Hello Everyone

I have a Garmin watch that i use everyday for health and activity tracking, i use the Garmin Connect app to sync the watch with GOS and that works seamlessly, but as a privacy oriented Fella i have concerns about the Connect app as it has 4 trackers and for it to show some basic information it needs to connect and sync to their servers to show you information that is on your watch ! which is stupid. One particular example is sleep tracking, it won't show you any information unless your personal information leave your device to their servers and that bothers me so much, so, my question is : is there any way i can workaround this !? is there any good alternative apps to do the job !? do you propose any other solution !?.
Thanks.

    I don't believe there is a work around. If I understand what you are asking correctly. Since it's a Garmin product it would need it's app to sync. I have a Garmin watch as well and I've accepted that if I do want a "smartwatch" than I will have to accept that they will know information about me. Smartwatches are trackers no ifs, ands, or buts. However, using graphene OS is a good path toward privacy in other areas.

      LedTasso i completely disagree with you on that front, no Garmin should not have my personal information or at least they should ask me if i would accept to share some information with them, i paid for their expensive products so the product is mine and my personal information are mine no question about it, as for the connect app i am ready to delete it and not use it if that's the solution.

        Bouzenzel they should ask me

        They did "ask you" - and you answered "Accept" or "Agree". Have you tried declining to see what functionality will still be available to you?
        Maybe you should also read TOS to see if the product you think you bought is the product you actually purchased

          f13a-6c3a but you know that we are forced to accept the agreement to be able to use the app and that's not ASKING ! asking means choice, i choose to give my information not to take by force, and i am OK to delete the app as it doesn't respect my privacy expectations. What is TOS !?

            I am reading this a little bit late... I ordered a Garmin because I read on reddit that it´s one of the few watches that you can use offline. You can download the data file to your local PC and visualize them locally without the need to use their servers.
            And now it seems that wasn´t true according to the discussion here. Shame... Probably have to return it as soon as it arrives.

              These guys are trying to de-fang smart watches; maybe of interest to some of you.

              https://www.gadgetbridge.org/

              • I find my apple watch a VERY useful addition to the IPhone (but I no longer trust Apple for either privacy or security) and am looking for a "partner" watch for my P7.

              • IMHO 't'would be good if GOS users started posting successes (and failures) using smart watches privately.

                f13a-6c3a
                Declining TOS is basically not an option on most things, because the product won't work if you don't accept it. That's a coercive practice since you've already purchased the product.

                  f13a-6c3a Yes i did, you can stop Garmin from obtaining your information on the Connect app , if you do the app will be practically useless, you will be prone to enter your activity information manually ! and there will be no live readings of your health status !! and there will be no sleep tracking no stress tracking no pedometer, basically you can't have anything, that's why i said that we are forced to accept the agreement which not an agreement obviously. Ohh ! also i did read the privacy policy of Garmin and they stated it clearly that our information is not secure and can be shared with 3rd parties as Garmin sees that beneficial !.

                  maximus87 No ! you can still download your data and visualize it offline and you can still not use the app and the watch works fine, the discussion here is about the Connect app and privacy, basically you can't use the app if you don't agree to send your data to Garmin and thats a shame for a company that market privacy as a central feature of their watches,they should give us the choice to share or don't our personal data with keeping the app useful but that's not the case unfortunately.

                  abcZ Klaus Schwab made it very clear : " You will own nothing and you will be happy " !! and the people of this day & age will make it very easy and simple for him to achieve this goal unfortunately ! i was and Apple user but when a saw their practices of anti-repair campaigns and lobbying plus the change in their business model to an ads company i immediately ditched my Apple devices to a more secure and privacy oriented choices.

                    Bouzenzel You're preaching to the choir. Always a pleasure to see other people with eyes open.

                    newbie24689

                    • About GOS : That's a great idea ! i would love to see that happening.
                    • About the project : do you know if the T-REX is supported or not in Gadgetbridge !?

                      Now I understand. I just tried the App and there is nothing to be done without creating an account... Bad design...

                      9 days later

                      So, I just set mine up with a tempmail (firefox addin) address, entered default info in airplane mode and then revoked network permission, it now works fine to control media playback (my fave feature). The tempmail only got a welcome to garmin email, no verification required. Steps update in the app offline fine. Garmin's sleep monitoring is for shit anyway (although more current models are apparently better, if not great, my VA3 is ~ 5 years old, still gets 3 days battery life tho). I'll get back to you with activities sometime, I do those via computer anyway. All in all, not that bad so far. It wants phone permissions etc, but that just lets you answer or decline on the watch, by which time I've picked it up. SMS allows a few canned responses, it's been useful on the occasional ride, but I'd prefer that to be me time. Anyway I declined those, we shall see.
                      Oh, installed from aurora fine without any google services.

                      If anyone follows my lead, if I'd thought about it longer I'd have turned on my VPN before registering, that'd be pretty damn anonymous. Oh well, they still aren't getting my data.

                        I've been thinking about getting a garmin as it also seems to be the only way to use nfc payments with GOS. Apparently the only way to keep the data private is not using the app, though I'm not sure how functional doing everything from the watch screen would be.

                          morphiak if you revoke network permission they get none of you, still Garmin is a good choice ...

                          tripodchief it is fine if you wanna do everything from the watch, you can pretty much do everything and yes for payments Garmin is the best choice i know ...