Garmin has pushed out version 5.22 of the Connect app on iOS, and it comes with a tweak people have been asking for. You can finally see live battery levels for your devices right in the device list.
It’s not exactly headline news. But this is one of those changes that feels long overdue. When you open the device switcher in the latest version of Garmin Connect, each connected watch now shows its current battery percentage. It sounds trivial, but it removes a small daily irritation that has been around for years.
Live battery levels at last
As long as the device is connected, it updates live, so you can see straight away how much charge is left. No need to tap through menus or wait for a sync to finish.
If you use more than one Garmin device, this makes a real difference. Swapping between a Forerunner, an Edge, or something like a Venu used to mean guessing or diving into each device page one by one. Now the info is just there, exactly where you would expect it to be.
Nothing about the actual battery tracking has changed. Garmin already did this part well. This update is purely about how that data is shown, but that is the whole point. The app finally stops hiding something you check all the time.
What makes the whole thing a bit funny is that this is not a new idea for Garmin. Back in the early Connect Mobile days around 2013 to 2015, battery status sometimes showed up in a basic form when a device was connected. You might see an icon or a rough indicator during sync, depending on the device and platform. It was inconsistent and often vague, but the concept was there. Over time, that quick glance view disappeared, and battery info got buried instead. This update feels like Garmin bringing back something that should never have gone missing.
Only on iOS for now
Alongside the battery change, Garmin has made a few subtle UI adjustments and bolted on a few general bug fixes in this release. As usual, the company does not go into detail on what exactly these are.
At the moment, version 5.22 is available on iOS. The Android release has not appeared yet, which is fairly typical for Garmin Connect updates. Android users will likely see the same changes roll out soon, assuming there are no platform specific issues.
Live battery levels in the device list will not change how you train or recover. What it does is remove friction. It saves time and reduces uncertainty, especially before workouts or travel. Good software is not only about adding new metrics or subscriptions. Sometimes it is about finally surfacing information that should have been obvious all along.
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