Garmin adds watchfaces and more apps to its app store

Garmin doesn’t have the best third-party app store, but it’s at least getting a bit better starting today. You’ll now be able to make purchases in the Connect IQ Store using Garmin Pay, plus there’s a handful of new watchfaces and a GoPro app.

Previously, downloading apps from the Garmin Connect IQ Store could be a real pain, as there wasn’t an easy way to pay for apps that weren’t free. (Even free apps like Spotify could sometimes be a headache to download and install.)

The other problem with Connect IQ is that there simply aren’t a ton of apps compared to Google Play or Apple’s App Store. And while that’s still an issue, today’s announcement does bring some bigger names to Connect IQ. That includes four Disney-themed watchfaces, including characters from Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars. Porsche added three watchfaces, while golf brand TaylorMade has added one. There are also a number of space-themed watchfaces now, too.

Perhaps more exciting to the average Garmin user is the new GoPro Camera Control app. With it, you can connect a GoPro camera to your watch and use it to stop and start recordings as well as take pictures.

According to Garmin, watchfaces and apps will have a suggested retail price of $4.99. It’s not unheard of for apps or watchfaces to cost money, though $5 is pretty steep — especially when there are so many other free options and Google, Samsung, and Apple give a wider variety of watchfaces for free.

In the grand scheme of things, this might seem a tad underwhelming compared to Garmin’s competitors. But outside of Google, Apple, and Samsung, there aren’t many third-party smartwatch makers with any kind of app store. Fitbit had one before it got bought by Google, but it was mostly a repository for third-party watchfaces and experimental features. More importantly, Apple and Samsung have released rugged smartwatches in the past few years and continue to add more advanced fitness tracking features. It only makes sense that Garmin is trying to beef up its app store to better compete. Aside from today’s announcement, Garmin also recently announced it added YouTube Music to the Connect IQ Store, shoring up its music playback capabilities.