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#Garmin vivoactive 3 download
You can designate a downloaded app as a "favorite" so it shows up when you press the side button to bring up your favorite activities, but I wish Garmin had programmed a separate menu specifically for downloaded apps onto the Vivoactive 3.ĭespite its kinks, the Connect IQ store provides a place for Garmin users to download programs that make their experiences using the company's devices better. The only thing I don't like about downloading apps to the Vivoactive 3 is that they're mixed in with sport profiles, so you'll have to find them buried in the sport profile menu when you want to use them. I also downloaded a stopwatch widget, a cool Pomodoro app for keeping track of work time and breaks, and a Garmin-made heart-rate zone data field (some Garmin-made programs are available in the Connect IQ store, mixed with third-party programs). I downloaded a few watch faces that, while aesthetically busy, show me everything I'd want to see directly on the watch face: time, date, current heart rate, steps taken, number of unseen alerts, and battery life. The Connect IQ store isn't the easiest to browse, nor are all the downloadable programs as polished as they should be, but there are some cool things you can download to your Vivoactive 3.
Garmin has more than watch faces and apps in this store: there are also data fields (different types of data that can be tracked using a Garmin device) and widgets (almost like pared-down apps that are accessible with just a swipe of the watch face) made by third-party developers. You'll have to log in again (even after logging in to the main Connect app) to access the Connect IQ store through a pop-up window. The Connect IQ store has always been a bit janky and remains oddly displaced from the rest of Garmin Connect. You can't do that on the Fitbit Ionic, which only allows one watch face on the device at a time. The Vivoactive 3 is more like the Apple Watch in this way, because you can have many watch faces on the device at once and switch between them with ease. You can download others from the Connect IQ store in the Connect mobile app and load those onto the watch as well.
The first thing you can change is the watch face itself, and Garmin has a number of preloaded designs on the Vivoactive 3. Watch faces and Connect IQĪ complete list of on-device settings is available when you long-press the display from your watch face. You can easily edit these controls in the Garmin Connect app as well, keeping the ones you use the most on your device and deleting those you don't use at all. Every setting in the display menu is represented by a small icon positioned around the circumference of the screen.
#Garmin vivoactive 3 manual
A long-press of the side button brings up the display menu that gives you access to a bunch of quick controls, including display brightness, flashlight (similar to the Apple Watch's flashlight mode), manual sync, silent mode, Garmin Pay, and power on/off. Similarly to other Garmin devices, the Vivoactive 3 can ring your smartphone if you can't find it using the Find My Phone feature.
#Garmin vivoactive 3 series
The Vivoactive 3 isn't like the Apple Watch Series 3-you can't speak through the watch and take a phone call on the device, but you can accept an incoming call from the display and immediately begin talking through your smartphone. When someone calls you, their name or number pops up on the device's display, and you can answer or end the call on the device as well. Similar options are available for any notification, including e-mails, so there's little you can do with alerts on the Vivoactive 3. I tested the device with an iPhone, so I only saw a snippet of each message and the option to clear the alert.
#Garmin vivoactive 3 android
I prefer Fitbit's smartphone alert filter, which includes calls, texts, and calendar alerts by default and lets you pick and choose the third-party apps that you want to push alerts to your wrist.Īndroid users rarely get wearable features that iOS users don't, but that's the case with the Vivoactive 3: Android users get to respond to text messages directly on the device with canned responses. This will be inconvenient for anyone who relies heavily on third-party apps for calls and texts. Unfortunately, there's no in-between-either your watch receives all smartphone notifications, only call alerts, or nothing at all. The Vivoactive 3 can receive every alert your smartphone gets, but you can turn off all notifications except for calls if you wish.