Open SuuntoPlus: Credible after Three Months: 40 Apps

A Suunto Race 2 or Vertical 2 bought in March has gained a steady stream of new functionality via 3rd-party apps. Rowers can mirror a Concept2 PM5 to the wrist. Trail runners have a choice of grade-adjusted pace tools. parkrunners can display their registration barcode on the watch at the 5k finish line. All of this came from Open SuuntoPlus, the developer platform Suunto opened to anyone in March. More than 40 community-built apps are now in the SuuntoPlus Store, with new ones every week.

The apps worth knowing about

These examples indicate the impressive range available, spanning running, trail running, cycling, water sports, indoor training, and games. Some apps are niche by design. Others solve a problem that applies to an entire category of athletes.

• ErgSynch connects a Concept2 PM5 to the watch and mirrors stroke rate, pace, power and distance. Any rower using a Concept2 gains accurate erg data straight to the wrist, which gives the app appeal across the whole category.
• parkrun displays your personal registration barcode on the watch at the finish, so it is on your wrist as you cross the line. Given parkrun’s scale, the potential audience is large.
• Tymewear provides an unofficial integration with the Tymewear VitalPro breathing sensor. It shows live minute ventilation, breathing rate and tidal volume on the watch and saves the data to the activity file, bringing a lab-grade intensity metric into field use.
• Varia Radar reads a Garmin Varia rear-facing radar and shows approaching vehicle count and threat level, with colour-coded alerts on the watch.
• Treadmill Link reads speed, incline, distance and ascent directly from any FTMS Bluetooth treadmill, supplying the treadmill’s own incline figure to the watch.
• Strength Tracker logs sets, reps, and total load by muscle group and automatically counts reps using the accelerometer.
• Stifa compares uphill speed against heart rate to indicate whether you can push harder or should hold back on a climb.
• Constantin detects decoupling as it happens, i.e., when heart rate rises while pace holds steady, which is a marker of ability and accumulating fatigue during long efforts.

Where Open SuuntoPlus stands against Garmin and Apple

Garmin Connect IQ remains the larger platform by a wide margin. It carries years of accumulated apps and a broad developer base across every category, and it offers both polished, high-quality apps and a long tail of flakier ones.

Open SuuntoPlus holds an advantage in development simplicity. Apps are written in JavaScript and HTML, which is simple enough that Janne Kallio, who leads the platform, has cited developers building a working app in half an hour. That simplicity tends to produce a tighter, less buggy catalogue and provides an easy route for every key third-party sensor to add compatibility.

The contrast with Apple is more fundamental. Clearly, the Apple App Store is huge, but only a small percentage of apps have meaningful Watch apps. Furthermore, every third-party app on the Apple Watch takes over the session, replaces the native tracking, and does not work alongside any other 3rd-party feature. e.g., the Tymewear SuuntoPlus ventilation figures appear on their own screen, while the watch records and shows GPS, heart rate, and pace as normal on other screens. For an athlete who wants native tracking and a specialist metric at once, Suunto’s design is better. (Garmin’s is better still, allowing specific 3rd party metrics to appear on parts of the screen or as widgets on watchfaces).

Quick answers

What is Open SuuntoPlus?
Open SuuntoPlus is Suunto’s developer platform, opened to the public in March 2026, that lets anyone build apps for compatible Suunto watches using JavaScript and HTML. Approved apps are published in the Made by Suunto Community section of the SuuntoPlus Store and run on the watch during activities.

How many Open SuuntoPlus apps are there?
More than 40 community-built apps were available three months after launch, across running, trail, cycling, water sports, indoor training and games. New apps appear approximately weekly.

Which Suunto watches support SuuntoPlus community apps?
The apps run on current Suunto watches, including the Race 2, Vertical 2, Race, Race S and Ocean. Individual apps may specify particular model support, and some are optimised for a specific watch such as the Race.

How do I install a SuuntoPlus app?
Open the Suunto app, go to the SuuntoPlus Store, select an app, tap install on the watch, then sync the watch. App settings, where present, are adjusted in the SuuntoPlus tab of the Suunto app once the app is on the watch.

Is Open SuuntoPlus better than Garmin Connect IQ?
Garmin Connect IQ is far larger and broader in scope, with high-quality apps alongside some flakier ones. Open SuuntoPlus is smaller but appears easier to develop for, which may result in higher average quality across a more curated catalogue. Garmin retains the advantage in scale and range.

Last Updated on 9 July 2026 by the5krunner

the5krunner

tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. ID