With the rise of connected devices that automatically upload your rides and runs upon completion to Garmin Connect, there’s been a corresponding rise in usage of 3rd party sites that synchronize that data to other training log platforms such as Strava and Training Peaks. These middle-man sites operate by copying your activity data automatically upon detection of a new activity being uploaded, to the final destination of your choice.
It is in some ways ironic that with increased connectivity has come more complexity in getting files where you want them. That’s largely due to the fact that Garmin has been less than entirely easy when it comes to getting data where end users plan to analyze it. While Garmin Connect does have an API available, that API isn’t well documented, nor supported at all, and hasn’t been updated in years.
Thus most of these 3rd party applications have had to spend a bit of time reverse engineering how things work. Sometimes that works well, but other times that’s caused some ripples between Garmin and 3rd party apps – such as with CopyMySports earlier this year being throttled from an activity polling standpoint.
Ultimately though, these solutions do offer users a great way to quickly and seamlessly get data from Garmin Connect to 3rd party sites. With that, let’s run through the three I’m aware of today. Oh, and all of these are free.
Tapiriik:
We’ll start off with Tapiriik from the very beginning, which takes you here, to their landing page to select which services you want to connect to.
In my case, I’ll start with Garmin Connect first:
Once I’ve done that, you’ll see how ‘Garmin Connect’ is shown on the upper half with ‘Connected’ next to it, while the others are down below indicating they aren’t connected to yet.
So next I’ll choose Training Peaks, and complete the same thing:
Once that’s complete, you’ll see both listed on the upper half. You’ll also see the option to ‘Synchronize now’, as well as ‘Automatic Synchronization’ below it.
In my case, I went with ‘Automatic Synchronization’, which costs $2 per year. Otherwise, you can just press the ‘now’ button and it does it for free.
After I paid my two bucks via PayPal, I was back on the landing page and able to configure settings. In this page I can choose which accounts sync where. Sorta like being a traffic cop.
In my case, I didn’t want to sync from Training Peaks to Garmin Connect, so I unchecked that option:
Then, I let it do it’s thing for the initial synchronization. Because I have a couple of activities in Garmin Connect (uhh…thousands), this took a bit of time. I simply went to bed. It sorta worked out better that way.
With that, it finishes some time later (just insert some montage music). And, magically, all the activities in my Garmin Connect account show up in Training Peaks (an account I tend to use for random testing and thus doesn’t have all my activities in it):
Once it completed, you’ll see how frequent it synchronizes. This is a bit different than CopyMySports which does polling at an undefined frequency. In this case, Tapiriik has a defined 60-minute interval.
The next day I went out for a run, and let the Garmin FR620 automatically upload the run like normal to Garmin Connect via WiFi when I got back to the house. For fun, I timed to see how long it would take to show-up in Training Peaks. In my case, about 10 minutes and 9 seconds. But why 10 minutes? Well, that’s just when it happened the next sync would occur – which is every 60 minutes. So it was mostly just pure dumb luck it was on the shorter side rather than the longer side.
The long pole in the tent here is pretty much the polling process to pickup the activity from the source service (i.e. Garmin Connect). The creation of the activity in the destination service (i.e. Training Peaks) takes mere seconds.
At this point, the activity is ready to use as normal for analysis/logging within Training Peaks. Note that for Training Peaks you’ll need to be either a Premium or Coached member for sync to work, which, I think is a fair business move.
Of course, Tapiriik supports other services as well (like Strava), I just happened to use Training Peaks as my example. Overall it works quite well, and is the most ‘known’ in terms of having a simple countdown clock until sync. While I wish the synchronization were more frequent, I suspect that’s purely a case of not ticking off Garmin with too many requests.
Plus, for free, it’s hard to beat.
CopyMySports:
CopyMySports has been around quite a long time, though under their previous name of ‘GarminSync’, which they changed mid-summer. The application is largely aimed at copying data from Garmin Connect to Strava, but it also copies data to RunKeeper as well.
To setup CopyMySports you’ll start with their home page. This is where you can setup the sync process to either Strava or RunKeeper (the two services they support today). Down the road they’ve noted they plan to add support for Training Peaks.
At the bottom of the page you’ll see a little box to type in some text. In order to setup CopyMySports you’ll basically need to tell the service who you are. Instead of authorizing your Garmin Connect account like Tapiriik, you’re going to provide it with an ID of one of your activities. It then uses that to follow your future activities by looking up your username.
To find an ID, simply open up one of your activities in Garmin Connect. At the top of your browser in the address bar you’ll see the activity ID. I’ve highlighted it in yellow. It’s simply the numerical number.
Copy that number down (using copy and paste, or old-school with a pen and paper). Then, paste/write it in the little box. A few seconds later it’ll do a quick validation and let you know the account it belongs to, along with a short blurb about the activity. Validate all is well there before continuing on.
There’s a little checkbox above (actually two). The first one will copy activities marked as private. For example, by default I mark all my activities as private and only publish those I permit to be shared – thus I don’t want to check that box. The second checkbox enables you to copy the activity you just typed in the box above. In my case, I’ve already published that activity to Strava, so I unchecked it after I took the screenshot.
Next, I clicked ‘Connect with Strava’. This will bring up a page from Strava that has you authorize CopyMySports. This is similar to (for example) what Twitter does if you authorize an application or service with them. It allows you to easily revoke access later on. In my case, I just click ‘Authorize’ and I’m good to go.
Once I’ve done that, it’ll give me this little confirmation page. Note that in my case I didn’t do a bulk copy of past activities (though I did for Training Peaks with the previous account). You can do that to Strava though for older activities using the CopyMySports Bulk Copy feature, which will go back and copy all your older stuff over. In my case, I’ve got tons of wonkiness in my Garmin Connect account (for example, I often have 4-6 versions of the same ride recorded since I use so many devices), so I want to keep my Strava account kinda ‘clean’.
Note, if down the road you ever want to revoke access to CopyMySports, you can do that within the Strava settings and then ‘My Apps’ section:
With that, I went ahead and went out for my run and came back. Once inside I pressed the ‘Upload’ button on my FR620 and let it upload to Garmin Connect. Once I confirmed the activity was on Garmin Connect, I was curious to see how long it would take until it showed up on Strava.
In my case, that was 38 minutes.
CopyMySports aims for a synchronization time as little as every 15 minutes. If you had for example paired your FR220/FR620 or Edge 510/810 to your phone and uploaded upon completion at a park somewhere, it’d potentially be there before you got home. At worst, if you finished at home it’s there before you’re out of the shower.
As you can see, the solution worked well. I know they’re working to speed up the synchronization delay, but like everyone else, is a bit limited there by what Garmin will tolerate.
SyncMetrics:
(Update as of August 2014: SyncMetrics is no longer operating.)
Now, SyncMetrics is a bit different in scope than the previous two sites. It does Garmin Connect to Strava like the others, but it also covers more health-focused sites like Withings, FitBit and iHealth.
With that, let’s get things setup. To do so, we’ll tap ‘Register’ in the upper right.
That’ll pop-up an account creation page. Now, I actually like this over the other two sites, as I feel like I have more ‘control’ over the transactions. Of course, both the other sites have ways to turn things off, but this just makes it simpler in my mind (I know some would disagree).
It’ll send me an account activation e-mail, to validate I’m a real person and didn’t hose up my e-mail address. I suggest clicking on that link you receive if you want to have further success in this venture.
Once you do that, you’ll be brought to the below screen. Which is admittedly a bit confusing (primarily the upper portion). Just ignore all the upper stuff, and focus on the bottom half, which is all the accounts you can link up.
Next, I clicked on ‘Garmin Connect’ in the list to start that setup. You’ll then click on the Garmin Connect logo, as it specifies in the ‘Hint’. I’d suggest a ‘Hint’ of my own however: If I have to have a hint when that’s pretty much the only button/link on the page that’s not clearly a button, perhaps it’s time to create a real button.
Next, we’ll enter your Garmin Connect credentials in.
Once you’ve done that, you’ll be back here, ready to link up another account. In my case, I’m going to spit this out to MapMyFitness. So I’ll click MapMyFitness and then click to ‘Authorize’.
I also did the same for RunKeeper, just to see how that’d work.
Afterwards, if you were to look at RunKeeper, you’d see the API authorization listed there in your settings:
Once that’s done, I’m presented with options to sync activities to/from Garmin Connect. The challenge though is that I don’t have much control over what happens after I check that box.
And I checked the same box for RunKeeper.
Now, there’s some limits here:
– I can’t specify if it’s for just newer activities, or also older ones too. Currently, it pulls only activities after the creation date.
– I can’t specify what to do about private activities, to include, or not to include? Currently it pulls them.
Once it’s done a sync, you’ll see the activities listed within the window ‘Activities’ tab. I actually like this a bit, as it’s more of a sync log file, something the other ones lack. I can see what got processed easily.
After it syncs you’ll see the data on the destination side. Below, you can see my activities copied over from skiing the past few days (I’ve got duplicate activities since I was uploading from different devices).
I can then click on an activity and see it in its fully glory:
Now, I had some initial teething issues with the SyncMetrics service, but the support folks were able to take care of it. The interesting aspect to SyncMetrics is that it goes beyond just the sport side and delves into the weight/sleep side a bit, where the other services shy away from that.
So if your goal is getting more health and wellness data moved around, SyncMetrics may be the better choice.
Wrap-up:
In looking at the solutions at hand, you can see they vary a bit in implementation, and thus the ‘cleanliness’ of each solution. Further, some solutions may be faster but less consistent in terms of speed, while others may be slower, but more consistent. Unfortunately, there is no perfect-instant solution. But, I think that they do offer quite functional solutions, and ones that ultimately get your data to it’s final destinations jazz-hands free.
Now, the trick here is that all of this depends on an API that’s just barely there. Garmin deleted the API’s main page late this past summer, though the rest of the API documentation is still published. In my recent discussions with them, Garmin has seemingly tried to further distance themselves from even having an API at all (outside of their corporate wellness program stuff they announced a few months back). I’m optimistic however that they’ll re-think any ‘back of the brain’ thoughts about closing things down any (further). Only because I’d note that the sports technology darling of the world (Strava) tried doing that this past summer, and that didn’t turn out terribly well for them.
Thus, in that vein, here’s a fun fact for you (or for Garmin): That Strava API closing post was shared more than any other post ever in the history of this site – including any individual product review at that point (which are typically the most popular posts here). As a result, Strava has mostly changed their ways, which is a good thing.
In the meantime, we can all enjoy the free offerings that are out there today, and hopefully down the road certain parties will make it easier to use their devices while still using the bountiful and diverse 3rd party software options built around those devices.
Thanks for reading!
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Any ideas if these or any similar sites offer this functionality for Suunto’s movescount? Specifically I want to sync movescount>trainingpeaks.
Hi Owen, there’s a poll here: link to tapiriik.com where you can vote for the next service tapiriik should support.
Suunto actually has an API for Movescount, but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone use it yet (at least, anything that’s been surfaced up to me). Developers can request access to the API by e-mailing movescount@suunto.com
Suunto recently added MapMyRun as a supported application on Movescount. It must be using the Movescount API, however, I have found that it doesn’t really work. It worked upon initial setup but has never synched since as far as I can tell. I’ve been doing manual exports of GPX files from Movescount and then batch imports into Strava…I agree Owen it would be nice to have a real solution for Movescount!
This was my exact thought when I read this article. Suunto is making great hardware but the ability to work with third party sites is really frustrating compared to Garmin’s adoptance.
Latest update of rubiTrack for OS X (rubitrack.com) uses the Movescount API. Works very well.
Hi Ray-
I would like to sink TrainingPeak, Endomondo, AND MapMyFitness! Any way you can think of to do this?
Thanks for all your help!
The problem is that Endomondo doesn’t support any API’s as far as I understand it (for pulling that data).
Owen, we have a direct sync with Suunto now. Email TrainingPeaks support if you have any questions.
Could something be set up via IFTTT?
Yes, but ultimately, it’s still dependent on an API. So, in this case, you short-circuit doing the leg work of writing code. I know that IFTTT does support some sites natively however (I think Withings if I remember).
