Garmin adds watchfaces and more apps to its app store

Garmin doesn’t person the champion third-party app store, but it’s astatine slightest getting a spot amended starting today. You’ll present beryllium capable to marque purchases successful the Connect IQ store utilizing Garmin Pay, positive there’s a fistful of caller watchfaces and a GoPro app.

Previously, downloading apps from the Garmin Connect IQ store could beryllium a existent pain, arsenic determination wasn’t an casual mode to wage for apps that weren’t free. (Even escaped apps similar Spotify could sometimes beryllium a headache to download and install.)

The different occupation with Connect IQ is that determination simply aren’t a ton of apps compared to Google Play oregon Apple’s App Store. And portion that’s inactive an issue, today’s announcement does bring immoderate bigger names to Connect IQ. That includes 4 Disney-themed watchfaces, including characters from Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars. Porsche added 3 watchfaces, portion play marque TaylorMade has added one. There’s besides a fig of space-themed watchfaces present too.

Perhaps much breathtaking to the mean Garmin idiosyncratic is the caller GoPro Camera Control app. With it, you tin link a GoPro camera to your ticker and usage it to halt and commencement recordings, arsenic good arsenic instrumentality pictures.

According to Garmin, watchfaces and apps volition person a suggested retail terms of $4.99. It’s not unheard of for apps oregon watchfaces to outgo money, though $5 is beauteous steep — particularly erstwhile determination are truthful galore different escaped options and particularly erstwhile Google, Samsung, and Apple springiness a wider assortment of watchfaces for free.

In the expansive strategy of things, this mightiness look a tad underwhelming compared to Garmin’s competitors. But extracurricular of Google, Apple, and Samsung, determination aren’t galore third-party smartwatch makers with immoderate benignant of app store. Fitbit had 1 earlier it got bought by Google, but it was mostly a repository for third-party watchfaces and experimental features. More importantly, Apple and Samsung person released rugged smartwatches successful the past fewer years and proceed to adhd much precocious fittingness tracking features. It lone makes consciousness that Garmin is trying to beef up its app store to amended compete. Aside from today’s announcement, Garmin besides precocious announced it added YouTube Music to the Connect IQ store, shoring up its euphony playback capabilities.