Watch app how-to guides

These workflows start from an open Watch app project unless they say otherwise.

Build a multi-screen flow

1. Keep the Home page as the entry screen.
2. Add the destination screen from the screen manager.
3. Add a button or selectable control to Home.
4. Set its action to navigate to the destination.
5. Add a Back or dismiss action where needed.
6. Open Preview and test the route with the target watch’s input style.

Open design checks if a screen is marked unreachable. Every non-entry screen needs a valid path from the entry flow.

Show content from app state

1. Open Settings → App state and add a boolean, number, or string field.
2. Choose session or persisted scope and set its default.
3. Add a metric and bind it to the field, or add a control action that changes it.
4. Add a visibility rule when a layer should appear only for a matching value.
5. Preview several values and confirm the screen still explains what happened.

Add an activity workflow

1. Enable activity support in app settings.
2. Choose the interruption policy.
3. Add controls for the activity commands you need, such as start, pause, lap, stop, and save.
4. Add custom FIT fields only when the app supplies those values during recording.
5. Preview the complete session, including a cancellation or interruption.
6. After installation, record and sync a short test activity.

Add a map or route

1. Enable maps and choose route selection, off-course alerts, and a low-power fallback.
2. Add a Map layer to the intended screen.
3. Add navigation and status content around it.
4. Preview unavailable and low-power behavior.
5. Supply normalized route geometry and progress through the generated runtime integration.

Maps derive the positioning permission. A preview route does not prove that the watch has a GPS fix.

Connect a sensor

1. Add a sensor profile and choose native, ANT+, or Bluetooth transport.
2. Set whether it is required and how reconnection should work.
3. Add zones and high or low alerts when useful.
4. Add a Sensor or Metric layer and bind it to the profile.
5. Preview connected, disconnected, and missing-data states.

Bluetooth features require Connect IQ 3.1 or later. Studio checks the selected watch before building.

Add pairing

1. Enable pairing and choose QR or code.
2. Configure account linking or device naming if the flow needs them.
3. Add a QR code or a control with a pair action.
4. Add success, waiting, and failure feedback.
5. Preview each pairing state before building.

Configure a hardware command

1. Add a hardware control in app settings.
2. Set its transport, command identifier, value range, step, default, mode, and firmware limits.
3. Choose a risk level and an appropriate confirmation requirement.
4. Configure acknowledgement, timeout, maximum attempts, recovery fixtures, and an undo window if the device supports rollback.
5. Add a Hardware control layer and connect it to the configuration.
6. Preview success, failure, timeout, disconnection, recovery, and undo.
7. Implement and register the generated hardware adapter before relying on the build.

The generated runtime never guesses whether a risky command succeeded. Ambiguous results fail closed and are not retried automatically.

Reuse screens and layers

Duplicate a screen when a new step should begin with the same structure. Save selected layers as an element kit when you want to reuse a smaller pattern in another Watch app. The copied content is independent, so later edits do not change the original.

Build and install a Watch app

1. Fix blocking design and compatibility issues.
2. Complete desktop build setup.
3. Choose Build and review the target, Connect IQ requirement, and permissions.
4. Create the .prg, then continue to Install.
5. Connect the exact target watch with a data-capable USB cable.
6. Install the build and open it from the watch’s activity and app list.
7. Test permissions, navigation, Back behavior, sensors, activities, and hardware workflows on the device.

Browser design and preview do not run Garmin’s compiler or a real device protocol. Building and USB transfer require the desktop app.