I just got a wahoo kickr (with the virtual training app) and want to synchronize that with garmin connect. Any ideas? I have been using garmin connect for my analysis tool, but can’t get it top there. I am able to manually export from strava into garmin, but all of my power data is lost. I’m beginning to wonder if training peaks is the way to go though it looks like the best way is to spend the $ per month. I’m trying to not have to have a monthly fee
I use Training Peaks for all my actual training log analysis, while I use Strava more for just sharing workouts. And I use Garmin as sorta my backend repository of just about everything.
Thats what I am thinking about. So do you think the paid version of training peaks is worth the $. I am training with power, etc, but my coach is not that tech savy and sends me my workouts via spreadsheets.
I’ve stayed away from monthly fees until now, and the TP price point seems little high for what you get ($120/yr). Perhaps I’m missing the value it provides.
It depends on your use. For me, I’ve got two accounts, one coached (which is basically premium), and another premium that I use for random tests (like this). I find the premium features worthwhile because i’m using a power meter and my coach is analyzing data from a power standpoint. I also use the elevation correction feature a fair bit as well, especially when looking at things like grade adjusted pace (running). I don’t use features like the workout library or Outlook/Calendar sync.
If you’re doing neither, then you’d have to evaluate the other features to see if they’re worthwhile or not.
Nice post, this way I can easily test other sites than Strava how they handle my data. Thanks!
Great article, Ray – thanks. Is there anything that you know of out there to sync activities (together with their caloric expenditure) from GC into the Livestrong calorie tracker?
Hmm, I’m not aware of anything on the Livestrong side. Sorry!
You could sync GC to runkeeper with Tapiriik and link runkeeper to the Lose It app. Lose It is a better calorie counter than Livestrong anyway.
A couple of things to note:
1) You need a premium account for Training Peaks in order to push data from Tapiriik.
2) If you go to the Tapiriik home page and click on the number of minutes remaining until your next sync, it will start to sync right away (hidden feature)
I was rather excited to see TP on the Tapiriik list today, and then immediately disappointed that you have to be a premium (paid) TP user for it to work.
As I don’t own a power meter, I’ve never grasped the value of a premium membership at TP. What am I missing?
Oh, that’s a bummer. No way will I pay for TPeaks; as purely a runner (who happens to get on a road or mtn bike maybe 1x/month), there is really nothing a premium account has to offer me. Except Tapiriik now, but that’s not worth $10/month.
The problem with Tapiriik is that it’s not working. I’m a premium user of TrainingPeaks, and tried to sync my data with Garmin Connect and Dropbox ( files repository ). Payed the 2$, and nothing. Worse – the guy is not responding to e-mails. Fake site from my point of view !
From looking at their Twitter page, it looks like as of 5hrs ago they were down to 39 e-mails left to reply to. I don’t know when you sent yours or how backed up that timeline is, but, their Twitter timelines provides some background there.
Fwiw, I haven’t seen any outage on my side (I’m not using Dropbox though). My runs/rides are showing up within an hour roughly in TP from GC.
Oh, and if you read further down the timeline, you’ll see that Garmin Connect has started to rate-throttle them, which may be why if you just signed up yesterday you’re further down a queue.
link to twitter.com
I signed up on 5th Jan, and sent my last e-mail on 24th Jan. Neither the TrainingPeaks nor the Dropbox account are synced with Garmin Connect, and every day I have 2 new activities. I did tried to sync manually but not working too …
Make sure you log into Tapiriik and mark every account so that it shares “private” activities. I think this was a change at Tapiriik sometime after the first of the year. Go to the FAQ and look at a link of the sync log to see which items are not syncing. I would bet this is the problem.
> As I don’t own a power meter, I’ve never grasped the value of a premium membership at TP. What am I missing?
I enjoy the Annual Training Plan feature. I know a lot of folks have coaches or a cache of workouts they can draw on, but if you don’t it’s a great way to block out your year as a starting template.
The meal planning is nice. Premium lets you cut and paste and plan ahead.
The performance management chart has helped me spot when I’m over training too.
Thanks for the article Ray.
I like syncmetrics most because it automatically syncs weight/fat from withings to garmin connect. Very convinient!
I’d been meaning to search for something that did this. Thanks. Now I really have no excuse not to upload my files for my coach.
Thanks Ray. Any idea of how to do the reverse: getting all the data from Training Peaks into Garmin Connect?
I would be interested in that as well.
Yup, within Tapiriik you can choose which way the data will flow, and one of the options is from Training Peaks to Garmin Connect. I haven’t tried it myself, but I assume it works just fine.
The simpler solution is of course to use a device that will upload directly to the sites you want and cut out the messy middle man. e.g. a phone with suitable logging software supporting uploading to the various sites directly.
The problem with wanting to run a phone with suitable software is that each package may be slightly different. Runkeeper has audio cues & auto pausing, Strava has a better data reviewing page, but neither of these would work for activities involving water as phone would not like it.
Neat post Ray. I was thinking about how to speed up getting files from GC to TP and Strava. These methods are definitely fast but I get worried about another party having access to my accounts am seeing this data. (It’s a silly preoccupation since Google has everything anyway.)
One concern I have it that I have a coach in TP who createdy workouts. So I import everything into GC. Rename it there and then export for adding to te specific workout in TP. Do any of these options cover that?
Regarding Strava I am most impressed with their technology. It recognizes my Garmin data asks permission and uploads automatically.
It would be nice if Garmin woke up and realized an API with OAuth would propel them years further ahead in this game. While GC is neat it is clear their focus is on hardware. They could save money and grow their online presence by going more open.
Anyone know of a solution to sync MOTOACTV with other sites?
They don’t have a public API, but someone a while back wrote something to get it to RunKeeper. Thus, you could get it to RunKeeper with that solution, and then from there you’re ‘Home free’ to publish to other sites per the services above.
Motoactv to RunKeeper: link to forum.xda-developers.com
Thanks for the link.
Interestingly, Runkeeper interprets my data differently: my run shows up as 6.01 miles in MotoACTV, but 6.24 in Runkeeper.
I couldn’t get this link to work. I have been able to upload my runs manually in Garmin Connect, and even do a bulk load using Tapiriik. Would love the automatic part though.
Ray, thanks for posting as Ive long wanted to have different features from different places but didnt want to double enter. I love automation. Can you clarify, on piece. I want to get my wifi scale weight measurements to TP where I do my main data analysis. So can I use syncmetrics to get it from fitbit to garmin. and then the next sync will take it from garmin to TP? That particular sync isnt time sensitive but would be awesome for long term trending and analysis in TP. Since they are free I will set it up and try it myself but wondered if you had already done it. Final question, my indoor rides are power and HR with trainerroad…any automation ideas to get them to training peaks without having to download tcx file from TR and then upload to TP?
Thanks
(All SyncMetrics)
Hmm, it’s sorta confusing. Playing with it a bit right now, I can sync in my weight from FitBit, and then on the FitBit SyncMetrics page it doesn’t show that I can push that to Garmin, but on the Garmin SyncMetrics page it does. I just checked the box after associating my FitBit account. I’ll give it a little bit of time to see what happens. Of course, then there’s still getting it from Garmin to TP. In looking at Tapiriik, I don’t see them supporting weight, but maybe they just don’t list it.
Did it work? I have an Aria, and if you know an easy way to push the weight to training peaks, that would be helpful.
No, it doesn’t appear to be coming into GC.
This is a diversion from the original question…but GC does natively support the Tanita scale. Would Tanita weight metrics transfer to TP easily?
Not natively no, it has to come through a Garmin device to get to GC or TP.
Great post Ray, been waiting for this a long time:-)
I used Tapiriik and did a correct setup, My first to download software is TP,and from there Tapariik should trasfer to Garmin and Strava which I setup as second and third software…. but nothing happend and I payed the amount of $2….
Is there an email address that can help me or see in their software that my setup is correc?
Thanks and keep doing what you do for 2014 and further :-)
A happy new year…
Jan
Assuming you set everything up, and if you’ve done a manual sync – did it show that it was synchronizing? Or, it may actually be going through old activities too. They are on Twitter btw, and noted that they’ve been a bit overloaded today (my bad), but are actively adding capacity to address. They are also providing support on Twitter: link to twitter.com
Really wish the iFIT people would understand the value of allowing access to the data they collect. Curious if anyone else has figured out how to get anything from them. I’ve purchased one of their stationary bikes for the winter, and it’s enormously disappointing that they collect data on my rides but don’t allow access to it. Wouldn’t recommend buying one as I regret my (expensive) purchase for that reason alone.
Great post. I’ve been getting a little tired of manually syncing to GC, Strava, and SportTracks.mobi, and Golden Cheetah. I’ve also been more than a little aggravated at how hard it is to get data from my FitBit Aria scale to any of the above. Looks like Syncmetrics will get me at least most of the way there.
Thanks Ray. Detailed & informative as usual. Appreciate your time & effort!
With Under Armour paying $150M USD for Map My Fitness, there is obviously a lot of perceived value in the underlying platforms such as Garmin Connect. While it is unfortunate the Garmin does not make it easier to export/sync data it is understandable.
I am a relatively new runner and recently got a FR 220, which I love. However, prior to the 220 I was running with my phone and the Wahoo Fitness app. While the Garmin Mobile app is nice, I miss being able just tell the Wahoo app which site to upload to.
While Gamin does not lock your data away, which is commendable, as we move into a cloud based world it is disappointing that they try hard to lock you into GC. I would love to see either the Garmin Mobile app upload to other sites and/or allow other apps to connect with the watch.
Just wish the Wahoo app was a one button push to upload to all your training sited. One push would make this a great app.
great – as usual! thanks, ray
When Tapiriik copies from GarminConnect to Training Peaks, does it copy all the information that would be in the FIT file, or only that which would be recorded in a TCX? I ask this because TrainingPeaks will import a FIT file but Garmin Connect will only “export” TCX if you do it manually.
Only information that could be contained in a TCX file, unfortunately. If Garmin Connect let me download the original FIT file, I would definitely go that way.
Hi there.. I’ve been reading the DC Rainmaker blog for over a year now and I think it’s great. I recently got my first GPS device (Garmin 310XT) and while I currently have a full speed broadband internet connection, I might be moving soon to a country where internet will not be an available option.. so here’s my question:
Is there a completely offline non-internet based sorta desktop software to upload, store and analize my training data that could be used in cases where there is NO internet connection??
Thanks again for the post and happy new year everyone…!!
Yup, check out Sport Tracks (from ZoneFiveSoftware), they cover the widest array of devices out there, with tons of plugins.
The Garmin Training Center should also allow you to upload your Garmin files without an internet connection. You might not be able to see your routes on a map but all the speed, segment and elevation data should be available for analysis.
Download here: link to www8.garmin.com
For while, tapiriik was not syncing events with no GPS data. That was a bummer.
Now the FAQ says “supported files” are transferred.
Have they started doing GPS-less files as well (trainerroad on garmin, etc)?
Non-GPS and manually entered activities are now fully supported (minus, at time of writing, upload to TrainingPeaks – still waiting on some answers from them).
Ray, is there any simple solution for exporting all entries from Garmin Connect into a spreadsheet, either directly or through sync with another site? Thanks!
I’m not aware of anything automated in realtime. There are some options out there for Garmin to CSV that I’ve seen, though, I can’t remember offhand the name of it.
Yes, this would be extremely useful!
Garmin Connect has an export “feature” that gives you an Excel file, but only for the current screen! So, like 15 or 20 workouts at a time. It is pretty awful. This is our data and Garmin shouldn’t be locking it away from us! They need to be named and shamed. They’ll only change if they get negative reviews so people go elsewhere.
If you use the desktop version of Sport Tracks you get a plugin that will export your data, in bulk, from Sport Tracks to CSV. But the problem for most people is to get their data into Sport Tracks. I was lucky, I’ve been using the software since I started running in 2008.
When Tapiriik transfers from GarminConnect to say SportTracks.mobi, will it transfer the user entered activity name and any comments as well?
Yes, this will happen wherever possible. The only exception right now is RunKeeper, since RK itself supports only activity notes, but not name.
