This page collects all frequently asked questions (FAQs) which are in common for all of our Garmin Connect IQ™ applications. For application-specific FAQs, please refer to:
Common Frequently Asked Questions:
- Info about Activity Tracking Accuracy
- Why is info derived from Altitude (e.g, UP, DOWN, PWR, GRADE in %) not accurate?
- What is the purpose of the FREE Version?
- How to upgrade to the PREMIUM Version?
- I did not received the unlock keys for the PREMIUM Version after donation?
- Where can I find the program on my watch?
- Why is an update of the firmware required?
- The program does not start after installation?
- What to do if the watch reboots after session start?
- What to do if the data fields are empty after registration?
- Heart Rate is not picked up properly on the Vivoactive HR with the build-in HR
- What to do if the application does not work?
Activity Tracking Accuracy
Garmin activity trackers are intended to be tools to provide you with information to encourage an active and healthy lifestyle. Garmin activity trackers rely on sensors that track your movement and other metrics. The data and information provided by these devices is intended to be a close estimation of your activity and metrics tracked, but may not be completely accurate, including step, sleep, distance, heart rate and calorie data. Garmin activity trackers are not medical devices, and the data provided by them is not intended to be utilized for medical purposes and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Garmin recommends you consult your doctor before engaging in any exercise routine.
| Our applications visualize information provided by the Garmin API and thus cannot be more precise! |
Why is info derived from Altitude (e.g, UP, DOWN, PWR, GRADE in %) not accurate?
People with Garmin watches are frequently concerned about the accuracy (or lack of it) of the altitude data (or from altitude derive data) if the info is derived from GPS and not from a barometric altimeter. Many suspect their equipment or the app may even be defective or buggy when they see the altitude data. Unfortuneately this is NORMAL as GPS is not accurate enough regarding altitude information. Following Garmin watches have no barometric altimeter and are thus affected:
- ForeAthlete® 230J, ForeAthlete® 235J, ForeAthlete® 630J
- Forerunner® 735XTJ, ForeAthlete® 920XTJ, Forerunner® 230, Forerunner® 235, Forerunner® 630, Forerunner® 735XT
- Vivoactive™
With the integrated GPS receivers, the horizontal error is specified to be within about +/- 15 meters (50 feet) 95% of the time. Most users find this is a conservative specification and that their modern GPS receivers routinely perform better than this worst case specification. But users should expect that SOMETIMES they may see the error approach the specification limits. AND 5% of the time, the error may be "any value" from zero to whatever. Note: Unless you have a CLEAR AND UNOBSTRUCTED view of the sky you can count on your error excursions to be much greater than the above numbers. Your GPS depends on this clear and unobstructed view or it cannot make accurate range measurements to the satellites.
Generally, altitude error is specified to be 1.5 times horizontal error specification. This means that the user of standard consumer GPS receivers should consider +/-23meters (75ft) with a DOP of 1 for 95% confidence. Altitude error is always considerably worse than the horizontal (position error). Much of this is a matter of geometry. If we (simplistically) consider just four satellites, the "optimum" configuration for best overall accuracy is having the four SVs at 40 to 55 degrees above the horizon and one (for instance) in each general direction N, E, W, and S. (Note: You will get a very BAD DOP if the SVs are at the exact same elevation. Luckily, this is a rare occurrence.) The similar "best" arrangement for vertical position is with one SV overhead and the others at the horizon and 120 degrees in azimuth apart. Obviously, this arrangement is very poor from a signal standpoint. As a result, of this geometry the calculated solution for altitude is not as accurate as it is for horizontal position. Almost any calibrated altimeter will be more stable at reading altitude than a GPS.
GPS altitude measures the user´s distance from the center of the SVs orbits. These measurements are referenced to geodetic altitude or ellipsoidal altitude in some GPS equipment. Garmin and most equipment manufacturers utilize a mathematical model in the GPS software which roughly approximates the geodetic model of the earth and reference altitude to this model. As with any model, there will be errors as the earth is not a simple mathematical shape to represent. What this means is that if you are walking on the seashore, and see your altitude as -15 meters, you should not be concerned. First, the geodetic model of the earth can have much more than this amount of error at any specific point and Second, you have the GPS error itself to add in. As a result of this combined error, I am not surprised to be at the seashore and see -40 meter errors in some spots.
