Blog
What the platform enforces, what a watch face costs in battery, and which free faces in the store are worth installing.
Always-on on a Garmin AMOLED: what the 10 % rule actually means
Garmin lets a watch face stay lit in always-on mode only under three rules. Here is what they are, what changed with API 5.0.0, and what they do to a design.
Do Garmin watch faces drain the battery?
Some do, some do not, and the price tag tells you nothing. What actually costs power on a Garmin watch face, and how to judge one before you install it.
The best free Garmin watch faces in 2026
An honest look at the free end of the Connect IQ Store: which faces are genuinely free, what each one is good at, and where they fall short.
Free or trialware? How to tell before you install a Garmin watch face
The Connect IQ free filter takes a listing at its word. Four things to check in the description so you do not end up with a watermark on your wrist.
How to install and customize a Garmin watch face
Installing a Connect IQ watch face takes under a minute. What it shows is set partly on the watch and partly in Garmin Connect, where people get stuck.