Excellent stuff Ray, thanks.
This could be my solution to syncing to sporttracks.mobi from Android. If (when!) Garmin sort out the Android app for syncing the 220 to Go, I can then use the option above to auto sync across to ST. I’d rather do it directly using Uploader For Garmin as I do now, but that looks very unlikely to ever happen.
LOL!! Looks like the Tapiriik site has extended their sync queue time to 2 hours since this posted due to the heavy traffic.
Tapiriik has steadily become better and improved services. It is great and please support the $2 donation request! I have a few years’ worth of Runkeeper data and had begun importing duplicate runs into Training Peaks for the last few months for better analysis.
I got a Garmin 620 and was able to sync all my old RK runs into Garmin Connect. Now I use Tapiriik to push out my uploaded Garmin run data to Runkeeper for a little bit of social running networking and SportTracks for nice analysis. I’ve let my Training Peaks membership go in favor of SportTracks for data review. Tapiriik is really a great effort.
I tried GarminSynch (CopyMySports) for 6 months but gave up and went to manual uploads from my 810. It was great that after I changed clothes the data was in Strava but when it wasnt, it was very frustrating and sometimes I had to wait 24-48 hours.
The other major issue for me were the constant discrepancies in elevation gain. I’d go for a ride and the 810 showed 800m gained and Strava showed 1100m. After looking for reasons on the web I decided to trust Garmin and now that I load direct from the 810 to Strava, there are only small discrepancies.
Summary, it may not be automatic but I am sure the data will be there and the numbers more accurate.
..
Couple things worth noting:
– tapiriik has worked great until this article came out; this is the first time I’ve seen it “stalled” – which is from y’all trying it out.
– Garmin’s Running Dynamics will not go to any of the non-Garmin sites that I know of at this point. Just worth noting, since it /seems/ like a cool thing to go from 620 WiFi directly to other sites.
– On that note, there is a beta plugin for SportTracks that supports Running Dynamics, but it isn’t available in SportTracks.mobi, so… same thing. USB only.
Also perhaps worth noting that one of the ST folks says all the .FITLOG information is available in the API from GC – meaning Running Dynamics IS in there, not just GPX or even TCX data – but again… no where to send it just yet.
Ivd had problems with CopyMySports seeing my non-GPS activities and copying those over to RunKeeper. Hopefully this has been addresses. As I understand it, this was a Garmain issue.
Ray (or anyone else) is the only option to bypass the ANT stick still the Wahoo Key (for iPhone 4S and below)? I no longer own a device that works with that connector and while I do have an adaptor, the Wahoo Key never really worked well for me.
Any options out there for this of us without the wifi enabled Garmins? Would love to be able to upload without the need for my laptop.
Thanks!
Denise
No, there’s no other options that I’m aware of. And ultimately, unless you’ve got the Edge 510/810 and/or FR220/FR620 that use Bluetooth, everything else is using either USB or ANT+. I don’t know of any other apps that transfer across ANT+ on the iOS platform.
Here’s pretty much all the other options on all platforms: link to dcrainmaker.com
Thanks a lot!
Can you tell me what you are missing in Gamin Connect that you use also training peaks?
There’s so many things, it’s hard to know where to start. Mostly, it’s the more advanced analytic support, and better support for power meters and some advanced running metrics (like grade adjusted pace). Additionally, the ability for coached athletes and coaches to see the same view of activities. Ultimately though, Garmin Connect is a more basic training log (by Garmin’s own admission), whereas Training Peaks is for more advanced users, and/or users of any device type.
It looks like tapiriik has collapsed under the strain.
Thanks for this post Ray, very helpful as are the rest of your posts. Have a great 2014.
It’s back up and running now.
Hey DC,
Do you know if anyone can sync Trainerroad to GC and Trainingpeaks?
Fantastic post, thank you very much!
Dawie
Not yet, but TR tweeted out yesterday that they’re going to be supporting that very shortly. Details here: link to twitter.com
Fantastic article I was just trying to figure out a way to get back to Runkeeper. Thanks Ray!
Maybe it has been noted already, but Tapiriik will not transfer non-GPS activities (e.g. no pool swim workouts). I was told months ago it would be addressed.
The sycing of pool swims (e.g. Garmin 910XT) does now work on Tapiriik.
I use Strava as my main site to upload to. I also use Garmin Connect as a “backup”. I downloaded the Tapiriik app with a $2 donation. So far it seems to work perfectly, although it took about 4hrs to make the first download happen due to DCRainmaker’s advice!
Thank you. I’m not sure how I can run 4000kms/year, and bike 12,000kms per year, yet still be too lazy to click the “upload activity” button on Strava.
How about security?
With tapiriik you’ll need to give them your username/password combo for garmin connect. I really dont like that, and goes against the principle of having a password.
Copymysports is a bit safer, you’ll need to accept them as an friend on garmin connect. A solution which is a lot safer.
It’s true, there’s always a risk there.
The challenge is that Garmin isn’t really providing a proper API to do what sync sites want to do, so each one has to come up with a solution. The options they employ generally range from ‘sorta crappy’ to ‘really crappy’. Within that, there’s a range of how much each technical implementation annoys Garmin, and thus, a corresponding risk to how likely any given service is to being shut off and/or throttled.
Personally, it’s a risk I take for now and looking at risks across the board, I’d consider this one pretty low/nill. But that’s just my two cents.
Ever see:
link to fitnesssyncer.com
(Just saw it a few minutes ago (so haven’t tried it) when doing a search for Microsoft HealthVault)
Nice, I hadn’t seen that before either. Interesting, I’ll have to poke at it a bit.
SO COOL!!!! :D I just ordered an FR620 yesterday (bye bye, Nike+!), based on your review, and was wondering how to integrate it to RunKeeper! This post was very welcome here! :D
Quick question Ray (please keep in mind I am technologically challenged!)
I would love to use Tapiriik to transfer old data to TP from Garmin Connect as well as upload new workouts…BUT, I’ve done the loading to each site on most workouts for the past year or so. If I set up tapiriik, will it double entry data if I’ve already loaded it from GC to TP this year?
Thanks!
Nope, it shouldn’t – it’ll see that those activities already were already uploaded and won’t upload them again.
Great post Ray and thanks for including SyncMetrics. For anyone that has suggestions on what we should be working on next at SyncMetrics, feel free to suggest additional features and functionality at: link to support.syncmetrics.com
Couple of WARNINGS: (1) Tappiriik is gonna take EVERYTHING from Garmin Connect and sync it to Training Peaks (or wherever). Although I upload to GC automatically, TP is my main site. So I keep TP “clean” and don’t mind if GC has some garbage files there. While I’m glad I signed up for the sync for the future, there was a bit of cleaning at TP to get it back to nice and orderly; (2) let your coach know in advance and he might want to turn off the auto-notifications from TP until the transfer is over. If my coach were not such a cool guy, he might have been upset with the 100+ emails of “new” workouts on TP.
For completeness sake, fitdatasync.com syncs Garmin Connect to Fitbit.
Fitbit data sync at least for me has been failing to sync for over a week now. I’ve contacted support twice, wit no response. So I’m looking for a way to copy activities from garmin to fitbit.
If you have an iPhone/iPad then you can also use the free RunGap app to copy your Garmin Connect workouts to FitBi.
Hi,
I have 910Xt and Forerunner 405 and am coached on Training Peaks. I also have an iphone and ipad. What I want to be able to do is to
1) train
2) upload my garmin data via my iphone or ipad to Training Peaks – i.e. without a computer, e.g. if I am away from home.
My understanding is the only way I can do this is to get the ant-adapter-for-iphone/prod103887.html, and the Garmin fit app on my phone then use Tapiriik to sync Garmin connect and Training Peaks?
Is this correct or is there a more direct way?!
Thanks
Rebecca
p.s. comment above, I don’t rain (swim/bike/run) wearing my iphone
I do this with the Wahoo ANT adaptor and the free Wahoo App. The Wahoo App will download from your 910XT and then you can easily upload to Training Peaks, Garmin Connect, Strava, etc. it isn’t automatic, but it is very easy.
Do those tools actually sync the data or do they only copy them? For example if I use Tapiriik the first time to have all my activities from Garmin copied to Strava and later I change an activity in Strava or Garmin (let’s say the name, or the notes, or manually set the distance), will these changes be available in both?
From my testing with Tapiriik, it’s one-time sync (at least of name).
Yep, for a variety of technical reasons it’s currently a one-time deal. Of course, I’m always thinking of ways to change this!
Great Post, I’m new to the world of GPS watches and i have just started using the Garmin FR220. I purchased this mainly for the bluetooth upolad to the iphone as i dont have a laptop/desktop anymore. Your post or any of the comments has not mentioned an App called ‘connectstats’. It basically does what your other featured sites do but just from the iphone or ipad (not sure about android) and at the moment will only take data from Garmin and transfer it to Strava. As most of my friends are on Strava, this app is a great help to me.
No, Connect Stats is different (though cool). Connect stats doesn’t automatically transfer workouts to other services. Rather, it requires you to open up a given workout and then manually push to transfer it. It’s neat stuff, but ultimately I was focusing on automated methods.
Will the services mentioned above copy the map into Runkeeper or Strava as well? I messed with Ismoothrun when I got an Echo, but it didnt copy the maps into my RunKeeper account.
They transfer the GPS trackfile, and the destination site enumerates that up as a map. That’s very odd that it didn’t upload the GPS track to RunKeeper. First I’ve heard of that.
In Runkeeper it just showed a manual entry where the map usually is, I messaged Runkeeper, but they said they don’t directly support the Echo, so I am returning the Echo and getting a FR620.
Have you seen anything similar for us timex people or am I showing my ignorance with regards to the various formats?
Timex uploads to Training Peaks, so you can use Tapiriik to move things around to the sites they support. Enjoy!
Thanks! I hope you and the missus have a great year!
I REALLY wish syncmetrics would sync historic data. Before I got my garmin I bounced around using Nike+, Mapmyrun, and runkeeper. But that syncmetrics could combine the runs that are randomly everywhere!
Is there any way to get activities from Nike+?
SyncMetrics currently supports Nike+.
Thanks.
I’m looking for a way to sync Garmin Connect with Endomondo. I assume it doesn’t exist because Endomondo really wants to lock you in and doesn’t have an api, which is a real pity.
I’m pretty sure Endomondo does not offer an API thats why nobody syncs to them. I really despise them for this reason. Unfortunately my club use them for our mileage challenges :-(
I’ve tried a handful of these services, MapMyRun, Endomondo and Training Peaks.
I, personally, found Training Peaks to be complicated and overwhelming if you simply want to track your mileage and basic analysis of my activity. (I’m not an age competitor as Ray)
Fitbit is my daily activity monitor, along with MyFitnessPal to track what I eat.
I then use a Garmin 620 for running, Garmin SWIM for, well, swimming and a Garmin 810 for cycling (mountain and road). I do not currently have a power meter, as I’m not sure it will tell me anything, again, as I’m exercising for fitness and not competition.
So, Garmin Connect is my preferred and most frequently used application. All 3 devices upload easily, the tracking/logging and basic analysis (did I go faster in my 2nd half…) works great. I also use their built in training plans for a guidelines, which integrate to their calendar and upload seamlessly to their devices.
When I go out for an activity, I upload to Garmin Connect, but to get the activity to Fitbit, I use FitDataSync.com (link to fitdatasync.com). This very simple app pulls the activity data that Fitbit wants and sends it over. Now, they too, have had issues with how often they hit the Garmin servers. The app developer, Dmitry Paykin, told me that he had to reduce the number of syncs/day. So, you can wait, and your data will automatically hit Fitbit, but you have the option of going to the website and hitting “Sync Now” and it will push over.
Last, I LOVE Strava! I’m a Premium member and love their analysis and competing with myself. I put all of my rides and runs up there, create a segment and track if I get faster! To upload to Strava, their Garmin integration works great, so as soon as I’ve gotten home, I upload to Strava from within their web interface. Doing this allows me to edit the title, verify the mileage on my shoes or bike is correct and then share it with Facebook. I’m a member of I Run For… and I run for Christopher Wheeler, so all of my activities go to Facebook and I share them with Christopher’s mom so he can see them. Also, Strava links with Instagram, so I can snap photos with my iPhone & Instagram and Christopher gets to see some great pics.
