Free or trialware? How to tell before you install a Garmin watch face
You filter the Connect IQ Store by free, install a face, and three taps into the settings a code is demanded. Nothing was hidden — the information was in the description, where nobody reads it. Here is what to look for.
Four signals in the description
An unlock code. Any mention of a settings code, an activation key, a separate app to buy, or a website to visit in order to enable features means the listing is a trial wearing a free label. Several payment systems for Connect IQ work exactly this way, and they are legitimate; they are just not free.
A time limit. Words like trial, demo or evaluation next to a number of days mean the face will start nagging, watermarking or blanking out on a schedule. A face that behaves normally for a week and then breaks is worse than one that costs two dollars up front.
A feature split. A fixed design with no configuration can be genuinely free. The question is whether the description says which settings are included. If it lists what the paid version adds, you know where you stand. If it lists features without saying which are locked, assume the good ones are.
Permissions that do not match. A plain clock asking for location, or a face asking for internet access it has no visible use for, is worth a second look. A face should only request what it displays: weather needs location, a digital dial needs almost nothing.
What free should mean
No code, no countdown, no watermark, and every setting the description mentions is there after install. That is all it takes, and plenty of listings still fail it.
If you already installed one
Remove the face from the watch through the Connect IQ app or on the device itself, and it is gone from the watch along with the settings stored there. Settings you changed in the Garmin Connect app are also kept in your Garmin account, which Garmin manages; removing the face does not touch them. There is no account to close with the developer. If you paid through Garmin's store and want a refund, that goes through Garmin, not the developer.
Why this concerns us
We publish a face that is free in full, so we do not read this neutrally. But trial faces labelled free are why many people stop trying third-party faces, and that hits everyone who builds them, including the developers who charge honestly for good work. If a face costs five dollars, the description should say five dollars. Our own listing is the short version of the check above: no code, no trial, no account, settings included. If that is what you are after, Umbra is in the store; if not, the free faces roundup has the alternatives.