Garmin CIQ Developers ‘game’ the CIQ Store review system
It looks like some naughty Garmin CIQ developers have been caught out trying to game/fake the reviews of their own apps on Garmin’s Connect IQ store. As punishment, Garmin will not let them submit further apps and have stated that the guilty developers were in contravention of the following clause from the Connect IQ SDK Agreement.
Prohibited Activity; Limitations: You may not: … (c) engage in any activity with respect to your Application or Program Materials that interferes with, disrupts, damages, or accesses in an unauthorized manner any Garmin platforms, or systems, or those of any of its affiliates or any third party;
The wording might be clear to a lawyer but probably not clear to most people. That said, it’s fairly obvious to me that behaviour like ‘faking downloads’ (or whatever the exact contraventions) certainly should be in breach of behaviour acceptable to Garmin.
It’s unsure what the developers in question hoped to gain by doing this, other than getting their apps used by more people, as most apps do not usually cost anything.
Garmin CIQ comprises apps, widgets and data fields that work on many Garmin devices. Garmin customers download the usually-free apps to their device either via the Connect IQ app on their smartphone or via the Connect IQ store online.
Source: AlphaMonkeyC at Garmin.com
Check out some more info on future additions to CIQ and previous winners of best CIQ app categories…below
Garmin Edge 130, Edge 520 plus, Edge 520 Comparison, Detailed Specs – Not a review
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we all know that Garmin basically punishes reviewers that don’t give favorable reviews for their products & they have the audacity to call others out on their platform. Love Garmin but really
true.
i think what is happening with one-liner reviews (the kind Garmin are talking of here and the kind on amazon) is that they are being scammed big time.
I also suspect there is still significant under-reporting of sponsorship on instagram/tik tok tye outlets.
I think review sites have historically been guilty of fake reviews but I would say most are now very good…now WE are suffering the admin/compliance overheads of others’ bad behaviours