Thanks for the excellent reviews Ray!
Don in Baltimore
After much trial and errors I have finally given up on these syncing services. I was sick of delays, errors and duplicated data. I now have a great work flow that I can control and the beauty of it is that I don’t even need a PC. Here is how it works. 1. Go for a ride with Garmin 810. 2. Garmin 810 automatically uploads to garmin connect using the BT link to my iPhone. 3. I go to garmin connect on my iPhone and download the TCX file and choose to open it in iSmoothRun. 4. In one click iSmoothRun will upload the activity to Dropbpx, MapMyRide, MyFitnessPal, FitBit, RunKeeper, Strava, Training Peaks and several others. This whole thing takes me about 5 seconds. Might not be for everyone but I have found it is the best solution for me.
Is it possible to sync weight and other data from Withings wifi scales to GC with this service?
TAPIRIIK is not working. Paid my $2 for auto-sync, but the service has been having problems. A message implies that your article has increased demand for the service, and they are having scalability issues. Anyone else seeing this problem?
Yep – same issues here after paying for the auto-sync (I put $5 his way as $2 seemed waaay too little!). I guess he’s working hard to handle the increased volumes. Fingers crossed he gets it up and running smoothly again.
The rush is pretty much over now, so if anyone’s having any issues with their accounts, please send me an email! link to tapiriik.com
I’ve been using link to awsmithson.com to “upload” my garmin runs to Nike+ because their interface is much nicer to look at, but it isn’t scalable. Hopefully either the promised update to garmin connect (today?) will absolve me of this need, syncmetrics will figure out how to do it retroactively, or tapiriik will add Nike+. I hate that these services aren’t inter-operable…
I tried to rely on the Syncmetrics beta to import my Garmin workout to Nike+, but so far, it’s been quite terrible. The workouts show up, but it doesn’t add up to my weekly/monthly/yearly total, miles don’t add up to my shoe mileage tracker. I tried various ways, be it from Garmin Connect, RunKeeper or Strava, but none of them work as good as awsmithson’s tool, so I’m back to uploading my runs manually. So basically I use syncmetrics now that will upload my Garmin Connect to RunKeeper/Strava/MapMyRun, and I use awsmithson to Nike+.
There has to be a seamless one that does everything, right? Someone who can code should be able to write a script to go through awsmithson for an automated load.
You crashed the Tapiriik site. Congrats! You are a product of your own success!!!
Frank
Ray’s reviews and blogs are a wonderful … interesting how the Tapiriik review creates a mountain of traffic to the product (and helps make it better ultimately).
How many other people shared the Tapiriik review with running friends?
What does Tapiriik mean anyway?
Mike
Wonder how the new garmin connect will impact things: link to garmin.blogs.com
Nice! Looking forward to this.
Will CopyMySports upload treadmill runs from Garmin Connect? (i.e. used a footpod)
Is Tapiriik server down? Tried to log into Garmin Connect through Tapiriik several times today an log in page just sets there. Same think but with Strava returns Error Message.
Sorry, I was dealing with some unexpected database server issues yesterday. everything should now be back on track – though drop me an email if you still encounter issues!
appreciate the update — automatic synchronization seems to work now between Strava, Garmin Cinnect & Tapiriik (wonder what that means — Swedish to synchronize?)
Why is it that my Garmin Connect data (time, distance etc.) gets “distorted” whenever I upload it to Runkeeper or Strava?
Hmm, maybe Colin is able to clarify on time (unless it’s moving time vs total time). On distance, it’s because most sites out there do their own thing when it comes to distance, overriding the actual distance recorded by the unit in hopes of being ‘more accurate’. In general, everyone believes they have the most accurate algorithm. In reality, everyone may be ‘best’ in some certain use case, but not in every use case. Thus…I sorta wish companies would just leave it alone.
I liked the concept of SyncMetrics, especially it’s ability to sync with MapMyRun, but it didn’t sync much to map my run (no map data, just duration, pace – very basic). When I contacted them to express my disappointment and ask whether they’d have the ability to sync more detail in the future (ie. if they were working on a full sync or if MapMyRun is just too locked down) they replied by apologizing for my disappointment and providing me instructions for deleting my account. Talk about bad customer service!! I understand the site is free, but you should never intentionally drive away users who contact you! I moved to CopyMySports and happily followed their instructions to delete my account. At least that part of their response was useful.
Hey man, thanxs for many informations, but i have a nike sportswatch and a nike + account and my question is if its possible to put the garmin forerunner 620 training data to the nike web account.There is a way to do this?
Thanxs for the support.Cheers from Brazil!
SyncMetrics currently supports Nike.
Ray or any of you other guys. Have you noticed that data synced using Tapiriik from Garmin to Training Peaks is off on the calorie count?
Just to add, I have no problem with my data being synch’d, it’s just that the calories are all out of whack. Runs come across as a run, but the calories reported when using the sync is double. If I delete the activity in TP and upload manually it matches what Garmin reports on the site and the watch.
Man, I guess I am the only one this is happening to. I have an email to the Tapiriik gentleman, hopefully he’ll respond.
Well just an FYI if anyone cares, but I did find the Tapiriik gentleman on Twitter. He said others have experienced this issue, but he hasn’t had time to look in to it…
unfortunately it appears that Tapiriik does not sync my calorie data from Strava to Garmin Connect. bummer.
Has anyone found a reliable way to get data *into* Garmin Connect? Their site allows uploading .tcx & .fit files one at a time, but that isn’t a viable solution if you have hundreds of files. CopyMySports & Syncmetrics won’t send data TO Garmin, only pull data out of it. Tapiriik theoretically would be the solution, but I’ve tried half a dozen times syncing from both Run Keeper and Strava (separately and together), and each time it only sends a few workouts to Garmin.
This wouldn’t be a problem if Garmin and Training Peaks weren’t the only sites that offer basic functionality like being able to search for workouts that meet certain criteria, like all runs between 4 and 6 miles… (And I fear that may go away in the Garmin redesign.)
Anyway to link MapMyFitness to TrainingPeaks directly? Looks like using two of the apps above I could link MapMyFitness to Strava (I’d have to create an account) and then link Strava to Trainingpeaks?
Did some researchand found FitnessSyncer.com
It appears that I can directly foward/sync data from MapMyFitness to TrainingPeaks with this. I’m worried about duplicating workouts so I have an email in to their customer support on that. Have you used this source at all?
Thank you!
The comment I got back from fitnessyncer team (QUICKLY!)
Thanks for contacting us. The safest way to do what you are asking is to
use our “Sync From Now On” feature. After adding your MapMyFitness task,
edit it, and select the “Sync From Now On” at the bottom of the page. This
will cause FitnessSyncer.com to only copy the tasks which were modified
since the time you clicked it.
I hope that helps. If there’s anything else that I can assist with, please
let me know. Thank you for using FitnessSyncer.com and have a great day.
What happens if you have already manually synced the accounts? I don’t want to turn on Garmin->Strava or Garmin->TrainingPeaks syncing with one of these sites and all of a sudden have two copies of all my workouts in Strava/TrainingPeaks. Since you used a test TrainingPeaks account for your review, you didn’t cover this. Is there a way to ask the site only to sync *future* workouts?
I’m curious about this as well. I’m looking to go from Garmin Connect to Strava and TrainingPeaks. I have about half of my files in Trainingpeaks over the past yr and would love to fill in the blanks and have all of my workouts in there going forward. Would it duplicate none of them, all of them, some of them (what if the name of the workout was changed in one but not the other already)?
when I did it, it didnt doubled the one I already synched by other ways… so I seems It does not do it… (or at least, experimentally It did not for me)
update: I did the sync on http://www.tapiriik.com to sync Garmin/Strava/Trainingpeaks and it did not double up any of the workouts that I had previously synced manually in the past. I paid $5 to have it auto-sync for the rest of the yr (which seems low) because $2 just seemed way too low to me for whoever built this functionality.
anyone knows how to sync from garmin to RUNTASTIC? automatically?
I have a bunch of friends in this platform and I would like them to be able to check my results…
Hi Ray – Great advice.
I pretty puch use Training Peaks in the same way as you with my coach. My coach has created all of my planned workouts in advance. I use garmin devices.
Question – if I sync GC to TP via Tapiriik will the imported files still pair as ‘completed’ workouts with those that are already in the calendar for that day as ‘planned’?
Thanks in advance.
Tim
I’m not sure on that one to be honest, only because my coach doesn’t build them in TP, but rather I just get a separate word document with them. So I’ve never quite done the matching thing. Sorry!
Thanks for the response.
Well…from my own experiments following my cycle ride this morning I can confirmt that the imported files from Tapiriik do pair with ‘planned’ workouts already in the TP calendar :-) Nice feature… especially if you have a Garmin 620/810 and want everything to be wireless.
On a related note.. the planned workouts feature is a good coaching function. I like it as it sends me a detailed email (I set it to arrive before I wake up each day) listing that day’s workout(s) including the notes from my coach.
Thanks again.
I’m interested to know about how to get coaches plans from Training Peaks into Garmin Connect and then sync’ed to my 910XT. Before, I’d use the TCX file I receive from Training Peaks and import that into Garmin Training Center and then push it to my 910XT. With Garmin Training Center no longer be developed or supported, can we:
1) get our Training Peaks plan schedule into Garmin Connect workouts/calendar?
2) once in Garmin connect workouts/calendar, then we should be able to push the info to our Garmin devices.
I travel weekly (mostly cross-country) and it’s very helpful having my training plan in my Garmin device schedule. Basically don’t have to think some days, just select the day from the Garmin device training schedule and do the workout.
Thanks Ray and everyone for sharing your input on all the options.
Oh, forgot to add – with the Fitbit scale, do any of the sync products support sending the body fat info to GC? The weight data sync’s OK using FitDataSync, but doesn’t include the body fat data. I understand that the Withings scale will sync both weight and body fat to GC.
Thanks agin.
I might be a bit late to the party on this one, but I’ve been experiencing an interesting twist on some of the data discrepancies touched on in some of the comments above.
Basically, I’ve been testing both CopyMySports and Tapiriik to sync new activites from GC to Strava. Obviously using both of these services, I get two new activities published in Strava and the discrepancies between the two data sets can be quite significant, which I find rather odd since they’re both working from the same source file (whatever is supplied by the GC API right?).
For example, for a recent short run the distance and total ‘Elapsed Time’ were very similar, but when Strava then analyses the imported data and pares it down to ‘Moving Time’ the differences begin. With the data pushed by CopyMySports it calculated a ‘Moving Time’ of 32m 49s and for Tapiriik 33m 47s, which obviously produces a considerable difference in average pace.
Tapiriik seems to be closest to the GC values and what I ‘feel’ was correct (I don’t recall stopping at all on that run so a full minute of stationery time seems odd) so I’m going to use that for now. But even this data has a few bugs (e.g. ‘moving time’ reported as a few seconds greater than total ‘elapsed time’ and incorrect device information data). It’s close enough though and definitely prefer it to be transferred in a timely manner unlike CopyMySports, which seems to take 4-6+ hours. Keep up the good work Collin!
I could speculate that while one exports the gpx file, the other works with tcx. :)
Is synchmetrics pairing with GC broken?
Tapriik is also busted. I’m having to manually sync tapriik, for some reason if it automates the sync (I paid the $2) it isn’t catching the new activities.
Not the biggest deal in the world considering all the other chaos related to the GC update.
Trying top set up CopyMySports for the first time and it doesn’t seem to be able to interface with CG. Been trying all morning and keep getting “Activity details could not be found at Garmin Connect.” even though I added the required connected user. That request was never confirmed.
