Expanding the selection of communication apps available for its range of smartwatches, Garmin has announced the availability of a new WhatsApp app for a number of its devices.
While the watch app does not give the full WhatsApp experience that will be familiar to users of the mobile apps, it provides access to enough of the features to make it at least worth taking a look.
Commenting on the release, Nikhil Joshi – Director of Product Management at Meta – said: “WhatsApp helps people stay connected no matter what platform they use. We’re proud to bring WhatsApp to Garmin smartwatches, so that more people can keep their private conversations going right from their wrist”.
Sharing details of what the app can do, Garmin says:
When using the WhatsApp app on their smartwatch, Garmin customers can:
- View recent messages and conversations at a glance
- Read and reply to messages using the built-in keyboard
- Quickly send emojis and reactions to messages
- See more chat history with up to 10 messages shown on screen
- See incoming calls with the option to decline
As always, personal messages and calls on WhatsApp remain protected by end-to-end encryption, so only the user and the person they are talking to can read or listen to them.
Garmin Vice President of Consumer Sales and Marketing, Susan Lyman, adds:
Collaborating with WhatsApp underscores the strength and momentum of the Garmin Connect IQ ecosystem. By bringing a global messaging brand like WhatsApp to select Garmin smartwatches, we’re giving customers another meaningful way to stay connected—whether they’re training, exploring or simply on the move.
The full list of compatible Garmin devices is as follows:
- D2™ Air X15
- Enduro™ 3
- fēnix® 8 AMOLED (43mm)
- fēnix® 8 AMOLED (47mm/51mm), quatix® 8 AMOLED (47mm/51mm)
- fēnix® 8 Pro, fēnix® 8 Pro – 47 mm AMOLED, fēnix® 8 Pro – 51 mm AMOLED, fēnix® 8 Pro – 51 mm MicroLED, quatix® 8 Pro – 47mm AMOLED, quatix® 8 Pro – 51mm AMOLED
- fēnix® 8 Solar (47mm), fēnix® 8 Dual Power (47mm)
- fēnix® 8 Solar (51mm), fēnix® 8 Dual Power (51mm)
- fēnix® E
- Forerunner® 570 – 42mm
- Forerunner® 570 – 47mm
- Forerunner® 970
- tactix® 8 – 47 mm, AMOLED, tactix® 8 – 51 mm, AMOLED
- tactix® 8 – 51 mm, Solar, tactix® 8 – 51 mm, Solar, Elite
- Venu® 4 – 41 mm
- Venu® 4 – 45 mm
- Venu® X1
- vívoactive® 6
WhatsApp for Garmin device is available to download free of charge from ConnectIQ. Garmin point that that in order to use the app on a smartwatch, it is necessary to have the WhatsApp mobile app installed on your iPhone or Android device.
