In a first for the brand, the third-party messaging app brings full keyboard replies to the wrist
Garmin has taken a giant leap toward a fuller smartwatch experience, announcing a dedicated WhatsApp app for its Connect IQ Store.
The popular messenger becomes the first and only third-party messaging platform to offer a native experience on Garmin hardware, arriving for models such as the Fenix, Forerunner, Venu, and Vivoactive.
The app allows users to do much more than just read notifications; they can now view entire conversation threads, respond using a built-in keyboard, and send emojis or reactions directly from their wrist.
It also provides a streamlined interface that displays up to 10 chat messages at a time, and users can even see incoming calls (and decline them)—all while keeping their phone in their pocket or backpack.
Gaining on industry leaders
While Apple Watch and Wear OS users have enjoyed this level of connectivity for some time, Garmin’s arrival with this feature is a game-changer for athletes who don’t want to choose between superior training insights and wrist-based apps.
This release also follows closely on the heels of last week’s Garmin x Pokémon Sleep partnership, signaling a notable push from the company to make its ecosystem more attractive to daily-wear users.
Advertisement
By opening up its developer platform to global messaging brands like Meta’s WhatsApp, Garmin is finally proving that its Connect IQ platform has the momentum to compete with more traditional smartwatch operating systems.
It may even hint at more advanced LTE support—one that includes services like WhatsApp, not just its own inReach platform—trickling down from the Fenix 8 Pro in the future… but we won’t get carried away with talk of that just yet.
We’ll have a full explainer and tips and tricks for the new integration coming soon, so stay tuned if you’re a WhatsApp and Garmin user.