Hi Frank, CopyMySports was giving me the same “activity details” garbage over the past 24 hours too (they even mentioned that last night there were problems during one of my attempts. Luke, I just today was able to fully sync my GarminConnect and Strava together using Tapiriik. I think that might be the one I use.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out with GC. There was a big backlash against strava when they tried to close up. Garmin may find that whilst the casual runners are happy to suffer GC, the athletes are not…. If I was stuck using GC with no way of getting my data out to another platform, or for a personal backup, there’d be no chance I’d ever buy another Garmin. To me, data is king. Control of my data to slice and dice how I like trumps pretty much everything…
Looks like most of these services are broken due to go update…
Any idea if garmin will ever come to senses and provided an API to easily share activity data?
Actually it looks like Garmin are heading the opposite direction. They’ve now publicly announced they will lock your data up on Garmin Connect (they are phasing out existing sharing technology) and only allow access limited access…
They also note an administration fee may apply, which could limit hobby / amateur projects and stifle innovation.
link to forums.garmin.com
Thanks for the link Aaron. Like most things Garmin commits to writing, this is clear as mud. I guess this means they have deliberately broken whatever interface CopyMySports, Tapiriik, and Syncmetrics were using to share data? Seems though that they are also saying they intend to work directly with third party developers (Strava? Training Peaks? Runkeeper?) to “enhance our user experiences”.
I was also a little surprised to see the reference to “our authorized API”. I had gotten the impression that even the existence of an authorized API was getting increasingly murky.
If either Tapiriik, or Syncmetrics still works, I would like to know. I was hoping to connect GC to Runkeeper and let Runkeeper feed caloric expenditure to MyFitnessPal. The belief that I could do this was the main reason I bought a Vivofit.
Just read you comment after I posted mine. I think Syncmetrics should work. It still lists the Garmin Connect as one of the options, but what i don’t know is there something better. I have a comment below where I go into my question more. But basically I want to replace my fitbit with my Garmin.
Tapiriik is working again, but CopyMySports and Syncmetrics appear to be broken.
Syncmetrics still lists Garmin Connect as an option, but when you try to log in it fails every time. There’s an article in their knowledge-base that says:
We are experiencing issues with our Garmin Sync and are currently not able to connect Garmin accounts or sync data with Garmin. We hope to have this resolved in the very near future.
I can now confirm having received an email from Garmin that access to the Garmin Connect API will require a one-time $5,000.00 USD fee.
I would expect Garmin to begin locking down “casual” API access this year. Based on the size (and small revenue) of the sync apps listed in this post, I would expect you won’t see Garmin Connect or Garmin GPS watches supported in the future.
The good news… all the major (funded) apps that don’t have competitive concerns with Garmin will now have an official channel for data access, and they’ll just roll it into their costs.
What apps will have an official channel?
Aaron – thanks for the insight. Are you planning an integration with ST ? Will this give direct bluetooth access to data on the device (FR220/620), for example ?
I must admit I have no knowledge of the API, so not sure if this will give device access, or just GC access to files already uploaded via garmin’s own tools/apps.
It will not give direct Bluetooth access. It will however give a 3rd party platform direct access to the .FIT file uploaded from the device to Garmin Connect.
RE: Greg
Apps that apply for the program and pay the $5K one-time fee. Unfortunately, I can’t speak for apps in the channel today, other than to say I know of nobody that’s been denied for the initial application step (prior to paying). Whether or not those apps will pay is different (big ones will, obviously).
That said, I think folks will be happy with the end-state results as far as partners. Just going to take a few weeks or so to get things sorted out.
We are applying and going through the process.
No, this does *NOT* allow access to the device directly. The workouts come off the watch, go into the Garmin app on the phone and shoot up to the Garmin Connect website. From there the API would allow access to users workouts.
I don’t know if there are plans to allow 3rd parties to access the watch directly. I know they are shutting down this option on older watches by discontinuing support for Garmin Communicator Plugin, so I doubt they have plans to let other software access your watch.
Unfortunately it also means planning workouts and sending them TO the watch won’t be supported going forward.
Thanks again Aaron. So the process will be to upload from the watch to GC, and then have SportTracks either regularly poll or require a manual sync to pull the data into mobi. Sounds reasonable from a user perspective – although the bluetooth experience on my Android device is still making a USB transfer directly into mobi the easiest and most reliable solution (albeit with old fashioned wires!) vs using the Android GC app.
(btw – training load looking good! :) )
Well… my opinion is that from a user experience perspective, it should work exactly like fitbit and withings…
1. Garmin within proximity of compatible phone automatically uploads workout.
2. Log into sporttracks.mobi – the workout is there in an inbox pending approval to add to your history.
You should not have to worry about initiating transfer or upload, manual sync, polling times, etc. It should just appear. You should literally be able to fire up sporttracks.mobi on your phone immediately after you save the workout on the watch, and see it.
That said…
1. I don’t use a wireless watch so I can’t comment on if step #1 is supported well – that would be firmly in Garmin’s court. I suppose there is a BT pairing required, at a minimum?
2. I haven’t seen the API documents but I would fully expect we receive a push notification when new workouts appear in your history on GC.
Sounds good – seamless to the user is always good! :)
As for pairing… the BT pairing happens in the GC app, but its a bit hit and miss at the moment. On Android, most of the Samsung devices work ok, but there are issues with my Nexus 5 losing the pairing every time BT is turned off and on. This is due to issues with the underlying BT stack on Android, but I’m hoping GC can find a workaround to make it reliable.
Thanks for your replies Aaron – great to see the big application teams reading these sites and actively contributing.
…Now go and whip your dev team into getting that full screen view of TL implemented! ;)
Aron, I saw a note on Garmin’s forum that stated an upcoming update due to be released soon (Garmin speak, before I pass away) that Garmin’s replacement for Communicator Plugin and the ANT+ agent, Garmin Express will have this feature. They just added the feature to not delete the TCX/FIT files after syncing with GC.
Anyone else get an email from Garmin saying they’ve connected to Tapriik? I connected the 2 almost 2 months ago
Now I’m not sure if this question was already asked but I’ll ask it anyways. I just bought a garmin vivofit and I basically want it to replace my fitbit. However I would like the data from the garmin to become the fitbit data. So my question is which program would be the best to do this, Syncmetrics or FitDataSync?
Unfortunately, neither will transfer step count. Syncmetrics is broken entirely right now and FitDataSync only pulls over activity information. So it’ll bring in a step count for activities, but it does not bring in steps that aren’t associated with activities.
I had a feeling my idea of competing with my fitbit friends was just a dream. Though I think all I need is the 7 day total to transfer to Fitbit, thats how the leader board puts you into ranking. If there was some way to transfer the 7 day total over I would be good. I mean I wasn’t going to keep checking fitbit for everything, just for that. Garmin should just make a way people for different devices to compete.
In case anybody is curious, here is what I am doing for a sync perspective of all health related tracking metrics (all seems to be working okay right now):
(1) Activities (Run/Bike/Swim)
Garmin 910xt or Edge 500 (w/ HR, cadence, power, calories) —>
ANT+ dongle or USB cord —>
OTG adapter —>
GalaxySIII smartphone —>
uploader for garmin (sportablet) —>
(a) GC upload —>
fitdatasync.com (sometimes have to login and force a manual sync) —>
fitbit dashboard (will replace fitbit info for time period: calories, steps, distance and will use HR data in HR tab)
(b) Endomondo upload —>
myfitness pal (automatic sync), mostly just for calories for food budgeting —>
fitbit dashboard (automatic sync, usually delete duplicate as fitdatasync version is more accurate as it includes proper stepcount from footpod, accurate calories, and accurate distance)
(c) Strava upload through manual file upload on website
(2) Calories/food tracking/water intake
(a) Myfitnesspal food logging of calories and water —>
fitbit dashboard (auto syncing isn’t great and sometimes have to re-pair it to get transfer)
(b) fitbit dashboard calorie adjustment based on activity —>
myfitnesspal to update the budget (this sync is very spotty and I don’t rely on it very often)
(3) Steps/sleep (this one is simple)
fitbit flex —>
Bluetooth LE —>
Galaxy SIII —>
fitbit dashboard
(4) Weight/% bodyfat
Withings ws-50 —>
withings healthmate —>
fitbit dashboard (autosync works amazingly always) —>
(a) fitdatasync.com —> GC (weight only)
(b) myfitnesspal (auto sync, not 100% sure if this sync works well as scale was recent acquisition)
Overall:
(1) strava – friends/social side of activity tracking (also for shoe/bike mileage; segment/good places to train research)
(2) GC – fitness log for years of activity data
(3) myfitness pal – logging of food and water intake (add activities from endo just to keep budget correct)
(4) fitbit dashboard – overall picture of fitness:
If all works well: weight, sleep (time, quality, restlessness), steps, distance, active minutes, calories burned, calories in vs. out (budgeting), and water consumed show up and this is the page/app that gives the quick overall picture
Ray,
If you would like, I could put this together easily in a visual graphic for week in review, just shoot me an email.
-Greg
Notes:
(1) I do a lot of treadmill work right now without GPS and this seems to work as long as I wear a HR strap
(2) copymysports was my go to before GC update to get stuff automatically to strava and it worked very well for a while including treadmill w/ HR activities (didn’t try without HR)
(3) autosyncing is enabled through fitbit/withings/myfitnesspal built in APIs that tend to work well in general and are configured through the sites themselves
(4) much of the recent syncing problems appear to be coming from fitbit servers being unable to handle the requests from myfitnesspal due to high post holiday/new years resolution traffic, i.e. a backlog ensues and sometimes there is a long delay for food calories/water intake to show up in fitbit after logged to myfitnesspal
(5) also much of the problems and complicated workarounds come from the new GC, and I have gotten much of this to work by trial and error, I hope GC just makes a good API to simplify things
(6) went with a flex over the vivofit BECAUSE FITBIT HAS A KNOWN AND WORKING API AND WORKS TO KEEP IT UP TO DATE AND PARTNER WITH OTHERS
I have scoured the web for an answer to this question and no one seems to have solved it….
I have about 5 years worth’ of files on Garmin Training center. And on Sport Tracks.
I have finally gotten Garmin Connect. And Sporttracks mobi. I need to upload my data from the GTC (or even SportTracks) but none of the exported files are compatible with a bulk upload unless one writes some sort of script (which is beyond me).
Is there any easy way to bulk upload either GTC or SportTracks to Garmin Connect or even SportTracks.mobi ? Then I could sync using Tapiriik (or similar).
And no, at this point, I can’t get all this data off my watch. It is far too much….
Ray, I bought the fenix2 from CT. Am I safe to use tapiriik for connecting GC and TP as you do? Some comments here suggest Garmin is no longer supporting the idea. Thank you!
Ray, can you configure tapiriik to sync the activities between GC and TP starting today and without the past activities?
Thank you for your help
I believe Garmin has revoked access for 3rd parties. Some of the services described do not work anymore…
see here: link to ro-z.net
the article might need an update.
Tom makes a very good point.
We now know Garmin Connect will be shutting down API access to limited partners, and charging a fee which will be prohibitive to most (if not all) of these small apps.
It seems slightly misleading (irresponsible?) to drive people to those apps for Garmin Connect, knowing that will break… imminently.
[shameless plug] below is a good illustration of the problem.
My 0.02.
Those apps that will break, have already broken. Those apps that will not break, have not yet broken. Garmin doesn’t plan any more changes to the way the backend operates from an API standpoint.
Some apps go through the front door (as described via the $5,000 API fee), and some apps go through a side window without paying a fee. A number of apps have found the window and will likely continue to go through it.
Both Tapiriik and CopyMySports continue to work. I don’t actively have SyncMetrics doing stuff however, so I’m not sure there.
I don’t quite follow how it’s misleading to show folks functional options for getting data out of a service that seems to be bent on locking doors, especially when no other options exist to do so (including yours).
If down the road these methods stop working, then sure, I’ll note it. But it seems sorta silly to do anything when they work. No?
It is good to know that you have already agreed to pay the $5000 protection money to Garmin Aaron. This way users only need to hand over $35 to you annually to get to their hard-earned data via a public API.
After all, $35 is only slightly more than free and we thank you for offering such a great alternative ;)
That is really great to hear. Amazing actually.
Given the weight of legal documents/confidentiality requirements.. and formality of process for the new partner API program with Garmin, I was under a *strong* impression that the rollout would also include shutting off “side window” access. Apologies for the misunderstanding.
