BluePadel for Garmin — User Manual
BluePadel for Garmin runs natively on Connect IQ — the developer platform that powers third-party apps on Garmin watches. Same scoring engine as the Wear OS build, same two layouts, same two-tap End confirmation. The big difference is where your match data lands: every finished match writes a standard FIT activity file that syncs to Garmin Connect alongside your runs, rides, and other workouts.
01About this build
The Garmin build is a Monkey C app distributed through the official Connect IQ Store at apps.garmin.com. It works the same way Garmin's first-party activities do: launch from the watch's Activities menu, score through the match, end the session, and the activity uploads to Garmin Connect on your phone next time the watch syncs.
What's included:
- Full padel scoring engine (best of 1 / 3 / 5, four deuce modes, optional super-tiebreak final set).
- Mexicano format (race to 21, 5-point serve blocks, warmup point counts as the first point).
- Americano format, both variants — Americano (pts) plays to a configurable points total (16 / 24 / 32), Americano (time) plays for a configurable wall-clock duration (10 / 15 / 20 minutes). Serve flips every 4 points in both. New in 1.3
- All seven match layouts: Half-and-half, Vertical stack, Centrepoint, Concentric, Broadcast, Diagonal Mirror, and Court Aerial. All skins on Garmin in 1.3
- Two-tap End confirmation, Undo, tennis-ball serve indicator.
- Heart-rate, step, distance, and calorie recording via Garmin's native activity framework.
- FIT export to Garmin Connect.
What isn't:
- On-watch shot detection (forehand / backhand / smash classification) — Wear OS only.
- Phone Companion app — the Garmin build uses Garmin Connect as its companion.
02Supported watches
BluePadel runs on Garmin watches that support Connect IQ 4 or newer and have a colour touch-or-button display. Approximate model coverage:
| Family | Models |
|---|---|
| Fēnix | fēnix 6 / 6S / 6X (Pro), fēnix 7 / 7S / 7X (Pro, Sapphire, Solar), fēnix 8 |
| Epix | epix Gen 2, epix Pro 42 / 47 / 51 |
| Forerunner | FR 245 / 255 / 265, FR 745 / 945 / 955 / 965, FR 165 |
| Venu | Venu 2 / 2S / 2 Plus, Venu 3 / 3S, Venu Sq 2 |
| Vivoactive | vívoactive 4 / 4S, vívoactive 5 |
| Instinct | Instinct 2 / 2S / 2X / Crossover, Instinct 3 |
| MARQ | MARQ Gen 2 (Athlete, Aviator, Captain, etc.) |
| D2 | D2 Mach 1, D2 Air X10 |
40+ watches in total across the active Garmin range. Older watches (Connect IQ 3 and below, or monochrome displays like the original vívoactive) aren't supported because BluePadel uses the modern colour-rendering and touch APIs.
The Connect IQ Store will tell you definitively whether your specific watch is compatible — if BluePadel appears in your Apps tab in the Garmin Connect Mobile app, it'll install.
03Install from Connect IQ
- Install the Garmin Connect app on your phone (iPhone or Android), if you don't already have it. Pair your watch through the app's standard onboarding flow.
- In Garmin Connect Mobile, tap the More tab → Connect IQ Store. Or open apps.garmin.com in a browser.
- Search for BluePadel. Tap the app, then tap Install. Pick which paired watch to install on if you have more than one.
- Your watch syncs with Garmin Connect over Bluetooth and pulls down the app. This usually takes under a minute. You'll see "BluePadel installed" once it's done.
- On the watch, press START from the watch face to open the activity picker. Scroll until you find BluePadel — it'll appear alongside Run, Ride, Walk, and so on.
.prg file shared directly), put your watch into developer mode through Connect IQ Sim or the Garmin Express side-load workflow. Production users always install via the public Connect IQ Store — there's no need for side-loading.
04First run on the watch
The first time you open BluePadel after installation, the watch will prompt you to grant the same activity-recording permissions it asks Garmin's first-party activities for: heart rate, GPS (optional — padel is indoors so off by default), and step tracking. Approve them once and they stick.
You'll then land on the same New match → Format screen as the Wear OS build.
05Start a new match
Four formats are available, cycled in order on the Format row:
Padel
Standard tennis-style scoring. Pick best-of and deuce mode on the next two screens.
