Garmin Edge: it already works, and it's still early

Straight answer first: BikeOtter sends routes to a Garmin Edge today — pairing, device info, route push and find-my-device all work. It's still marked experimental, because a few more pieces are close but not finished. Here's where each one stands.

Status: in active development Tested on: Edge 540

What already works on an Edge

Garmin gets the same treatment as the ELEMNT, and these parts are working today:

  • Connect and pair — including auto-connect on launch.
  • Device info — the Devices screen recognizes a Garmin automatically and marks the card "Experimental".
  • Route push — the Send button uploads a FIT course straight to the unit.
  • Find-my — the Garmin trigger locates the device the same way the ELEMNT one does.

Nearly there

Pulling rides off the Edge, sending workouts to it, and putting alerts on its screen are all built and in the app — they just haven't had a full run on an Edge yet. Until they do, Garmin stays marked experimental rather than finished.

Live telemetry — heart rate and power, not position

Heart rate, power, cadence and ride start/stop stream live off the Edge, and only while something on the phone is actually watching — no point draining the unit otherwise. What it won't hand over is your position, so live tracking on a Garmin uses the phone's GPS instead.

What Edge riders will get

The same companion, not a port. The route planner, the weather look-ahead, the rules, the ride archive, the Strava queue, the live tracking — all of it already exists and none of it cares which brand of head unit you ride. As the Edge side catches up, that means:

  • Course push from the phone, with the same route planner and POI editor — already working today.
  • Activity download into the same one-list ride history, with Strava auto-upload — nearly there.
  • Weather look-ahead and custom rules as alerts on the Edge's screen — nearly there.
  • Live tracking straight from your phone — heart rate, power and cadence live off the Edge, with your position coming from the phone.

Anything an Edge turns out not to allow gets listed here plainly, the same way the capability list does for Wahoo.

One app, whichever head unit you ride

Plenty of riders own a Wahoo and a Garmin, or switch between them. BikeOtter is built so that doesn't mean two apps, two route libraries and two ride histories — your routes, rides and settings stay in one place and simply reach whichever unit is on the bars. The Edge side isn't finished yet, but it's headed for the same depth the ELEMNT has today.

Meanwhile, on Wahoo

Everything described above already works on an ELEMNT — see what BikeOtter does on a BOLT, ROAM or ACE today.