Here is the Garmin Connect side window if some hackers wander across this and are interested:
link to github.com
The comments are somewhat humorous. In the request rate limiting code:
Any techie will appreciate that. :)
My understanding from recent discussions is that the changes that have been made, have been made.
LOL. No, SportTracks hasn’t become a partner – yet. We’re going through legal review now. These things take time. And the organized crime syndicates are picky about their protection money. Small unmarked bills, non consecutive serial numbers, no traceable marks :^)
It’s really a matter of whether users demand the “no touch” seamless integration with the wireless devices. We’ve had some requests, but most people want us to keep focusing on our core: analysis, data organization, planning and performance modeling.
Yup, we’ve got a 100% free “non-guaranteed” solution as well. Tapiriik is one, as well as a half dozen iOS and Android apps we partner with (similar to rungap), and [shameless plug on] a plugin for SportTracks 3 to sync all your Garmin Connect data. For free!
I’m encouraged by Ray’s comment below that Garmin will keep the free window open. As privately a lot of these apps we interact are freaking out.
#fistpump
Thanks for being so awesome. :)
Aaron, It’s a relief to learn that even you can be that irresponsible at times ;)
This article describes how RunGap interacts with Garmin Connect and my views on their openness (Data Liberation Score): link to rungap.zendesk.com
What are the terms like for using the SportTracks API? I can’t friend them on the site. Maybe sometime in the future you will also want to “improve” your API by shutting down 3rd party apps that you no longer like/need?
Both Nike and Strava did that at a time when many developers already used their semi-official APIs. Kudos to Strava for undoing that decision after much discussion here on dcrainmaker.com.
I hope that Garmin will think the better of it and not go down that path.
Yeah! I’ve read it. I applaud your openness. It’s a tricky dance with unofficial APIs which may disappear. You’ve done as good as most, better than some, definitely!
Essentially: don’t be a dick.
Athletes need to utilize their data in every way possible to improve performance. Limiting them is not an improvement.
Endomondo is a good example that actively shut down access to Tapiriik, to the point Colin removed the sync feature.
I typically give corporations the benefit of the doubt – between resource staff limits, hosting costs, and scalability issues. I’m glad you’ve found a solution.
Vive la liberation.
Well… this was true for 10 weeks but it now appears that starting June 28, 2014 Garmin Connect is actively blocking at least *some* unauthorized API access. I’ve heard reports from two partner apps that are now receiving HTTP 403 : Forbidden responses when attempting to use the legacy API.
Indeed. A number of others hit by it as well. Obviously sounds like they’ve changed their mind. Though, can’t say that it’s entirely surprising.
Saturday and Sunday I was getting 403 from the Garmin Connect UI/browser interface wen trying to download the original FIT file to import into Sporttracks desktop.
link to connect.garmin.com
[shameless plug on] I wrote an iPhone app that can pull workout data from 13 popular services and recently added single/bulk sharing to Garmin Connect, Endomondo and Strava: http://rungap.com [shameless plug off]
Great post! very helpful. Maybe you have some pointers for me on an issue I have. I am trying to import a course that was created on a Garmin device (so it is on the garmin connect page) onto runkeeper, strava etc, Is there any way to do this ?
basically i am running my first trail run 10 km and the race course was created by on of the organizers on a garmin device and I can see the map (as I imported onto my garmin connect site), but I don’t have a garmin device and I did like to load the map onto any app, strava, endomondo, runkeeper,, but can’t seem to find a way to do this. i am stuck with just looking at the route instead of running it
I have more than 1000 activities on SportTracks.mobi and I wanted to copy/sync those activities on Garmin Connect, particularly to be able to use the new functionalities provided by the new Garmin Edge 1000. I have used Tapiriik, couldn’t transfer all activities in one sync, so I launched the sync multiple times. Every time more trainings show up in Garmin Connect, I am close to have all of them in GC.
Some issues about the activities transferred to GC: many of them have elevation gain = 0, some have unrealistic values (for example 100,000 m); some have unrealistic max speed (600 km/h). Comparing an activity uploaded to GC directly from my Edge 800, I have more information than the same activity transferred from ST thru Tapiriik: avg-min-max temperature, Normalized Power, Intensity Factor, Training Stress Score, FTP setting, Work in kJ and (obviously) the type of device used to record data (in my case Edge 800).
Anybody knows if there is any Tapiriik work in progress to improve the quality of data transfer between ST and GC?
Thank you.
It may be better to ask the Tapiriik team directly: link to tapiriik.com
This has been an interesting thread on options and discussions on the pro/cons of getting our data sync’ed been web services.
I’ve been playing with Tapiriik with great results. I’ve started to play with Syncmetrics with the goal of getting my weight metrics into TrainingPeaks from my Fitbit scale. When linking/importing the fitbit data into synmetrics, it seams that it gets hung on the fitbit initial metrics in progress… message. It’s been running now for two days. I’ve sent a comment/question to the Syncmetrics folks through their website. To date, I’ve only received the Welcome to Syncmetrics message and nothing else. Feels like they don’t monitor the mail box for new messages.
Has anyone else had this issue with getting your Fitbit account setup in in Synmetrics and data sync’ed?
Err, just as sent my message, seems the Syncmetrics site just went down. Guys I should have been nicer in my comment above…
Is there any way to get the POWER data off of Garmin Connect to replace my lost Golden Cheetah files?
Along the upper edge of the workout on Garmin Connect you’ll see an Export option, from there, choose TCX file. Golden Cheetah will import that in just fine.
Though, be warned that it doesn’t include some of the advanced power metric features found on newer left/right PM’s. So, you’ll definitely want to directly upload/save those from your device.
Data in data out. :)
I have an android phone, and a HRM. I do stuff with them. I also have a Garmin 610, I used to do stuff with it.
I’m looking for an app that will run on android, read all my HRM data, and then allow me to share that. Ideally, I would like to get from that HRM android app to training peaks, sport tracks, fitbit, and myfitness pal. ANY such app?
I used to think Garmin Connect was great. Now I hate them. Anyway to bypass GC, and garmin in general, and still use my Garmin 610?
SORT of related … on the sports track website, it just says “we connect to a bunch of stuff” (paraphrasing) but I can’t see anywhere a list of devices or other sites that works with sports tracks. Anyone know of such a list?
Thanks!
Does this allow to for CompuTrainer workouts to be automatically uploaded to Training Peaks?
Also, If you can transfer to from TrainingPeaks to Garmin Connect, this should allow CompuTrainer workouts to be transfered to Garmin Connect, right?
Thanks.
How are you uploading the CompuTrainer workouts, and to where specifically?
I started using copymysports about three weeks ago and the upload to Strava takes anywhere from 6-12 hours. I’ve never seen it down at 15 minutes. Do you think they’re working on its service quality or should I try Tapiriik?
Does Tapiriik auto-sync ALL activities including private activities from Garmin Connect? Or are there settings or guidelines on how to auto-sync what you want? I do not want to do manual synching since I have the 810. I can’t find this info anywhere so please let me know. Thanks!
It sync’s whatever you configure it to, you can choose whether or not to grab private activities.
Thanks – great write-ups btw. I’ve been looking at your site for a couple years now and it’s second to none. Your detailed insight is much appreciated. I went with the Garmin 810, Stages power meter, Garmin FR 610, and opted out of the Suunto Phoenix. :-)
https://tapiriik.com is down for some reason…
Is there an alternative to auto-sync Garmin Connect to TrainingPeaks other than one of these three still?
I’m not having much luck lately with Tapiriik (admittedly CopyMySports is having issues at the same time) so there must be an issue but isn’t there a better way?
Nothing at this point. But, I suspect we’ll see that change sooner or later, likely more sooner.
I now use syncmetrics.com which seems to be the most stable and consistent. It syncs from GC to Strava immediately when I log into the syncmetrics.com site on any device (it remembers me so no log in required). I’m hoping for an auto-sync to avoid this step but at least it syncs consistently. Maybe someone knows 1) if it auto-syncs, and 2) how often it does it? I waited for an hour and nothing happened so I log in to syncmetrics.com to have it execute the sync for now.
Copymysports was working but sometimes took 12+ hrs to update from GC to Strava and never near the 15 minutes. I lost interest due to the inconsistency.
Tapiriik started working but said it was syncing for a while which got me nervous that it would sync everything from GC to Strava so I stopped the sync to avoid a potential mess. I’d need more clarity around what it was planning to sync.
Hmmmm…………………. like, directly from the Garmin (1000) unit itself?
Hi,
Is there a way to sync manual activities from garmin connect to strava? It only syncs activities tracked through GPS. Would be good to get the manually added activities sync across too. Thanks!
Hi, are there any programs for Android tablets, including the Amazon Kindle Fire tablets? By program, I mean standalone non-web connected software (i.e. an Android version of something akin to the old GTC or Sport Tracks for Windows). Thanks!
Unfortunately I haven’t heard of anything for the Kindles. :(
Might have been a coincidence, but when I used Tapiriik between my accounts my Facebook and twitter got hacked. I guess that is what you get for using the same password…
That helped a lot, thank you!
Ray, there is a good alternative. it’s the SyncMyTracks app for Android phones.
It can sync Endomondo, Runtastic, RunKeeper, Strava, Garmin and Nike+ on demand (free) or once a day automaticaly (paid). No website, everything is done by the phone. It’s the ONLY one that syncs Runtastic and Endomondo as far as I know.
I just tried using SyncMyTracks for Garmin -> Runtastic Me. It didn’t work :(
Just seen that TP will pull data live from GC now. Just got an email from them (probably only a premium feature)
Tested it last night and worked well. It even uploaded correctly into the correct planned workout as well.
hello ray as of today after the changes from garmin what is the best solution to get my data from garmin to mapmyrun , i actually use as well trainingpeaks, and strava, i do use totas taipirik to get my data to strava and trainingpeaks, but mapmyrun?
You can use SyncMetrics (outlined above) to get to MapMyFitness (which is MapMyRun). But I’d use the direct connection for Garmin to Training Peaks, and then Tapiriik for Strava.
The garmin connection to TP still works now my premium trial has run out which is nice.
Still looking for a way to get runtastic and garmin connect to talk to each other. I say the above post re synchmytracks, but, alas, I am an iphone user so no access to an android phone. Anybody know any other way to connect the data on these two platforms?
The RunGap iPhone app can be used to copy your Runtastic activities to Garmin Connect (and other popular services like Strava, Endomondo and RunKeeper). No export to Runtastic yet.
Not sure this is the right forum, but does anyone know if and when there is a fix for syncing between Garmin Connect and Wahoo???
Having bought the KICKR etc I can no longer sync to Garmin???
Any ideas? Wahoo said there’d be a fix in a few days…. that was weeks ago!
Garmin broke it on them again. In talking with Wahoo, you’ll likely see a fix coming soon (again) – they seemed to find a workaround when I talked a few days ago with them. It’s sorta cat and mouse.
Does anyone know if/when RunningAhead will work with the tapiriik site?
Is it possible for sync metrics to sync weight from withings scale to garmin?
Hey – I have tried regiestering with SYNCMETRICS. However it sends me an email confirming that I have subscribed. I click it and it opens the website.
I then try to login and it states that i need to activate my account. However I can’t because they haven’t sent me an activation email.
Ok – Ignore that. User error :)
However. Now I learn (a little to late) that it only syncs from Strava to MapmyRun – not MapmyRun to Strava. Doh!
Just a heads up, Syncing with Endomondo has been added back to Tapiriik.
Works great for me :-)
just do it!
thanx
Hey Ray (or anyone), do you know if I use Tapiriik to sync from Strava to Trainingpeaks if my workouts on TP would have associated bike and show info? I commute to/from work and would like to include those rides on TP for my time spent graph, however, I’m not sure if it’d automatically use the correct bike (i have 2) or if I’d have to manually associate each file. I don’t have TP Premium at the moment so I can’t check for myself.
If it doesn’t work then I guess I’ll have to explore the garmin connect autosync feature. I currently don’t use garmin connect but that may be easier to auto sync from GC to Strava and TP as long as my bikes come out separated on each system. I’m trying to keep my data entry as low-maintenance as possible so in the past I’ve just strictly kept track of my non-commute rides on TP.