Mexicano
Race to 21 points, serves switch every 5 points, the warmup-winning side starts the match with a free first point. No deuce, no tiebreaks — just a points race.
Americano (pts) New in 1.3
Single set, raw point counter, plays to a configurable total. Cycle through 16 / 24 / 32 on the Points row before starting. The serving side flips every 4 points (Us → Them → Us → …). Unlike Mexicano, the warmup is just for picking server — both sides start at 0.
Americano (time) New in 1.3
Same as Americano (pts) but ends on a wall-clock timer instead of a point cap. Cycle through 10 / 15 / 20 minutes on the Duration row. The match screen shows a live MM:SS countdown in the centre chip; whoever has more points when the clock runs out wins. A tie at expiry is recorded as a stopped match (no winner).
Scroll with the UP / DOWN buttons (or the touch wheel on watches that have one), then press START to select.
06Choose the rules
Best of
Best of 1 / 3 / 5 sets. First to 6 games per set, win-by-2, tiebreak to 7 at 6–6.
Deuce mode
| Mode | Behaviour |
|---|---|
| Advantage | Classic "win by 2" — deuce can repeat indefinitely. |
| Golden Default | Sudden death on the first deuce — single decisive rally. |
| Silver | One advantage allowed, then sudden death. |
| Bronze | Two advantages allowed, then sudden death. |
Super tiebreak final set
Toggle to play the deciding set as a single first-to-10 tiebreak instead of a full set. Defaults to on for Best of 3 and 5.
07Pick the first server
The Warmup screen asks "Who serves first?" — pick We serve or They serve. How the serve rotates after that depends on the format:
- Padel — serve alternates every completed game.
- Mexicano — serve switches every 5-point block. The warmup-winning side also gets a free first point.
- Americano (pts & time) — serving side flips every 4 points (Us → Them → Us → …). No free first point.
The serving side is marked with a tennis-ball indicator on the live match screen.
08Score the match
The match screen offers seven layouts ("skins"), cycled on the Skin row of the rules screen before the match starts. Your last pick is remembered between matches.
| Skin | Layout |
|---|---|
| Half-and-half | Default. Set scores up top, big Undo and End pills, Us / Them tap zones fill the bottom. |
| Vertical stack | Us tap zone fills the top third, Them the bottom third, score and edge-docked pills in a central band. |
| Centrepoint | Minimal centred score over a left/right colour split. Per-set chip up top, pills along the bottom. |
| Concentric | Round-watch native. Inner blue disc = Us, outer white ring = Them. Score in the centre. |
| Broadcast | TV scoreboard. Two horizontal rows (Us above Them) with completed-set cells and live game score, right-aligned in fixed columns. |
| Diagonal Mirror | Diagonal split — blue upper-right triangle (Us) vs white lower-left triangle (Them). Tap test by linear inequality across the diagonal. |
| Court Aerial | Top-down padel court view. Single vertical centre line, scores in the upper court, side labels in the lower court. |
Tap zones work on watches with touch support. Hardware buttons work on every supported watch (see next section).
09Garmin button mapping
The 5-button watches (Fēnix, Epix, Forerunner, Instinct) put physical buttons on both sides of the case. BluePadel pairs each button with the side of the screen closest to it — press the button physically nearer to the Us label to score Us, press the button nearer to Them to score Them. Reworked in 1.3
| Button | Position | Action |
|---|---|---|
| START / STOP | top-right | Award point to Them (right side of screen) |
| BACK / LAP | bottom-right | End match (two-tap confirm) |
| UP | middle-left | Undo last point |
| DOWN | bottom-left | Award point to Us (left side of screen) |
| LIGHT | top-left | Toggle screen brightness (Garmin default behaviour, unchanged) |
On 2-button watches (Vivoactive 3 / 4 / 5, Venu 2 / 3, etc.), there are no left-side buttons, so scoring is touch-first:
| Button | Position | Action |
|---|---|---|
| START / STOP | top-right | Award point to Them |
| BACK | bottom-right | End match (two-tap confirm) |
Touch the left half of the screen to score Us, the right half to score Them — same tap layout as every skin. Buttons are a one-handed fallback for Them and End.
