices fully locally
- PineTime simple, but cheap and free of corporate nonsense
- RePebble (coming later this year) - I just learned and it in this thread, but it looks promising.
Maybe the problem is you
Just as I was saying to myself "I'm pretty happy with the Garmin I have, I don't need a new Pebble," here come Pebble's marketing department with a reason!
... What do you mean this is an announcement from Garmin?
Easy fix:
Buy a fitness/smart watch - an older one is fine, why go excessive
Download GadgetBridge from F-Droid/Droidify and then use that instead of a proprietary app which is just harvesting your data and telemetry at every chance:
I wish that was the case, but it absolutely doesn't even come close.
Not even Garmin can resist the temptation?
Oof, better hold out hope for Repebble I guess
Ooh. Thanks. Today I learned about RePebble. If it doesn't deliver, there's still also Gadget Bridge (connect most devices fully locally) and PineTime (another spiritual successor to the Pebble).
For anyone else wondering, you can export all your Garmin data .Use the "Export All Garmin Data Using Account Management Center" option here https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=W1TvTPW8JZ6LfJSfK512Q8 The output is json files so you can use any json editor or anything that can import json. I use a little tool called JQ https://jqlang.org/ to extract just things I need. Then I can analyze in whatever tool I want such as a spreadsheet
Garmin makes toilet paper, right?
Don't know about tp, but they are certainly making shit now.
For all those clammering to sell and throw away, stick on the shelf, I will keep, buy, or what have you all your Garmin watches so long as they aren't trashed and are relatively newer models.
Yes I am serious. PM me so we can discuss further if your done with Garmin.
I will never understand the fitness metrics craze...I don't want my health maintenance to be more systematized than observing two or three core principles and letting the rest sort itself out
I just saw DC Rainmaker's video on this, and I'm not impressed. In any case, I've bern using my Garmin watch mainly for running, and I've been more interested in spot data than history on Connect. Still, I'm on my last Garmin watch. The hardware itself seems to last for only 18-24 months before problems start piling up, so I decided that my next watch will be Coros. I'm under no illusions that the hardware would be more reliable, but it costs half of what I've paid for my Garmin.
I've had and seen several last for years with daily use and never had an issue. Their support has been top notch anytime I had an issue I've gotten a new watch or several bands free of charge. They even paid for the return shipping of my old device.
My old FR 110 is still working. Since then:
- Vivoactive HR - 2 years in, the casing broke at one of the points where the wristband is attached. Material fatigue. Out of warranty.
- Vivoactive 3 - 2 years in, altimeter went haywire. Also, battery life decreased to one day. Just out of warranty.
- Fenix 6 - 1.5 years in, GPS got really bad. As in, drift of over 200m from route. Within warranty, so I contacted them and they sent me a replacement watch. That one is still working, and I hope it will for a long time.
By now, I developed a certain expectation of the life of Garmin watches. I divided their price with expected lifetime, and compared that with similar data for Coros. Coros is simply better value for money.
I've had several Garmin Venu's and GPS devices inside the car. But for specifically health trackers I have yet to find a more comprehensive coverage of overall health data. That's easily accessible to anyone. I seen you mentioned spot data is what you prefer. A Polar H10 might serve the niche better for heart data. Self hosting options for them.
Sure I'd like it fully open source and more on device functionality rather than APIs and algorithms in the cloud. But pound for pound Garmin still runs the fitness and health tracking sector. There are some newer companies popping up with promising options but the tech and IP just isn't mainstream yet.
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