How WristGrid puts Garmin data on your iPhone

WHY THIS PIPELINE EXISTS

Garmin data needs a companion path to become an iPhone widget.

Garmin does not provide a public widget API for this use case. GW Bridge (Connect IQ) runs on the watch, while the iPhone app communicates using Garmin's official Connect IQ iOS companion SDK, declared in the app's project.yml, with Garmin Connect Mobile installed for device authorization. WristGrid handles normalization and the iOS widget snapshot.

This also keeps responsibilities clear: Garmin supplies watch-native readings, WristGrid computes its own sleep, recovery, and training-load scores, and WidgetKit presents the result.

STEP BY STEP

What happens to a reading.

1. The watch records the signal. Garmin-native metrics such as steps, Body Battery, heart rate, stress, SpO2, and recovery time start on the watch.
2. GW Bridge passes selected data onward. GW Bridge (Connect IQ) runs on the compatible watch; the iPhone app communicates using Garmin's official Connect IQ iOS companion SDK, with Garmin Connect Mobile installed for device authorization.
3. WristGrid normalizes and stores it. The iPhone app writes local stores and computes WristGrid-derived sleep score, recovery score, and training load from the relevant inputs.
4. The app writes an App Group snapshot. This cached snapshot is the shared boundary between the full app and its WidgetKit extensions.
5. WidgetKit renders a family. Home Screen small and medium widgets or Lock Screen circular, rectangular, and inline widgets read the local snapshot and show the fields that fit.

TIMING & BOUNDARIES

Why widgets are not continuously live.

WidgetKit controls when a timeline entry is displayed and refreshed. A widget extension does not make a network request to Garmin, so it cannot bypass iOS scheduling to display a continuously live value.

The honest model is periodic refresh: the GW Bridge registers a 15-minute temporal event, Lock Screen timelines use 10-, 15-, or 30-minute intervals, and WidgetKit decides the actual timing. In practice, expect a refresh typically within 15–60 minutes rather than a guaranteed instant update.

IN PRACTICE

What a cache-only widget means for you.

• A widget can show the last good local snapshot when a newer reading is not available.
• A dash or stale state is an honest signal that the cache has no fresh value to display.
• Opening WristGrid can help force a fresh local snapshot; the watch, Garmin Connect Mobile, GW Bridge, and Bluetooth still need to be available.
• There is no account, no analytics SDK, and no cloud upload of your data.

REQUIREMENTS

The setup you need.

• iPhone with iOS 18 or later.
• Garmin Connect Mobile installed, with Bluetooth on.
• GW Bridge installed from the Connect IQ Store on a compatible watch.
• Currently supported profiles: Instinct 2S, vivoactive 5, and Forerunner 265.

For the product overview, see WristGrid for Garmin widgets on iPhone. For placement details, read the Garmin Lock Screen widget guide, Garmin Connect iPhone widget guide, and Home Screen setup guide.