What not to include in a Mac application

I just got a Garmin Forerunner 405 and will be posting a review in the near future. However, I just had to post about the Garmin ANT Agent software. After seeing an erroneous dialog about a new network interface and thinking that the developers need a lesson in Mac development (I can't connect to the Internet with the GPS unit!), I decided to poke around in the application.

I found files called DefaultGarminDebugSettings.xcconfig and DefaultGarminReleaseSettings.xcconfig. These files are used by developers to build the application, but should NEVER be shipped with an application. To me, this shows a development team that isn't all that familiar with Xcode and Macintosh development. While it might have just been a mistake, this is kind of the icing on the cake to me of a poorly written application. Since the Garmin ANT application has to run in order to transfer data, there was really no need to install a kernel extension as all the USB communications should be doable via userspace calls. Anyone that has ever dealt with a kernel extension knows that they're hard to develop, hard to debug, and could make a computer less stable.

While Garmin has made great strides in supporting the Mac, I'd like to see Garmin invest a little money on developing quality Mac software.

Comments

April 30th, 2010
Al

Hi… Do you know if the Garmin ANT devices work with an iPad? WOuld be nice to be able to get my workouts from a garmin device uploaded to Garmin Connect using an iPad but as there is no USB port on an iPad it would have to be done wirelessly.

Thanks, Al.

May 1st, 2010
Scott Gruby

They use a proprietary interface with a funky USB dingle so they won’t work with th iPad. If they used Bluetooth then they’d have half a chance of working.

June 30th, 2010
Matthieu

Hi I am also looking for a way to download my Garmin FR50 data on an iPad. Actually that refrains me from buying one. My search so far yield the following:

  • the Garmin dongle uses a standard called ANT+, so does Nike+ which connects to iPod nano and touch
  • blogs report that the Garmin dongle doesn’t work via the USB connector for iPad (the one for cameras). This might be ‘just’ a software issue
  • Pedal Brain is about to release an interface ANT+ for iPod Touch and will work with Garmin I wish I had time to dive into this!

Cheers

Matt