Garmin’s new Connect IQ app makes it easier to find apps for your smartwatch

Garmin for a long time had nestled the Connect IQ app into its mainline Connect app. It was hidden away in the menus and opened up an in-app browser to allow you to download apps and faces for your Garmin watch.
It worked, but it all felt a bit bolted on. Garmin is fixing that with the brand new Connect IQ app, which is a full-blown Garmin app store for both iOS and Android that makes it easier to download faces and apps for your smartwatch.
Read this: The best Garmin IQ appsThe existing Connect IQ Store had a lot of problems. For one, it wasn’t mobile friendly, making it difficult to use. It was also a bit rudimentary. Each app type, from watch face to data field, only had three sortable options: most popular, most recent and highest rated. That made discovering new apps difficult – which was already difficult thanks to ease of use and it being nestled away in a menu.
The new Connect IQ Store app solves that in a number of ways. First, it’s an actual app that makes it much easier to use on the go, when you might want to browse and look for a new app. Second, there are a large number of catalogs that apps are divided into. For example there are categories like Digital Watch Faces, Training Metrics, Out to Sea, Fun Watch Faces, Weather at a Glance and more.
Garmin is also including Face It! integration, which will allow you to create your own custom smartwatch faces with your own photos. The new app will also let you easier turn on or off automatic updates, managing installed apps and checking storage space.
A more usable app store is a need for Garmin, especially as it looks to create more luxury smartwatches like the Marq collection that might appeal to people more than its industrious-looking adventure watches does. The new Connect IQ app is available now in both the App Store and Google Play.