Do note that it's very janky. By default web requests proxy via the phone - if you want to try wifi you have to switch into a "modal wifi mode" - do a batch of web requests and logic - then switch back into "normal" mode and then do something with the saved data.

You cannot push notifications from wifi but you could do:

1. request to open the app using a background service

2. toggle wifi mode

3. fetch the data and close the app

4. create watch notifications from the background service.

You may need to acknowledge the request to open the app with a button press - but I've also see examples of it just opening (not sure of conditions though).

If your Garmin is already paired with a wifi AP turn off your phone and give https://apps.garmin.com/apps/78a3fa7c-6f78-4d0e-94cd-b9bd874... a go to see the UX (needs Gemini API key).

The watches are chronically underpowered (great for battery life) and need a phone for internet anyway (inbuilt Sat/LTE is not available to devs) - so I've offloaded most of the heavy work to an Android (for now) companion app.

The key features:

- Use the phone mic (headphones or built-in) to dictate to the watch (on-board transcription) - the built-in keyboards are tough to use

- Reply to android notifications with voice (ie. WhatsApp/SMS)

- No extra costs for AI - you have a flagship mobile - all AI inference is on-device

- No internet access for watch or phone app - privacy first, local.

The apps:

- [Untether Comms](https://apps.garmin.com/apps/ac3c70e8-d631-49b9-a6f3-4335dc9...) - Reply to notifications with voice

- [Untether Notes](https://apps.garmin.com/apps/3984f15b-0924-428a-895e-c4c97a2...) - Voice notes automatically transcribed onto the watch

- Untether AI (coming soon) - Chat with Gemini Nano (or others) about your health metrics or anything without your phone

- [Companion Android App](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=watch.untether...)

It is very much still in Beta and might be pretty unstable!

MonkeyC is terrible; kind of like ancient Java without the ecosystem. Building for hundreds of different devices with different screen sizes, buttons and capabilities is tough. But it's the only way to build native Garmin apps. Making it work on the Fenix 5 (2017) was emotional. I was trying to get the WiFi sync to work but it appears that Garmin removed the WiFi capability at some point in the last year (missing symbols) and memory constraits (OOM issues) are real.

I then released it using Garmin's Connect IQ native Trial/Unlock capability - which unbeknown to me has been broken for 2 years - so I had to roll out a custom trial, unlock and payment platform within 14 days before my first potential users tried to buy. I've had 2 successful customers on ~200 downloads already with no marketing - just the app store listing.

But why? The watch is full of rich sensor data (HR, steps, age, VO2 max, GPS, elevation, magnetometer etc.). Sharing it as context with a simple prompt like "Am I fit" or "When is the next bus to X" works surprisingly well.

Works over WiFi (phone optional) or Bluetooth. Compatible with Fenix 5+ (8 years of devices).

Privacy: All API calls are done from the watch - no server-side component.

$4.99 one-time. Happy to discuss MonkeyC/Garmin pain or the BYOK model.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45901030

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