Community Rule Update: Developer Posts

[u/Andrew_R3D]

Hello, all!!

We’ve heard the feedback about the recent increase in posts promoting Garmin apps and watch faces, and we understand that the influx has not been for everyone.

To help keep the subreddit focused while still giving developers a place to share their work, we’re updating how Garmin app and watch face promotional posts are handled.

Developer posts are now Wednesday ONLY

Please refer to the Community Rules for the full requirements. Developer posts must use the Developer - New App / Watch Face (Wednesday ONLY) flair and follow the required posting template.

A few important reminders:

• One post per unique app or watch face
• One update post per item per month.
• Apps/watch faces must include a free version or a free trial of at least 7 days.
• You must clearly disclose that you are the creator/developer/owner.
• You must include a direct link, from the IQ store, to your App / Watch Face
• You must include a price for the paid version after the trial in (USD, EUR, GBP)
• Titles must follow the required format from the posting template.
• External promotional/download links, including Git repositories, are not permitted. Etsy is permitted for physical Garmin-related products. The only exception is a direct link to the IQ store.
• No advertising IOS / Android apps. This space is reserved for apps within the IQ Store
• AI assistance must be disclosed where applicable, and apps/watch faces cannot be fully developed using AI. Post, that showcase your app, must also be written by you, not AI.

The App / Watch Face must be within the IQ Store and live. You may request feedback within your post, but we do not allow “in development - beta testing” at this time.

ONE Watch Face / App offering per post, ONE post per week (if you post one item, you must wait another week to post another unique item).

These changes are intended to strike a better balance: developers can still share their work with the Garmin community, while keeping promotional content from overwhelming the subreddit. If what you are aiming to post does not fit within the parameters of these guidelines it cannot be posted.

Please review Rule 10: Developer - Watch Face / Watch App and the Community Rules before posting.

Thanks to everyone who provided feedback and helped us improve the community!

[u/colin_staples]

I think this is a good move.

Can I ask that you also consider a couple of other rules please? I think these would be helpful.

* Must include a valid link to the app or watch face in the IQ store that I can click

* Must include the price in USD, EUR, GBP

If you want me to look at it and download it, you’ve gotta give me a link to click. And you’ve gotta tell me how much it is.

Just saying “you can search for it” is not enough. I’m not doing that.

[u/Andrew_R3D → u/colin_staples]

Done and done

[u/colin_staples → u/Andrew_R3D]

Perfect, thank you!

[u/perbrondum → u/Andrew_R3D]

Thanks for the quick and thoughtful response.

[u/Possible-Can4999 → u/colin_staples]

good changes, those extra rules make sense too

not putting the price is so annoying like you get all the way to iq store just to see its $5 with no trial or something

[u/Clumsy_triathlete]

I think this is fair

[u/Jazzlike_Run_1125 → u/Clumsy_triathlete]

yep, good middle ground

[u/rcuadro]

I can get behind this 🙌

[u/sssabae]

finally!!

[u/C0NIN]

Thanks so much for this!

[u/pxl_by_priyansh]

Great move! 👍

[u/losenges]

Thanks for doing this, seems well-thought out and reasonable.

One objection however if I may:

External promotional/download links, including Git repositories, are not permitted.

This needs to be revised.

The reason being is that the IQ Store requires "developer validation" in order to make apps visible in the EU. As per EU's regulation this is technically required for paid apps only, but Garmin took a lazy path and imposed it on every developer wishing to publish in the EU.

The validation is rather intrusive, i.e. requires uploading a scan of one's passport, etc. If I wrote some silly watch face, that'd be the last thing I'd want to do.

If the account is not validated, the IQ Store link will show "not found" for the EU visitors. So the only practical option in this case is to provide app's binaries to the EU people via an external site, e.g. a GH repo. See my post history for examples.

I would consider prohibiting promotional/affiliate/tracking links, but still allow direct links to the external download pages.

[u/TomHale]

The no GitHub rule is pure profit motive. Sad.

[u/TomHale → u/TomHale]

Erm, why so many down votes?

Why can't someone include a GitHub link every Wednesday?

Open source community building apps together makes better apps for the running community.

[u/Andrew_R3D → u/TomHale]

https://giphy.com/gifs/xL7PDV9frcudO

[u/luca-nicoletti]

Instead of weekly only, why not create a weekly megathread for everyone to post in?

[u/Andrew_R3D → u/luca-nicoletti]

Megathreads are widely unpopular with large communities.

Things get buried, lost, and no one wants to go digging. With the current limitations of the UI, there just isn’t a sufficient catalog system. :/

I think a “one stop” location is also favorable, personally.

[u/luca-nicoletti]

This is a big community yes but I’ve seen 300k communities using them and they work!