Garmin smartwatches to receive new features through Connect update

Garmin smartwatches are connected to a smartphone via the Garmin Connect App. This app is soon to receive a number of new features, as Garmin Rumors was able to find out. First and foremost, the social features are to be expanded. Instead of only offering friend requests that have to be confirmed, as was previously the case, it will soon be possible to follow other accounts unilaterally. Those who follow each other will continue to be counted as friends.

LiveTrack and GroupTrack will be integrated into these new social features, making it easier to share your live location with friends during a run or bike ride. A feature called "Authorized Viewer" grants another Garmin Connect user full read access to the collected data, so that it is possible to compare data with friends or let a fitness coach take a look at your performance. In line with this, Garmin is to develop improved privacy settings that allow users to fine-tune who can see which data.

Children's accounts will reportedly only have very limited access to these social features. Garmin Connect will also offer better structured training plans, which will be divided into "Beginner", "Challenger" and "Achiever" levels depending on ability. Users can set the difficulty of different training plans and specify goals that should be taken into account. Finally, Garmin aims to improve the nutrition tracking workflow. It is not yet clear whether some of these planned functions will require a Garmin Connect+ subscription.