=> Published: 01 April 2025 <=
Garmin U-turns On Connect+ Subscription
Other than the Active Intelligence (AI) part of the paywalled service, which has been temporarily removed, it’s all now free. The AI part was in beta in any case, and, I suppose, reading between the lines, that might be re-introduced later as a paid-for service once it adds some value.
Sadly this post was published on April 1st….
Here’s what the CEO said in a pretty grovelling apology(ish):
At Garmin, we have always strived to create the best possible experience for athletes, adventurers, and everyday users. Our goal has never been just to sell products, but to build a community of people who trust us to support their goals with reliable, innovative technology.
Over the past few days, we’ve heard you loud and clear. The introduction of Garmin Connect+ was a mistake. We misjudged how deeply our customers value the openness and accessibility of our platform, and we failed to communicate our intentions clearly. Many of you felt this was a shift in our philosophy—one that prioritised monetisation over the trust we’ve built over decades. That was never our intention, but we now realise that intention doesn’t matter if we’ve let our customers down.
Because of this, we are discontinuing the Garmin Connect+ subscription service, effective immediately. With the exception of Active Intelilgence (AI) which we have withdrawn, the features introduced under this plan will be made available to all users at no additional cost. We are also committing to a renewed focus on delivering innovation without compromising the values that brought you to Garmin in the first place.
We deeply appreciate your feedback, your passion, and your honesty. Garmin exists because of you, and we will continue to listen, learn, and improve. [Clifford Pemble, CEO, Garmin Inc]
Take Out
Published: 01 April 2025. => Sorry!
While a world without subscriptions might sound tempting, the reality is that Garmin Connect+ is here to stay, and this might be its expanded future in a few years. At least the core Garmin experience remains free for now.
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You got me. Was taking this dead serious.
If it wasn’t for the comment above, I would have never guessed! Well played
Another one here 🙂 Nice one!
Well played! At least I hope Garmin releases a family plan that includes Connect+ and Tacx App.
Garmin could offer a two-tier subscription over all its service to encourage the use of some (eg Maps+ + Connect+), or Comms+ (including inReach and 5G) – basically simlpify it and incentivise people who are half inclined to jump onboard for other features they dont really need.
yes they could do a group thing like Strava did, be that a group of sporty friends or, as you suggest, family. I don’t think garmin has the same social pull that strava does, so i’m not sure that would work.
Really serious news site that do this.
yep.
gotcha, sorry.
Even the BBC do it: https://www.bbc.co.uk/articles/c4nnnwr9rr9o
It’s a thing.
This is pure gold. Totally got me!
Even though i knew its April 1st this made me feel for a split second, like Garmin made a lifelong customer. For real if Garmin had the balls to do this i would be a true believer 🙂
Good one!!!!
Boooo!
Hook-line-sinker!
Your a bad person 🙂
Thanks for ruining my whole day!
you’re welcome.
You had me until press release used non-U.S. English spelling of prioritized and monetization.
grrr. shoddy on my part. I should have thought of that.
Dammit, I read only the first half of this and then had to go to work, spent the next hour being thrilled about this decision, then got to work and read the rest, you got me lol
Stupid idiots. That would be great with such a feature! Now we won’t get the AI part!
It’s hard enough navigating misinformation in the modern world without garbage like this polluting my news feed. Blocked.
Grow up.
lighten up, April 1st is a thing.
Christmas is the Western celebration of capitalism and April 1st its celebration of stupidity (ie mine for doing this in the first place, I’m more of a christmas person)
Snowflake….No humor, must be German!!
Unsubscribe
bye! (you weren’t subscribed in any case)
This is the first time I can remember actually believing one of these April 1st articles. No outlandish claims or obvious attempts at humor and a boiler-plate press release convinced me. Too bad, because until I got to the comments I was thinking how they just got a customer for life.
You’re not the only one! The fact that it’s something a lot of people dearly *want* to believe doesn’t help, either. It was so well written, I wouldn’t be surprised if a few people at Garmin itself fell for it, really.
similar post, same author?
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/the-aw-ultra-suddenly-seems-like-a-bargain-now-with-garmins-silly-pricing.2434505/post-33834901
You definitely got me. I hope you mark it visibly in the title once April 1st is over, though.
I was thinking the same. I might even have to divert the page to the proper one that disses garmin’s moneygrab
What’s depressing is that if you now do an online search along the lines of “Has Garmin cancelled its Connect subscription”, this article tops the result as if it were fact. Guess it may take a while to teach AI irony. 🙂
it will vary mine says this:
First they need to make sure the free stuff works, the Bluetooth disconnects 10x a day, so they should focus on that before asking for more money
“reliable, innovative technology”
this part had me rolling
Not sure where the humour was for this one, did get fooled because companies do sometimes genuinely make u-turns on feedback and there wasn’t any exaggerated claim/flip (we will make AI free for all users!).
Also, it’s polite (and custom) to update articles post-event to prepend them with a note “this was an April fool!”, not just an easy to miss “Sorry!” at the end, in-between 4 adverts and auto-playing video.
it does say published on april 1st at the very top, which i added.
as you suggest, i will add a further note
Google News pushed this into my feed today, April 5th. Not cool man.
=> Published: 01 April 2025 <=