Garmin is finally giving its smartwatches a feature that\u2019s been missing for a while:\u00a0proper WhatsApp support with replies. <\/p>\n
The update is rolling out now via the Connect IQ Store, bringing messaging functionality to a wide range of newer Garmin models.<\/p>\n
Up until now, most Garmin watches could only mirror notifications from your phone. Replying was limited, and if you were using an iPhone, it wasn\u2019t really an option at all. This update changes that, letting users\u00a0view and respond to WhatsApp<\/a> messages directly from their wrist, regardless of platform.<\/p>\n The feature is landing on a fairly extensive list of devices, including the Fenix 8 series<\/a>, Enduro 3<\/a>, Tactix 8<\/a>, Venu 4<\/a>, Vivoactive 6<\/a> and several Forerunner models like the 570<\/a> and 970<\/a>. In other words, most of Garmin\u2019s recent and often more premium watches are covered.<\/p>\n \n Advertisement <\/p>\n Getting started is straightforward. You\u2019ll need to install WhatsApp through the Garmin Connect IQ Store on your phone. Afterwards, link your account by scanning a QR code shown on the watch. Once that\u2019s done, your recent chats sync over, and you\u2019re good to go.<\/p>\n From there, you can read messages and reply using either a small on-screen keyboard with predictive text or Garmin\u2019s usual quick replies like \u201cThanks\u201d or \u201cSee you later.\u201d Emoji support is included too, which helps round out the experience.<\/p>\n There are still a few limits worth knowing about. You can only view your\u00a010 most recent conversations, and typing on the small display isn\u2019t exactly seamless, though predictive suggestions help. More notably, you\u00a0can\u2019t start a new message from scratch, so your phone still needs to stay nearby for that.<\/p>\n Even with those compromises, this is a meaningful upgrade. WhatsApp is one of the most widely used messaging platforms globally. Bringing proper interaction to Garmin watches makes them feel a lot closer to full smartwatches rather than just fitness-first devices.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not perfect yet, and support for more affordable models would be welcome, but as a step forward, it\u2019s a big one.<\/p>\n \n Advertisement <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Garmin is finally giving its smartwatches a feature that\u2019s been missing for a while:\u00a0proper WhatsApp support with replies.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":430585,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[203,61,60,80],"class_list":["post-430584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-gadgets","tag-gadgets","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=430584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/430584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/430585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=430584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=430584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=430584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}