Hey buddy,

A developer named GreenBlack recreated the Fenix 8's "Iron Grit" watch face so it would work on older Garmin models too.

Charges $5 for the full version. Free trial to test it first.

A Toms Guide editor bought it, called it a "gamechanger," featured it in an article read by hundreds of thousands of people.

That's one watch face. One developer. Free press coverage because the product was genuinely good.

Garmin ships 10 million+ devices a year. Every single one needs a watch face. Most owners eventually go looking for something better than the defaults.

You build it once. It sells while you sleep, forever, to anyone who owns a compatible watch.

Here's what most people don't know.

Garmin turned on premium purchases in their Connect IQ store in August 2024. Before that, watch faces were basically all free, made by hobbyists for fun.

Now developers get paid directly. Real prices. Real revenue.

Standard pricing in the store right now: $1.99 to $5.99 per watch face. Freemium is the dominant model - free trial version so people can see it on their actual watch before paying to unlock it.

Why demand is real and growing:

Garmin isn't a niche brand anymore. 10 million+ devices sold per year, record revenue, and their smartwatch business specifically keeps growing double digits. Runners, hikers, cyclists, swimmers - Garmin owns serious fitness tracking.

Every one of those owners looks at the same default watch face every day. A lot of them go digging in the Connect IQ store looking for something better - more stats visible at a glance, a design that fits their style, something that doesn't look like everyone else's watch.

Why this beats other digital products:

No ongoing support burden. Once it's built and stable, it just runs.

No inventory, no shipping, no customer service emails asking where their order is.

Global market instantly. Someone in Germany, Australia, or Brazil can buy your watch face the same as someone in the US.

Multiplied across devices. Build it once, make it compatible with 10-20 different Garmin models, and it sells to owners of all of them.

Based on what's succeeding in the store right now:

Stat-dense faces for data-obsessed users

Runners and cyclists love seeing lots of information at a glance - heart rate, pace, elevation, battery, steps, calories - arranged cleanly without feeling cluttered. The "Iron Grit" style face mentioned above sells specifically because it packs 8-9 stats in without looking messy.

Apple Watch-style activity rings for switchers

People moving from Apple Watch to Garmin miss the visual "closing your rings" feeling. A face called "Goals" recreates this - lets users pick three targets and fill rings toward them. Sells at $1.99-2 and stays popular specifically because it solves a switching-pain-point.

Clean analog designs with subtle data

Not everyone wants a data-dense face. Elegant analog designs with a thin stat ring around the edge (the "Portal Hybrid" style) appeal to people who want their sports watch to still look like a nice watch.

Licensed/themed novelty faces

Garmin itself sells branded faces (Disney, Porsche, NASA-themed) at $4.99+. You obviously can't use others' IP, but original themed designs (space, retro-digital, minimalist, seasonal) have a real audience too.

Being straight with you: this isn't drag-and-drop no-code. Watch faces are built in Monkey C, Garmin's own programming language, using free tools.

But it's far more approachable than it sounds, especially now.

Step 1: Set up your tools (1 day)

Download the free Connect IQ SDK from Garmin's developer site.

Install VS Code (free) and the Monkey C extension for it.

Garmin's simulator lets you preview your watch face on any device model without owning it, so you don't need to buy hardware to start building.

Step 2: Use a template instead of starting blank (saves days)

There are open-source Garmin watch face templates (searchable on GitHub) that already have the basic structure built - time display, data field placement, settings menu framework. You customize from there instead of building from zero.

Step 3: Use AI to write the Monkey C code (this changes everything)

Monkey C is a fairly simple, readable language, similar in structure to Java. You can describe exactly what you want your watch face to look like and how it should behave, and get working code to start from, then test it in the simulator and refine.

This collapses what used to take weeks of learning into days.

Step 4: Design the actual visual (this is the part that sells it)

The code makes it function. The design makes it sell.

Look at what's succeeding in the store already (the examples above). Notice spacing, color choices, how many stats are shown without feeling cluttered.

Simple tools like Figma (free) help you mock up the visual layout before you build it in code.

Step 5: Test on the simulator, then on a real device if you have one

Garmin's simulator shows you exactly how it'll look and behave, including things like always-on mode and low battery states.

If you or a friend own a Garmin watch, sideload it via USB before publishing to catch any real-world issues.

Step 6: Publish to the Connect IQ store

Submit through the Connect IQ Developer Program (free to join). Set your price ($1.99-5.99 range based on complexity). Enable the free trial option - this dramatically increases conversion since people can see it on their actual wrist before paying.

Step 7: Support multiple device models

This is the leverage move. One face, configured to work across 10-20 compatible Garmin models, means every owner of every one of those models is a potential customer. This is largely a compatibility/testing step, not a full rebuild each time.

Per watch face, conservative:

Price: $2.99 average Garmin's cut: roughly similar to standard app store splits (expect to keep the large majority) Your take: approximately $2-2.50 per sale after Garmin's fee

One successful face:

50 sales/month = $100-125/month 200 sales/month (getting featured, good reviews, ranking in search) = $400-500/month

Portfolio approach (the real strategy):

Nobody gets rich off one watch face. You build a small library, same as templates or tools businesses.

5 watch faces, each doing modest numbers (30-80 sales/month) = $300-800/month combined

10 watch faces, a couple of which catch on well = $800-2,000/month

15-20 watch faces, portfolio matured over 1-2 years, a few genuine hits = $2,000-3,500+/month

This tracks closely with how template and tool businesses work elsewhere (see Issue #72 on Framer templates) - individual products earn modestly, but a portfolio compounds.

Month 1:

Set up dev environment. Build first watch face using a template + AI-assisted coding. Learning curve heaviest here.

Revenue: $0

Month 2:

First face published. Maybe a second one in progress.

Revenue: $20-80 (early sales trickling in)

Month 3-4:

2-3 faces live. Word of mouth and store search starting to bring organic traffic.

Revenue: $100-300/month

Month 5-8:

5-6 faces live. One might start catching on if design and stats are genuinely well done.

Revenue: $300-800/month

Month 9-12:

8-10 faces live, refining the ones that are underperforming, doubling down on the style that's working.

Revenue: $600-1,500/month

Year 2:

15-20 faces, portfolio matured, a couple of genuine hits carrying most of the revenue.

Revenue: $1,500-3,500+/month

Overloading with stats. Cluttered faces get poor reviews even from data-obsessed users. Clean spacing matters more than cramming in every possible metric.

Skipping the free trial option. This single setting change dramatically affects conversion - people want to see it on their actual watch first.

Building for only one device model. The entire leverage of this model comes from multi-device compatibility.

Copying existing branded designs. Garmin's own licensed faces (Disney, Porsche) exist specifically because that's protected IP - stick to original designs.

Ignoring battery impact. Faces with constant animations or heavy processing drain battery faster - reviews will call this out and tank your rating.

Publishing once and walking away. Watch faces that get occasional updates (new color options, bug fixes, small feature additions) rank and sell better than abandoned ones.

Study the reviews on existing popular watch faces. People explicitly state what they wish existed - direct product ideas, free of charge.

Price using the $X.99 psychology that's already standard in the store ($1.99, $2.99, $4.99) - it's what buyers expect and compare against.

Offer color/style variants as in-app settings rather than separate paid products - increases perceived value of a single purchase.

Cross-promote your other watch faces within each one's description - "Enjoy other designs from this developer" links, which is exactly what the top sellers already do.

Watch for Garmin's own feature spotlights and seasonal promotions - getting included in one can spike downloads significantly.

Talk soon, Kris