Looks like Syncmetrics is shutting down. Their home page shows a “thanks and goodbye” message, although they claim they’re going to see if they can come back. They haven’t been syncing my weight from Withings to Garmin Connect for a month now.
What in the world is going on with Garmin Connect?
I have auto sync with TrainngPeaks.
Workouts are being pushed to TrainingPeaks via bluetooth connection from my devices (Fenix2 & Edge 1000) and they show up in TrainingPeaks but not in Garmin Connect.
None of my workouts since this past weekend are showing in Garmin Connect.
Oddly enough, when I look at the time that the data was pulled from Garmin Conneect into TrainingPeaks, it shows 5:08 pm (the time it was uploaded into TrainingPeaks from GC) ……….. I was still sitting in my office at that time—- my workout didn’t even end until 7:00 pm.
Glad it’s misteriously getting to TrainingPeaks but why is it not in GC?
Yeah, widespread GC issues today. Don’t feel bad, yesterday it was Suunto issues.
It’s still getting to TP/Strava because that likely takes a different backend path. Pretty normal for large-scale application deployments.
Using tapiriik I am getting duplicate activities in strava. Is there any way to undo the synchronization?
Thank you!
I’m using tapiriik together with garmin connect and I don’t get any duplicates. tapiriik takes care of that.
It’s been about a month since the announcement that Garmin would allow auto-sync with MapMyFitness. Any updates on this?
Nothing new yet.
Syncmetrics is dead.
Any ideas how to sync my weight from Withings to Garmin Connect now?
You can use MyFitnessPal to pipe the data through. So basically you setup the sync between Withings and MFP, then MFP to GC. There’s a few threads in the Garmin Forums about it. I’m about 80-90% done writing up a quick how-to guide to post, likely this week now that I’m back home and can ensure it’s all working cleanly.
Garmin Connect does not have any official API to upload health metrics (actually… any official upload API *period*) – and it is likely a matter of time before they shut down the unofficial backdoor APIs people have been hacking.
If you want to integrate your Withings and Garmin data, you’ll need to look at another platform. SportTracks.mobi is one – I have no doubt there are others.
Is there a way to bulk upload .tcx files to Garmin? I have a truckload of them (TrainerRoad files) and it’s taking forever to upload them to Garmin Connect individually. I want to avoid passing through another site then Tapiriik (actually, I did it going through Strava, sync with Tapiriik and some of the data is not copied in the sync).
You can do individual activities….
“https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activities” and then click on Import on the right hand side. The currently support .tcx .gpx and .fit files.
Tapiriik website doesn’t look right today, and i was wondering if anyone else noticed that. I only ask here, cause i’m worried if i sync my data and it was hacked then who knows what will happen to it. plus if i send a messge to the guy that runs it may go unanswered if it was hacked. The logo is what really worries me, it appears to be in another language.
It’s in Punjabi, going by Google Translate. The word below the banner says Hello! and the mouseover text talks about some peaceful guru.
Does look as though it might have been compromised, doesn’t it? I’ve changed all my passwords for upload sites and tweeted Tapiriik to let the author know.
Deliberate change by the site owner, apparently; nothing to be concerned about.
link to twitter.com
Don’t know if anyone else has said already, but synchmetrics doesn’t work any longer. :/ Am trying to find something similar to pull old data from mapmyrun to get all runs into the same place and preferably sync them all. Recommendations welcome.
yup, should have read the recent comments. still trying to find a way to pull info from mapmyfitness.
Yesterday Tapiriik integrated sync from TrainerRoad. Yiipeee!
hi guys any app replacement to sync weight from Withing (scales ) to Polar/Garmin ?
Looks like FitDataSync is also going down. Seems to have stopped syncing… :-(
It stopped syncing for me about a month ago just around the time we changed from Daylight Savings. Despite several messages I’ve had no response from developer.
Hi am looking for a way to sync movescount data with garmin connect. Is there a way to do this? Thanks mark
If you have an iOS device and $1 you can use RunGap to transfer your Movescount data to Garmin Connect.
Thanks Kristian, pity the Movescount site is down again!
Hi,
since syncmetrics is no longer in operation, I have linked strava direct with garmin connect. But now I have duplicate activity in strava. How do I eliminate these duplicates? Thanks.
You can just delete these duplicates manually from Strava.
Hey Ray, great stuff, as usual. As a long time (disgrunted) Timex user, i have been uploading to the “free” Training Peaks through their Device Agent. I am now taking the plunge and decided move to the Garmin 620 but i’d still love to keep all the workouts under TP.
Do you think the Device Agent will be able to recognize the 620 (i have seen it mentioned somewhere)? Or Tapiriik is the only option? Many thanks!
Yup, the standard device agent works with the FR620 no problems.
Alternatively, you can setup the FR620 to sync via WiFi, and then use Garmin Auto Sync to push straight to Training Peaks: link to dcrainmaker.com
Thank a lot
ray, do any of these services push scheduled workouts from TP to Garmin Connect…. so they can then show up in your device all setup?
No, I’m not aware of any service that can do that unfortunately.
too bad that would be very useful… I am guessing the data conversion maybe a challenge
Ray, you might have noticed that Garmin Connect modern has recently allowed to download .FIT files for individual activities.
Is there any tool around to allow automatic download of FIT files for all historical activities in my account.
Unfortunately tapiirik only supports .TCX files.
BTW thanks for great write-ups on your blog, I read them all !!!
If you have an iPhone, you can use the RunGap app to grab the original FIT files for all your activities on Garmin Connect. http://rungap.com
Thanks Kristian, this is great tool!
If only I could set it up like tapiirik to automatically put the copy of .FIT file to my Dropbox ;-)
I run with the Strava android app, bike and swim with Garmin devices. I sync my Garmin acticities to my Strava account. I would like to see my runs in Garmin Connect, but when I manually export my Strava runs to Garmin, they get copied back to Strava, duplicating all runs. Is they’re a way around this? Thanks in advance.
Wow, Tapiriik is the answer. Thank you!
Hi,
this is my workflow:
1. Ambit3>Movescount>Strava
2. Rubitrack via Movescount import
3. Tapiriik to sync Strava, Garmin Connect and Endomondo
My issue is that lap data (manual or auto) is missing in Garmin Connect. Endomondo detects 1 km lap but no manual lap.
I anyone experiencing an issue like mine?
Have you come across anyway to transfer vivosmart step data to fitbit. I can set up activities but not steps. Thanks
After seeing this post, I decided to try Tapiriik for myself. I love it!! I’ve got my SportTracks and MayMayRun set up to sync automatically from Garmin Connect, but these pull only new activities. Tapiriik successfully copied over all my older activities to SportTracks (overnight, it was slow as I have LOTS of runs logged over the past 8 years…), with no duplicates :) Happiness. Also copied everything to Runkeeper, and I have the automatic sync enabled ($2 is so worth it!) for Runkeeper since this has no direct Garmin Connect integration.
Now I’m doing a bulk backup/export from Garmin Connect to DropBox, as sadly Tapiriik does not currently support MapMyRun, and MapMyRun is missing all my pre-2012 history… Fair bit of running, I want have the logs. Also, the DropBox sync will be a handy backup of the TCX files, just in case.
Thanks DC Rainmaker for your informative blog. You’re a goldmine of useful information.
I try to find out how to export my workouts (as a .fit file) from movescount.com and import into Garmin Connect but it doesn’t work. Do you know how to export from moves count and import to Garmin Connect.
In Garmin Connect, when trying to import the .fit file I get an error saying “undefined”
Lars – Unfortunately the FIT files exported from Movescount don’t meet the Garmin standards, and will fail to import in some apps. We had a few of these come across to SportTracks. We investigated the data inside, and basically, they’re effed up.
You could try a different format (TCX), but you’re going to lose some detail possibly, like pauses and laps. Finally you can use a tool such as SportTracks which imports the native .SML files (in your Moveslink2 folder) or google for some free tools to convert SML to TCX files. That assumes you’ve still got the SML files around, which unfortunately Suunto Moveslink periodically deletes.
Aaron,
unfortunately not only .fit files from Movescount, but .fit files from other sites as well (e.g. Bool). This is a major PITA.
No question. And Polar Flow?
As much as the FIT format is spec’d out, it still leaves A LOT to interpretation, and as those issues are not documented, the implementers need to fall back to… “make sure it works on Garmin Connect”. Suunto didn’t do this.
The farther you go away from “vanilla” workout data the worse it can get. I would be astonished if all the pool metric stroke info comes through from the Suunto FIT file. We saw some early bugs with TomTom exports getting the wrong stroke count for example. Running Dynamics? L/R power? Good luck.
And still.. it’s a manual process.
Suunto (and Polar) users have options. Both platforms provide a native API apps can integrate with – as we’re doing this spring. Once in SportTracks.mobi or (others like Strava, Runkeeper) tapiriik.com currently provides the best existing platform to broadcast this out to other services. I expect we’ll see native Polar and Movescount integration on tapiriik sometime soon. And it’s open source which is nice.
Don’t have a Garmin, Polar, Suunto (or some others) – your options are limited.
So back to Lar’s question.. Unfortunately Garmin doesn’t have an official sync API to push data -INTO- it. Using a non Garmin watch and getting data into Garmin Connect is a non-starter. Period.
So now it’s 2015 and this article is a year+ old and meandered a bit beyond the original intent. You didn’t ask for my advice but I’ll give it to you in 3 easy steps.
1. Pick a major watch manufacturer that has a data API such as Garmin, Polar or Suunto
2. Pick an independent app that meets your tracking and analysis needs. There are dozens each has their strength and weaknesses (more social vs analytical, advert supported vs paid, single vs multisport support, etc).
3. Pay Colin (tapiriik) two bucks/year to sync your data. C’mon. It’s two bucks.
This gives you the best of all worlds, and more importantly allows you to jump to another watch vendor in a few years without losing your entire training history.
It is not possible to choose another format from Movescount. The only format I can choose is .fit or XLXS
Some very basic questions as i am new to all this technology. I have the Garmin 910XT and I am going cross country skiing and want to bring it along mainly to track heart rate and routes. I will have a laptop but not internet unless I tether to my phone but that might be expensive. Can I upload to anything (I currently use Garmin Connect and Training Peaks) without internet connection?
Second question if I am skiing for approximately 6 hours everyday for 8 days will I need to upload?
Third question what things can I do to save the battery life as I wont always have access to electricity?
Would really appreciate some advice.
Without the internet connection you won’t get to Garmin Connect or training peaks. But it’ll upload to your computer just fine and then later on it’ll sync those onwards to Garmin Connect. I often do that on an airplane without WiFi and it juts sync’s later on with Garmin Express.
For the data storage on the device itself, that’d be tight (if not over).
For battery life, simply turn off the device after each day. Ultimately you’ll need to charge it basically every 2-3 days. I’d charge it after each second day, or, anytime you have power I’d charge it.
I would recommend testing the loading of data from the watch to the computer with computer WiFi off before your trip. I’m pretty sure that the 910XT with Garmin Express will not load to the computer without an internet connection. At least that was the way I read the Garmin documentation about differences between Garmin Express and Ant Agent. (It did work fine with Ant Agent.) I no longer have my 910XT so I can’t be certain.
Thanks for your comments. I do have an ant agent so will try with no connection before I leave and see what happens.
Does fitdatasync still work? mine hasn’t worked in about 2 weeks and emails through the contact form remain unanswered :(
Double and trple checked account settings and even created a brand new fitdatasync account to try. But to no avail. Prior it was working good and the Aria data in fitbit came to garmin and my garmin activities went to fitbit
Hi Mark. I have the same issue with fitdatasync.com. Does anyone knows something about it? I too didn’t get an answer via the contact form. Any alternatives?
My understanding is that the site is no longer operational.
Happy to announce Suunto Movescount sync to SportTracks is now live:
link to sporttracks.mobi
Once your data is in SportTracks, you can use tapiriik to sync to 12 different services.
