Seattle Forrest

Currently only for their new watches, but now that they've built the technology they'll probably leverage it for Edges too. People hate doing this on the device, and Garmin presumably hates losing sales.

From DCR:

You can customize this sport listing on the watch, or from the smartphone. In fact, now’s a good time to talk about that new phone-based configuration. This is the first time we’ve seen Garmin introduce this level of customization from the phone. You can tweak almost every setting on the Fenix 7 from the phone. Be it sport/activity profiles, data fields/pages, or things like widgets or deeper system settings. There’s only a handful of things that must be done from the watch – for example downloading maps, or adding new sensors. As with before, you can always change all the settings on the watch itself if you want – handy when you’re out on the trails without a phone.
Linky. That's a review for a watch so probably not worth the 20 minutes it'll take to download 8,000 images to most people in here. But as an indicator of things to come, I think a lot of people will find it an interesting fact.

WhyFi

Not that I've changed my data screens/fields much, but this will be a welcomed (and past-due) addition.

sdmc530

I have been wanting to upgrade my Garmin watch but now i am really glad I have been holding off. this is good news. It also took them long enough. Jeesh...

I will wait a bit longer for the bugs to get all worked out.

Steve B.

it is unlikely many of these features will trickle down to existing product, Garmin doesn't do that often with any useful updates. They did an overhaul on the OS of the 1030 Plus, hinted some of these features would be sent to 1030, never happened.

And as thought about using phone to configure, well big deal. Yes I suppose it's easier for the first time buyer, of no use to me though. My devices are already setup with the learning experience completed. I've no need unless they allow a configuration backup so you don't need to do it all again id it dumps or you factory reset.

Seattle Forrest

This has never been a very big deal for me because you only do it once, and I'm comfortable with computers. Touch screens make this much easier. But it's something people complain about constantly here so it seems like a big deal.
​​​​​​That's weird because the watches get a lot of trickle down features, but they're made by different teams and seem to have technical differences you wouldn't expect too. But related to configuring screens with a phone, it might be more likely than other features to make it into Edges out on people's bikes today. They all got an update a long time ago letting them move your screens from one unit to another, it has to be a lot of the same code in the unit to let people move those screens from a phone to the unit.

But then it's kind of pointless in ones that people already set up. 🙂

Cyclist0108

I just started playing with my kid's 530, and this would have been a HUGE advantage. The up/down buttons are on the left, and what I am used to (130) has them on the right, so I am constantly screwing up. Also, I like to be able to see the layout easily and in real-time.

The 530 has multiple profiles, so I can create a new one without messing his up.

(I did learn the hard way to delete old rides from the Garmin, unless i want to take credit for a bunch of mountain bike rides I can't do.)

Chuck M 

My experience with Garmin is the bugs don't often get worked out. Their hardware isn't too bad, but I don't think the software group does as well.

sdmc530

I know they have "issues' in this area but I am optimistic. I will wait for my new watch and hope for the best! My 1030 has been flawless, connect no issues. My 530 also was perfect. The old 800's were just awful!

tempocyclist

It would be a good addition to the Edge range for sure. I bet they lose a few sales to not having this functionality.

Not a feature I'd use much as an existing user though. I set my data fields and pages up once, then it's done pretty much forever. On the touch screen models it's easier too. You can even "long press" a field to change it without going through the setup menu. When "upgrading" to a newer Garmin you can also transfer your pages across using the app so no need to set them all up again either.

Steve B.

The ease of setup using a smartphone has been Wahoo's claim to fame, but I think the same, once the device is set up you mostly never touch it again, so no big deal learning on the device itself. I never found Garmins particular onerous to setup. As well, Hammerhead chose to skip the whole smartphone approach, You setup in the device, a touch screen helps, also being an Android platform makes a lot of the setup logical.