In our apps following data fields are affected if you have no watch with barometric altimeter:
- UP
- DOWN
- GRADE in %
- PWR, A_PWR, M_PWR (if not derived from a compatible ANT+ power sensor)
- VSPD 10s, VSPD 30s, A_VSPD, M_VSPD
What is the purpose of the FREE Version?
The FREE Version is fully functional and offers you a basic feature set which allows you to test the application intensively without any risk on your Garmin wearable. If you like it and would like to have a more advanced feature set, please donate to upgrade to the PREMIUM Version.
How to upgrade to the PREMIUM Version?
If you like this application and would like to have more advanced features as well, please donate to upgrade to the PREMIUM Version. After donation we will sent you the unlock key latest within 12 hours in a separate mail. If you do not receive a mail within this time frame, please send us a mail.
I did not get the unlock keys for the PREMIUM Version after donation?
After successful donation you will get a mail with the unlock keys and the activation information for the selected PREMIUM Version(s). If this is not the case, please do following:
- Check whether the mail went to your JUNK or SPAM folder
- Write a mail to RH-SPORTS to request the keys
Please note that otherwise we have no chance to contact you to provide the keys.
Where can I find the program on my watch?
This Garmin Connect IQ™ program is designed as an application (and not as data field or widget). Please refer to your Garmin manual to get a description how to start applications.
Why is an update of the firmware required?
Some users reported that an update of the firmware is requested even though the latest firmware is already installed. In such a case, please try out following options:
- update your Garmin Express or Garmin Mobile software (if you don´t have the latest versions installed)
- reboot once your watch
The program does not start after installation?
Some users reported that the application does not start immediately after installation. In most of the cases a page with the IQ! symbol is shown. In all known cases it was sufficient to once reboot the Garmin watch. Afterwards the problems were gone. If this does not help in your case, please write a short bug report.
What to do if the watch reboots after session start?
Especially on Fenix 3 and Fenix 3 HR devices with firmware version of 6.90 respectively 2.20 some users compliant that the application crashes some seconds after starting a session. After intensive debugging and checks on 3 different Fenix 3 watches we found out that the problem is related with the bluetooth connection. If you DISABLE the bluetooth connection on your mobile phone, the problems are gone.
Update from 05.05.2016 (GOOD NEWS):
We have tested all our Apps with the new official Fenix 3 and Fenix 3 firmware versions V7.00 respectively V3.00 and the problems are gone. Additionally the bluetooth stability looks to be more stable too. Please update the firmware version via the official way Garmin offers.
What to do if the data fields are empty after registration?
Some users reported that the data fields are empty after switching to the PREMIUM Version by entering the provided key after donation. The problem does not appear in the FREE Version. An investigation has shown that the problem only occurs when the configuration is done via the Garmin Mobile app on Android-based mobile phones. We reported the problem already to Garmin as the configuration handling is out of scope of our app. As long as this is not solved, following work-arounds are possible:
Heart Rate is not picked up properly on the Vivoactive HR
Some users reported that the heart rate is not picked up properly on the Vivoactive HR with the build-in HR. Investigations have shown that this seems to be a problem of the firmware of the Vivoactive HR or of the watch settings.
10.05.2016: We have reported the issue to Garmin and cannot offer a work-around right now.
14.05.2016: Other application developers mentioned the same problems. The propability for a Garmin firmware bug is very resonable. Please also click on this link to see the Garmin forum thread.
20.05.2016: Even though Garmin has released a new firmware V2.40 the problem with build-in HR is still available!
20.06.2016: Garmin released a new firmware V2.60 which AGAIN did not entirely fixed this problem but they promised to fix it in the next version. Lets wait and see if this is true ;-)
Update from 09.08.2016:
Garmin officially released the new firmware version 2.80. This version can be downloaded from Garmin Website by clicking here.
What to do if the application does not work?
We do our best to test the applications as good as possible. As we do not have all physical available devices and all ANT+ sensors with all combinations of Garmin firmware versions, we have to do most of the tests on the simulator provided by Garmin. If you detect problems with our application on your Garmin watch, please provide us detailed feedback via the offical bug report form in order we are able to understand and reproduce your problem. This gives us a fair chance to provide a fix as soon as possible.
Here the links to the application specific bug report forms:
THANK YOU VERY MUCH for YOUR SUPPORT!!!!
Copyright (c) 2016-2018 by Robert Hofer. All rights reserved.