I tried Tapiriik tonight to copy from GC to Dropbox. GC kept pausing and it copied a few runs from 2008 but would not do any more than that. I tried multiple times. Is this a GC problem?
Not sure if this helps, but mine wouldn’t sync to Dropbox because my workouts in GC are set to private. Went into the Tapiriik settings for GC and checked I was okay with private upload and then it went fine. Only issue is manually inputted workouts didn’t sync (so no swim or strength data sync for me).
Do these services still work to sync GarminConnect to Strava with the change in Garmin policy over their third party access to data through the unsupported API with the roll out of the new GarminConnect a few months ago? Whats the best way to get all my past Garmin activity on to Strava?
Yes it works great for me no issues
I use tapiriik to sync GC with strava and the Garmin connect to sync directly to Trainingpeaks
Hello,
any way to upload my weight data to Garmin Connect? I have a log of weight measurements from last year.
I uploaded it to Fitbit, Withings, MyFitnessPal…
Still cannot get it ot Garmin Connect. No luck with FitDataSync. I connected MyFitnessPal to Garmin Connect – no luck either.
Thank you
What about syncing fit bit aria with garmin? The new garmin watch is leaps and bounds per fit bit user imho over Fitbit surge.
tapiriik is not working at all right???
just the information Queuing….
O am i doing something wrong
Pete,
There has been server problems lately with Tapiriik or something like that. It works great normally so stick with it, Collin Fair does a great job and service but he’s only one guy so sometimes if something goes wrong it can take a bit to fix it I think.
As of right now it seemed to sync just fine for me but wasn’t yesterday.
Marc M
I tried tapiirik on 5th December and it had the same issue.
Ray,
Do you know of a service that allows for automatic sync between GC to Strava with the power and heart rate data being scrubbed (erased)? Essentially what I’m looking for is a cross over of fitfiletools’ field stripper function but with tapiriik’s implementation of syncing.
I ask because I currently have a edge 520 which I use the BT to upload to GC. GC pushes through to TP. What I’m really looking for is something that is able to prevent people from seeing my power/heart rate data on strava but still allow me only need to make the upload once.
Thanks
Ray
+1 Tapiriik stopped working. Admin does not answer inquiries through any channel I tried.
It was great while it lasted but it is no longer an option for me.
I rolled my own desktop kludge on OS X using DoSomethingWhen, Automator, RSync, and Dropbox. When I plug in either my Edge or my Garmin watch, it copies the FIT files to a Dropbox folder, which is then available on any computer for WKO or Golden Cheetah.
It works 100% reliably AND I’m able to get ahold of the admin when I need help :)
Tapiriik does a lot more than Garmin. It’s not terribly hard to get new Garmin files off your devices.
A simpler solution might be to create a folder within your Dropbox sync folder on your Mac, and then replace the Garmin Express folder with a link to that. Seems like you could avoid all that kluge and let Dropbox and Garmin Express do their bizness as usual. No?
I am interested do you recommend using tapiriik to sync Garmin with Strava and Runkeeper or would you now recommend to connect them directly, since that is now an option for some time.
Will there even be any difference?
Thanks,
Hi have you done any posts about which service you use to compile all your data (sport tracks, Stracks, etc) and pros/cons of them? I’m curious to see which services you use on a daily basi and why.
Looks like Runkeeper can finally directly grab activities from Garmin Connect! Don’t know how long this has been around for, but I just noticed today:
link to support.runkeeper.com
For those who give up searching the way of automatic sync to Runtastic: http://syncmytracks.com – the app for android (iOS still missing :( ) that allow to do same that tapiriik but on android platform and with much more available accounts.
I had syncmytracks for over the last 6 months and so far no problem to sync. It syncs Adidas micoach, Bryton, Endomondo, Fitbit, Garmin connect, Mapmyfitness, Nike+ NRC, Polar flow, Ride with GPS, RunKeeper, Runtastic,Sports Tracker, Strava,Movescount (Suunto) and Training Peaks. You can export and import or even sync between any of them. Plain simple to use.
I’ve had syncmytracks for years. It works well and the developer is still actively maintaining and developing it.
Tapiriik is great in theory, but I found it a bit hit and miss connecting Connect with Strava. I really wanted to just put my FIT files in Dropbox and have them synced to Strava and Connect, but sync from Dropbox never worked, and the author didn’t reply to any emails about it.
Has anything come along to replace SyncMetrics? Like many others, I’d love to connect Withings and Garming Connect without having to go through MFP.
Thanks!
It looks like Training Peaks doesn’t allow access to your data any more according to tweet from tapiriik last year.
link to twitter.com
So if you use TP your data is basically locked up except for manual export; instructions below:
link to help.trainingpeaks.com
One of the replies on twitter said this info also came from Golden Cheetah.
Any thoughts on transferring Garmin connect with Suunto Movescount? I love Movescount and have been using the Ambit 1/3 for years. But now I’m swapping to a Garmin 5X. I’ll miss everyone from the groups on Movescount lol! Ideas?
Hi,
since a lot of weeks the Tapiriik Sync from Garmin Connect to Dropbox doesn’t work.
It’s doing some “work” showing this by spinning the button but after stopping this nothing weere moved to Dropbox.
Sync from Strava to Dropbox works fine.
Any idea?
Thx Rainer
It’s pretty annoying. Per copymysports, Garmin messed up exports of the tcx files which is likely the same issue causing Tapiriik to not be able to utilize GC as the source data to sync to other services. I haven’t had a sync out of GC for months, the activities don’t even show up in Tapiriik sync list u til I’ve manually copied them elsewhere, then it will show up as an activity in GC. This is really annoying as I want to use GC as the original source of my activities.
With the official GC -> Strava connection not syncing over activity names, I’d hoped to introduce a sync delay via Tapiriik to allow me to edit the name. It turns out, this wouldn’t sync anyway for some reason and renaming the Strava ride creates a duplicate in Apple Health.
Essentially, cross-platform syncing *from* GC in any automated way is not possible currently without official integrations, and at best is irritating that you must then rename the rides in each synced-to service.
Ideally there would exist an app or service to login to GC to download your TCX and transfer ride data, name, and (if possible?) notes. I’d certainly pay for that service. Currently the situation is grim for those of us with GC as step 1.
The sync situation with Garmin Connect activities seems dismal at the moment. Per syncmysports, GC removed the way the sync services were polling our activity .tcx files, though they hint this could be accomplished via direct login. I wish someone would go ahead and do this if they haven’t – I haven’t found one.
The integrated sync out of Garmin Connect to Strava/etc is not without its annoyances, such as not transferring ride names due to the integrations being instant and thus not allowing time to rename or add notes (notes probably wouldn’t sync anyway) prior to it sending to Strava or other connections like Training Peaks. I previously used Tapiriik to provide a bit of a sync delay to let me rename the ride, but this hasn’t worked for some time now as Tapiriik can’t seem to see new activities in GC until they’ve already moved to other platforms. In addition, Strava has its own issues with creating duplicates in Apple Health after renaming rides that have been synced already with the default names so it would be nice to see a more complete sync solution if it’s technically possible.
Ideally, I’d love to use GC as my original source data for non-trainer rides (which originate from Zwift/Trainer Road/etc) but the inability to find a reliable sync platform to sync out from GC, much less allow for renames (if this is even included at all in GC .tcx files) before sending out is a real disappointment.
It may be time for an updated version of this article. Tapiriik seems really flakey (not supporting some newer activity types, no updates on twitter, no copying to Garmin Connect from TrainingPeaks, etc. CopyMySports is gone. FitnessSyncer is ok but cant copy to Garmin connect either. The need for copying to Garmin Connect is to try and circumvent companies which have not yet added integration (i’m looking at you concept2). Thanks!
Well Sam, there is SyncMyTracks and Rungap out there working flawless.
Andres, that almost works! I am an android phone person so I tried SyncMyTracks but for whatever reason it’s creating duplicates. I’ll shoot their support a message and see what they say. Eric over at FitnessSyncer said copying to Garmin was against their terms of service.
This is a follow-up to my previous comment. After digging around it appears SyncMyTracks is not using FIT files which is likely the cause of the duplicates because that is what everything else is using (looking at the source files). SyncMyTracks only uses GPX and TCX files. I should probably accept that Garmin Connect is really only for Garmin device data and give up trying to get everything else in there. I use TrainingPeaks to analyze a mashup of all my training data but I have one place which wont sync with them. Oh well. That one place is one of those places that gives you money torwards your healthcare for being active, and I think with my new watch they should get enough data, otherwise I will just manually copy over enough when the time comes. Either way, keeping track of all this data is a real pain. I wish there was just one big FIT file dump in the cloud I could put everything then places like Garmin, TrainingPeaks, or wherever coul grab those files regardless of who made them. Garmin calls that a quality control issue of course. Thanks for listening to me rant!
Hi Sam, thanks for discerning how SyncMyTracks works. Have you ever tried to make work Rungap? I tried once but I gave up (Unfortunately only work in iOs devices.)
Sorry Andres, I have Android and Windows to work with, no iOS.
DC Rainmaker –
I just bought a NordicTrack S22i cycling trainer. So far I love it….except that I cannot find a way to sync iFit (the software that NordicTrack works with) to Garmin Connect. Do you have any ideas? I didn’t see anything above that would work (though those were great tips for other syncs).
Thanks! – Bo
I’d love to see an update on this. Tapiriik stopped working for a lot of people and the developer seems to have disappeared 12-18 months ago. As noted in the article, Syncmetrics is gone. CopyMySports is gone.
FitnessSyncer is nice if what you would like to copy fits within their parameters — copy steps or sleep data from Garmin to Training Peaks, etc.
I’d love to see suggestions on getting Zwift/Sufferfest to Final Surge or anything to DailyMile.
I would also like to see an update on this. Fitnesssyncer seems to be the only reliable game in town these days. I would like to see workouts on Wattbike Hub go straight to Garmin connect.
Tapiriik doesnt work for me either. And CopyMySport doesnt exist any more?
I just found a tool made by the GoToes owner. This syncs my Garmin activities to Strava giving me the chance to first rename the activities once.
Mind you. I think there is a little bug (as of 8-10-2019) in the software. The first time you get on the site, you have to enter your credentials for Garmin Connect. After that you can choose the activities you wont to upload. On the next page you connect to Strava. During this initial setup, the changed activity names do not upload to Strava.
This only happens during the first initial setup. After that, the new activity names do appear correctly in Strava.
URL: link to gotoes.org
Given that Garmin is completely down this article seems ready for an update!
I’m sure Garmin will sort out their outage issue but for peace of mind I’d like to keep copies of all my data somewhere I can control, not just another site. So e.g. Dropbox, OneDrive etc.
Any way to do this for all activities and history? Steps, weight etc would be a bonus but I expect that’s proprietary to Garmin so doubt it can be exported en mass
You can request all your data from Garmin from this link
link to garmin.com
Ray,
I used to use tapiriik to get data from Tom Tom watches to Garmin Connect. Tapiriik now states that data from other sources will not upload or sync with Garmin Connect only Garmin Connect will sync to other registries. Obviously, Zwift for instance, has a direct upload to Garmin Connect and possibly Training Peaks, that I don’t use. Has Garmin locked down their API and only allowed Zwift and Training Peaks? If I were to buy a Coros Pace 2, is there anyway to sync to Garmin Connect with Tapiriik or otherwise? Am I missing something? I haven’t looked at this for years as I have been locked exclusively into the Garmin ecosystem but considering cheating on them.
@okrunner
I would be also interested in this. I am also an extensive Garmin user and just purchased a Wahoo Bolt v2. I would now like to sync my rides to Garmin. Tapiriik seems to be able to get the rides into Garmin but as stated, this should not be possible anymore.
What would be our options to get our data into the Garmin ecosystem? Get a free Training Peaks account and sync the rides from there to Garmin? But that is surely a restriction for free TP users.
Anton,
I was able to download the RunGap app to my iphone and RunGap will successfully sync Coros with Garmin Connect. RunGap may or may not work with Wahoo, but worth a look.
okrunner,
thanks for the tip. As I am an Android user and RunGap is available for iOS only, this solution does not work for me. :-(