These are only available on devices running Connect IQ ‘System 5’, API Level 3.3.x or higher
You can check the Connect IQ version on your watch by going to the watch menu ‘System -> About -> SW Versions’
According to Garmin’s documentation, these devices are expected to support the new features:
Captain Marvel
D2™ Air
D2™ Air X10
Darth Vader™
Descent™ Mk2 / Descent™ Mk2i
Descent™ Mk2 S
epix™ (Gen 2)
First Avenger
Forerunner® 245
Forerunner® 245 Music
Forerunner® 55
Forerunner® 745
Forerunner® 945
Forerunner® 945 LTE
fēnix® 6 / 6 Solar / 6 Dual Power
fēnix® 6 Pro / 6 Sapphire / 6 Pro Solar / 6 Pro Dual Power / quatix® 6
fēnix® 6 Pro System 5 Preview
fēnix® 6S / 6S Solar / 6S Dual Power
fēnix® 6S Pro / 6S Sapphire / 6S Pro Solar / 6S Pro Dual Power
fēnix® 6X Pro / 6X Sapphire / 6X Pro Solar / tactix® Delta Sapphire / Delta Solar / Delta Solar – Ballistics Edition / quatix® 6X / 6X Solar / 6X Dual Power
fēnix® 7
fēnix® 7S
fēnix® 7X
MARQ® Adventurer
MARQ® Athlete
MARQ® Aviator
MARQ® Captain / MARQ® Captain: American Magic Edition
MARQ® Commander
MARQ® Driver
MARQ® Expedition
MARQ® Golfer
Rey™
Venu™
Venu™ 2
Venu™ 2 Plus
Venu™ 2S
Venu™ Mercedes-Benz® Collection
Venu® Sq
Venu® Sq. Music Edition
vívoactive® 4
vívoactive® 4S
If your device is on the list above, but the Connect IQ version on it is below 3.3.x, or does not feature the “System 5”, you may need to wait for a firmware update from Garmin
This update brings more flexibility in the data configuration which allows simultaneous display of more information:
The top and bottom data fields now include the option to show the Active bar.
A configurable date option was added for the data fields 3-10.
The date field is fully configurable using Garmin app and can display all the data that were previously possible in the fields 13-16, in any order, plus additional characters to separate the data (e.g. space, /, -, . , etc.).
To configure the date, you need to enter any of the following letters in the ‘Date format’ setting:
d = day number without leading zero D = day number with leading zero m = month number without leading zero M = month number with leading zero y = 2-digit year Y = 4-digit year n = day name (according to system language) N = month name (according to system language) w = ISO week number without leading zero W = ISO week number with leading zero a = AM/PM
Any other character (e.g. – / : . []) will be displayed if it is available on the watch.
For example, you can use the following formats:
“n N d” → Fri Aug 24 “n D.M” → Fri 24.08 “d/m [W]” → 24/8 [34] “Y\M\D” → 2018\08\24 “m-d-y” → 8-24-18 “n D (w)” → Fri 28 (34)
The highlight/line for the date field shows progress towards the end of the week, according to the ‘first day of the week’ set in Garmin Connect User Settings.
To make space for a long date you can set the opposite data field to “Off”.
This way of showing the date frees up the data fields 13-16 for other information. The available options (depending on the device) include:
– Notifications counter – Active alarm counter – Calories – Active calories – Floors – Active minutes (day) – Active minutes (week) – Wrist HR (updated once a minute) – Wrist HR (updated once a minute or every second on gesture) – SpO2 – Internal sensor temperature – Humidity – Chance of precipitation – Battery % – Solar charging %
Beaufort wind speed unit has been added.
On round watches, if one of the top or bottom data fields is set to “Off”, the icon of the opposite field is shown in the middle, not on the side as before.
Total or Active calories can be selected for the gauges.
A new option “Calories goal” has been added in the settings to allow declaration of daily total calories goal.
The goal for active calories is calculated automatically according to your Basal Metabolic Rate estimated from the Garmin User Profile data (age, gender, weight).
Two new hand shapes
New analog seconds shape
Texture option for the background
Texture onlyTexture with pattern
There are currently two texture options. Option 1 may work better with circular patterns and Option 2 with rectangular or diagonal patterns.
Texture color is adjustable.
NOTE:
1) These features are only available on the newer devices, and not on the legacy ones (before Connect IQ 3.x)
2) If the option “Anti-alias (if available) / sec hand on gesture only” is present in the settings, it needs to be enabled for the texture to show. Otherwise the texture will not be visible, even if it is selected in the “Texture” field.
1) HR graph Shows the graph with the current HR reading that is updated once a minute (less battery drain).
2) HR graph + live Shows the graph with the current HR reading that is updated once a minute or every second on gesture (more battery drain).
The graph time span is adjustable between 1 and 4 hours (this setting is only available through the Garmin app).
The graph level adjusts dynamically to the current minimum and maximum recorded over the selected time span, so it is easy to see the variation.
hr range
This shows the minimum and maximum HR reading during the graph time span selected.
hr average + resting
This shows the average HR value calculated over the graph time span plus the resting HR, which is either a seven day average resting heart rate (on CIQ 3.2.0 or higher), or the resting heart rate available before CIQ 3.2.0.
Wide data fields
If a data field is set to ‘Off’, the opposite data field will take the whole width of the screen.
The offset setting is only accessible through Garmin app.
Barometer
There are 4 options provided, using different Garmin API:
1) raw: Ambient (local) barometric pressure as measured by the internal pressure sensor. The data is the temperature compensated information read directly from the internal sensor.
2) ambient: Ambient (local) barometric pressure as measured by the pressure sensor. The data is smoothed by a two-stage filter to reduce noise and instantaneous variation.
3) sea level: Barometric pressure calibrated to sea level. Since pressure varies dues to several factors, a GPS-based altitude must first be obtained, then the ambient (local) pressure is measured by the pressure sensor before conversion to a calibrated barometric pressure value.
4) history: Pressure read using Sensor History Iterator. Garmin does not seem to specify what kind of reading this is (or I have not managed to find it in the documentation), but based on empirical tests it is likely to produce closest results to Garmin’s barometer widget readings.
The pressure unit setting is only accessible through Garmin app.
The status icons can be individually enabled or hidden
This feature was only added on devices running CIQ 3.0 or later.
How it works:
In the settings there is a new ‘Icons selection’ field. In it, type the letters corresponding to the icons you want to be shown, and delete the letters corresponding to the icons you don’t want to see:
B – battery icon with numeric charge level shown in % b – battery icon without the number p – phone connected (Bluetooth icon) d – do not disturb a – alarm(s) set n – notifications N – notifications with a number of pending notifications
Note that the B and N replace the ‘Icons with numbers’ option that now has been removed.
The order of letters does not affect the order of the icons.
Workaround for a watch system issue that might prevent waking up from the night power save mode
Added option for “Active bar” (= opposite to “Move bar”)
Standard move bar grows while you stay inactive and is cleared when you start moving again.
Active bar is the opposite. It is full when you are active and decreases after a period of inactivity.
Added battery level option for data fields on some devices (including solar charging level if supported)
This option is not available on Venu family.
Attempted a workaround for the problem with waking up from night power save mode
There seems to be a firmware problem with the watch reporting incorrect wake up time set in Garmin user profile (looks like adding a random number of seconds to the specified time). As a result the waking up from the night power save mode would not work. This workaround may help but it is not guaranteed to wake up from the power save mode at the exact wake time specified in user profile.
