Many third-party coaching and AI apps may lose access to your Garmin data, including activities recorded years ago.
Garmin’s updated developer terms stop its licensees from sharing your data with services Garmin hasn’t approved in writing. Intervals Pro, a UK AI coaching app that says it had 3,600 athletes, has already closed. Apps built on larger, better-known platforms such as Intervals.icu are also in the firing line.
Why Intervals Pro closed
The terms will stop Intervals.icu from passing Garmin data to services Garmin hasn’t approved, like Intervals Pro but there are many others. The app closed on 12 October rather than wait for the data it coached from to disappear.
“Intervals.pro is closing because Garmin are going to restrict downstream data, just as Strava have done,” said Max Revitt (owner) talking to this site. “That’s not a battle I’m willing to fight.” Intervals Pro was an independent app with no link to that platform beyond reading athletes’ data from it. Its closure notice says unused prepaid time is refunded automatically and athletes can download their coaching conversations until 19 October. Workouts already on athletes’ training calendars stay there.
Going Forward: What athletes might lose and what still works
- You lose this: Apps that pull your Garmin data through another platform will likely lose access to it all, including past activities.
- This still works: the platform you sync to directly from Garmin Connect still receives your data
- This still works: data from other watch brands is unaffected.
The developer of one affected platform expects the restriction to cover entire activities, FIT files, data streams, and wellness data, including already stored history. It applies only to data that arrives through Garmin’s API, so a FIT file you upload yourself should stay available to connected apps. Data from COROS, Polar, Suunto and Oura stays available under each brand’s own terms, at least for now. There is no date for the change yet, and platforms will need time to make it.
Services that copy Garmin data elsewhere, such as FitnessSyncer, may face the same question (I asked). Garmin’s own push to Apple Health sits outside the problem because Garmin sends that data itself, albeit not full FIT files.
Your own AI tools are affected too.
Probably.
Athletes who connect Claude, ChatGPT, or their own scripts to a third-party platform’s API are in the same position, and it’s not yet clear whether personal use will be treated differently.
Some Reddit users suggest connecting Claude directly to the same platform instead, which is caught by the restriction too. Until Garmin clarifies the rules for personal use, any tool you’ve built that reads Garmin activities through a third-party platform could stop working.
Why Garmin is doing this
Garmin hasn’t said. The clause gives Garmin a veto over which apps receive its users’ data, and it follows a freeze on new developer applications that began in the spring.
That pause began in May. While new applicants waited, open platforms offered another route to Garmin data that needed no Garmin approval, and the clause closes it. Strava tightened its own API rules in November 2024, including a ban on using its data to train AI models.
Garmin also bought TrainingPeaks in July, and TrainingPeaks connects to more than 100 devices, including those of Garmin’s rivals. Nothing links the new terms to that purchase, but restricting how rival coaching platforms pass on Garmin data invites the question.
Max Revitt’s view is blunter: “I think we all need to vote with our feet when it comes to who owns and decides what is done with our data.”
Will COROS, Wahoo and Polar follow?
I haven’t seen anything similar from COROS, Wahoo or Polar, and don’t expect to.
Platforms that lose access to Garmin data have every reason to steer athletes towards brands with open APIs. e.g. Wahoo’s Cloud API is still going strong, and some athletes already send COROS activities to other platforms through Wahoo’s app.
Quick answers
Will my training platform still show my Garmin activities?
Yes, if it receives Garmin data directly. The restriction applies to apps that read your data from that platform rather than directly from Garmin.
Can I still export my own Garmin data?
Yes. Garmin Connect still lets you download your FIT files, and files you upload yourself are expected to stay outside the restriction.
When does the change take effect?
Garmin hasn’t announced a date, and platforms will need time to make the change.
Why did Intervals Pro close?
Intervals Pro read athletes’ Garmin data through a third-party platform. Garmin’s new terms will end that access, so the app closed on 12 October 2026 rather than wait.
Last Updated on 14 October 2026 by tfk the5krunner
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- Garmin 90-degree charging adapter: Charges your Garmin from any USB-C cable. Essential when travelling. I use one.
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On the bike
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Health, recovery and sleep
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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
