Forums >Technical Support>Automatic sync with Garmin Connect
Hi Eric. First of all, thanks for all you do on the site to keep things ticking over. Not sure if this has been covered in a previous thread, but have you thought about the possibility of auto syncing with Garmin Connect, similar to how Strava pulls in the data?
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/08/automatic-mapmyfitness-endomondo.html
Not sure what this would entail on your end, but figured I'd throw it out there in case it was doable.
Apologies, Eric - I just read about the $5,000 Garmin Connect Access Program:http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/06/counterpoint-garmin-sync-api.html
Hi britishbulldog,
I am working on adding this functionality. I wrote about it in this thread:
http://www.runningahead.com/forums/post/6b2d6bfe65354e85ab979c33382386c1#focus
The $5,000 is still problematic.
eric
Thanks for the reply, Eric. I missed that thread..
Just purchased a 1-year subscription and made a small additional donation to the site. Appreciate everything you do on here,
--Steve
I just subscribed and donated as well. I am sure you have considered this already but I'd bet you could raise a large chunk of the Garmin license fee with a short message and a link on the "Import GPS" page.
My Garmin 220 uploads straight to Garmin connect via my phone automagically. If RA grabbed from there I'd never need to worry about watch/computer connections/plug-ins, etc... again. I could log runs from any internet browser. Right now all my runs automatically go to GC and Strava as backup and I only look at these sites once or twice a month.
If a kickstarter or similar campaign were to materialize to raise that $5000 I'm in for at minimum $100. I'm also willing to badger others to contribute.
Agreed. 500 users at $10 a piece, and you've raised the $5,000.
It sounds simple but is not quite that simple. Eric provides this site free of charge as long as you do not mind advertisements showing up. He gets some revenue from those advertisements. A small percentage of us elect to turn off the advertisements and pay him additional $ each year. The combination of our donations and the $ he receives from the advertising cover his costs of keeping this site operating (server space, backups, etc). The $5000 would be additional funds that he would have to receive to gain access to the proprietary API. It does not cover Eric's time to do the programming.
Additionally, one has to question why Garmin went to a proprietary model. They took care of their partners - TrainingPeaks, Strava, and some others - but basically cut off access for all others.
It sounds simple but is not quite that simple. Eric provides this site free of charge as long as you do not mind advertisements showing up. He gets some revenue from those advertisements. A small percentage of us elect to turn off the advertisements and pay him additional $ each year. The combination of our donations and the $ he receives from the advertising cover his costs of keeping this site operating (server space, backups, etc). The $5000 would be additional funds that he would have to receive to gain access to the proprietary API. It does not cover Eric's time to do the programming. Additionally, one has to question why Garmin went to a proprietary model. They took care of their partners - TrainingPeaks, Strava, and some others - but basically cut off access for all others.
If the API were $0 I bet Eric would consider implementing it. It's also possible the upgrade could benefit RA in attracting new users. Like it or not this kind of functionality will probably be increasingly necessary in the future for RA to compete and for us to continue enjoying using it.
How do you know Strava, etc... Were "taken care of?" Perhaps $5G just scales better to their business models and they didn't flinch. Perhaps Garmin knows that.
Strava has at least 90 full time employees and advertises on TV. They raised $18.5million in venture money in October.
Yeah they're not sweating the 5k.
Runners run
Thank you for those of you that had bought a subscription, and extra thanks if you contributed an additional amount.
I'm all for adding anything that makes RA easier to use. At the same time, I'm operating on a shoe string budget. As runmichigan pointed out, most of the money I receive goes to operating the site. I had to replace the failing backup server earlier this year and that set me back some. The $5,000 is a significant amount of money for a site that does not impose a membership fee.
I am moving ahead with the integration. Most of the pieces already exists. I am hoping that someone from Garmin (Joe) can convince the powers that be to waive the fee. If not, it'll just be another cost of running a website.
Rereading my post above I don't like my word choice of "compete." What I really meant was relevant and compatible with the tech we will be using and meeting new users expectations.
Currently I only buy Garmin because it works with RA. I don't have much faith that the next generation of Garmin watches will continue to support Communicator. I'm saying this from the standpoint of someone who enjoys RA and wants to see it flourish.
Will Crew for Beer
As X is alluding to in his above post, if I have a choice of 3 GPS watches and one of them autosyncs to RA and the other 2 do not I would be more inclined to buy the one that autosyncs to RA. Maybe Garmin would take this into consideration?
Rule number one of a gunfight, bring a gun. Rule number two of a gunfight, bring friends with guns.
I have mentioned in another post. Garmin is being squeezed out by the mobile revolution and Google. Garmin makes it money by selling GPS devices. Smart phones are replacing traditional automotive navigational and wrist based devices. Google has discontinued support for browser plugins so the communicator plugin has stopped working for many users.
The workaround is to have a desktop based application to upload the workouts to Garmin Connect. The API would then send the uploaded workouts to other websites. It's a clunky solution, but it would allow Garmin to build a pseudo web garden.
Other GPS manufacturers such as Timex, Nike/Tom Tom, Polar, etc have created their own web gardens. I would like to add support for these devices, but the task is nearly impossible because these companies do not publish their file format. RA also doesn't have the clout to negotiate with these companies to become a partner. There are many things I can and wish to do, but lack the resources. I'm exploring other opportunities. If they pan out, then I would have more wiggle room.
Thanks.
Speaking of the mobile revolution... I'd like to give a shout out to the Runforth iPhone app that integrates with RA. It works great and is my backup when my watch is not with me or dead.