10Health and shots
BluePadel for Garmin runs as a standard Garmin activity, so all of Garmin's built-in workout recording applies:
- Heart rate — min, max, average over the match. Pulled from the watch's optical HR sensor (or a paired chest strap if connected).
- Calories — kcal estimate using Garmin's Firstbeat-tuned formulas, based on heart rate, age, sex, weight, and VO2 max.
- Steps + distance — from the accelerometer.
- Cadence — for the running phase of a padel match.
- Training effect — aerobic and anaerobic, computed by your watch's Firstbeat algorithms.
- Recovery time — minutes added to your recovery clock after the match.
Shot detection (forehand / backhand / smash classification) and rally segmentation are Wear OS only at this time. The Garmin build records the match scoring data but doesn't run the motion-classifier — that may land in a later release.
11Sync to Garmin Connect
When you tap End and confirm, BluePadel writes a standard FIT activity file with:
- Activity type: Padel (custom sport with default-padel fallback).
- Duration, start time, time zone.
- Heart rate stream and summary (min/max/avg).
- All other Garmin activity metrics (calories, steps, distance, cadence).
- BluePadel-specific developer fields embedded in the FIT: per-set scores, deuce mode, layout used, final winner.
The file uploads to Garmin Connect the next time your watch syncs — usually within 30 seconds of ending the match if Bluetooth is on, and otherwise when you next open the Garmin Connect app on your phone.
In Garmin Connect, the match appears in your activity list. Tap into it to see the standard activity dashboard with the BluePadel-specific score detail at the top. You can comment, like, and share the activity to Garmin Connect's social feed the same way as any other workout.
12Updates
Garmin Connect Mobile auto-updates Connect IQ apps when a new version ships, the same way it auto-updates watch firmware. To check or trigger manually: Connect IQ Store → My Apps → look for Update available next to BluePadel.
If you want to roll back to an older version (rare), uninstall the app and install the specific version from a developer beta link — Connect IQ doesn't support automatic rollback in production.
13Troubleshooting
The app isn't in my watch's activity list
Sync the watch with Garmin Connect Mobile after the install completes — Connect IQ apps appear in the activity picker on next sync. If it still doesn't show up: Garmin Connect → Devices → your watch → Activities & App Management, find BluePadel, and confirm it's enabled.
The match didn't upload to Garmin Connect
Open Garmin Connect Mobile and let it sync (pull down to refresh on the home screen). If the activity still doesn't appear, check Garmin Express on your computer if you also use that — sometimes Express has the new activity but the Mobile app hasn't caught up.
Heart rate shows 0
Confirm the wrist HR sensor is enabled on the watch (Settings → Sensors → Wrist Heart Rate). Tighten the watch strap — Garmin's optical HR needs firm contact. If you're using a chest strap, make sure it's paired and that its battery is OK.
The activity uploads but the BluePadel score detail is missing
Garmin Connect renders developer fields in a separate "Connect IQ" section near the top of the activity. Scroll up. On the desktop site (connect.garmin.com) it appears in the activity sidebar. If the section is missing entirely, the FIT file may not have written cleanly — open BluePadel on the watch and check the in-app history for the match; if it's there, contact us with the activity timestamp.
I want shot detection on Garmin
Forehand / backhand / smash classification is currently Wear OS only. The Monkey C runtime is more constrained than Android — porting the motion classifier across is a separate project. Drop a note via the email at the bottom of this page if you'd like it prioritised. (All seven match skins, both Americano variants, and Mexicano have landed on Garmin as of 1.3 — they're no longer Wear-only.)
I have both a Wear OS watch and a Garmin watch — can they share data?
Not directly. The Wear OS build syncs to your Android phone (BluePadel Companion); the Garmin build syncs to Garmin Connect. There's no current bridge between the two. If you want a unified history, the workaround is to export both into a third-party tracker that ingests FIT and JSON.
Where's my data?
The match record lives on the watch and in Garmin Connect (which is hosted by Garmin under their terms). BluePadel itself doesn't run any servers. Match data is included in the FIT activity file like any other Garmin workout — the same retention and sharing settings you've configured in Garmin Connect apply.
Need more help?
Email hello@bluepadel.co.za with your watch model, the Connect IQ Store version of BluePadel, and what's not working. Garmin's diagnostic export from Settings → System → About can help if the issue is sync-related — attach it if you have it.