ANT Agent Support for Mac Users

UPDATE 10 MARCH 2009: In case you were wondering, the ANT Agent is compatible on the Mac. The only limitation is sending Courses and Workouts from Garmin Connect to the FR405. This is also a limitation on the PC.

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Hi all, with different updates being spread across the Internets from non-Garmin folk . . . this is the latest official information we have:

Mac support for the ANT Agent is now projected for the first quarter of 2009.  We are very sorry for this unexpected delay.  Unfortunately, a hardware provider was delayed with the shipment of key elements necessary for the implementation of the Agent.

Thanks for your patience.

The Garmin Connect Team

Comments

[Sanji]

I'm really disappointed... I choose a FR50 because Polar doesn't want to develop a Mac software. Last year, it was announced "very soon", so I trusted Garmin. And now, it's "We don't know when"...
I'm very, very disappointed...
I think the day I'll have a little problem, I'm gonna trash th FR50, buy a entry level Polar, never mind the features, and I'll write myself all informations on my Mac.
Why don't you place your orders to another provider ?

I don't understand why you're talking about a "hardware provider". The hardware already exist. We need a software to be able to talk with the ANT key.

[Simon]

That's what I've expected. I'm starting to doubt that Garmin will ever provide Ant support on the Mac. And please, don't give us lame excuses about "hardware provider"'s delays... I've got the hardware already, you just need to implement a simple driver (that's software...). And we don't want to hear how sorry you are. If you were serious about Mac support you'd implemented it long ago.

An even simpler solution exists: release the documentation of the protocol / data formats to the public and you'll have Mac (and Linux support, for that sake) before Christmas...

another really disappointed customer

PS: Garmin does not seem to be capable to hold any of its promises (see MotionBased transition to Garmin Connect).

[Cyssou]

I am angry to read this pathetic excuse, it was 6 months since I bought my forerunner 405, since it was announced mac compatible, otherwise I would have taken a polar ...
6 months to hear me say that there is a problem with an "equipment supplier" to "key elements"... So it is 1 year that nobody takes care of the problem, because you do not have the key equipment, while the output shows and early 2008, and that perhaps I could make it work in early 2009 ... This shows the little consideration for all Mac user who was not taken into account at the beginning of product design. But this is the Mac compatibility that do buy my product. I am always loyal to brands partners Mac, for now I feel undergoes a "sale misleading" and was having betrayed, it makes me want to buy all except the Garmin.

[danpat]

"Unfortunately, a hardware provider was delayed with the shipment of key elements necessary for the implementation of the Agent."

Sounds like bullshit to me. Is the real problem that Garmin don't have any developers? A single guy on the Garmin dev forums managed to reverse engineer the protocol and get his Forerunner 50 downloading to a Mac in the space of a weekend.

Given that the ANT stick uses the SILabs CP210x USB-UART chip, there is already the necessary USB driver to talk to the ANT stick available for Mac OS. The only thing remaining to do is send the commands to the 405 that pull the data down. Garmin *already have* that code in the Windows Ant Agent, surely it just needs to be slightly modified to run on the Mac and bingo, we can download data.

There really appears to be no excuse other than Garmin isn't actually putting any effort into it. There are no real barriers to getting it done and from the looks of this thread:

http://developer.garmin.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1004&sid=b1605e61114f34b71027b76a0c494c64

some guy, in his spare time, with no internal access to Garmin docs/expertise might be able to get it up and working in the space of a couple of weeks. If it can be done like that, then surely Garmin could hire a Mac contractor for a short period, develop the software and earn kudos with all their Mac users.

I made the good faith purchase of the 405 based on claims made by Garmin that there would be a Mac solution forthcoming "very soon". It'll probably be the last Garmin product I buy and I'm not recommending it to any of my friends with Macs.

[Gergey Pasztor]

Wow... let me just copy some of the main points that I agree with from the previous posts:

"sounds like bullshit to me"
"there really appears to be no excuse"
"I am angry to read this pathetic excuse"
"don't give us lame excuses"
"i'm really disappointed"

My question is this, do you have a staff, or are you just sitting around watching videos on youtube?

[Soren Hoyer]

I completely agree with the statements above. I am extremely disappointed with Garmins policy. Shame on you. Have had a 205 for 2 years and looked forward to using my new 405 with my Mac. Luckily I have an old PC as well as a Mac. Think of all the other ones who aren't that lucky.

[Roger Beckett]

Garmin, you're pushing your customers' patience and good will too far. Not only are you losing customer loyalty but also any future sales amongst the ever growing Mac user population. This makes crap business sense. If you can't be bothered supporting us then why not let a third party developer do it for you?

[Eric]

I have no more memory on my 405. What I'm suppose to do? Buy a new 405 or buy a PC?

[Bo]

I can understand the effort involved with porting a whole application from Windows to Mac, especially if you've relied heavily of Microsoft technologies. However, there are companies that have built their business on doing just that... and they are quite good at it. (Omni Group is one of those.)

The real issue is the failure of Garmin, in the face of continual delays, to not release its protocols and command sets for talking to their devices via the ANT interface. As others have indicated... there are plenty of groups out there who can do it both in open source and in the commercial sector. (As an example my Polar RS200 has three apps that run on the Mac that can download data directly from the RS200 (via sonic link).

Oh, and for the record... I was really interested in the 50 and the 405. I was going to buy one of them until the answers I kept getting from Garmin on the Mac software was met with "I don't knows"... The resultant research indicated to me that Garmin was not committed to making this delivery. So I then started looking into alternatives and found that the Polar RS200 could be downloaded on the Mac. So, instead of a Garmin Forerunner 50, I bought a Polar RS200. I'm now contemplating the purchase of a GPS/HRM... and until Garmin releases the protocol or delivers a useful Mac product... there will be no purchasing of a Garmin GPS/HRM by me... Again, Garmin loses a sale because they can't meet a commitment.

Oh, and being a developer/analyst/project manager for systems from embedded controllers to full UI based products for Windows, Mac, and UNIX... the story they've given doesn't ring "true"... There's more to the story that they aren't relating... like, yes the new software will support Mac... but it will only be on some new hardware platform and not using the current ANT USB stick.

Garmin simply goes on the the "Proof is in the Pudding" list... I won't believe that they are going to support the Mac until the actually release the software. Which also means... I won't buy Garmin until I can actually get Mac software for it.

[non]

The problem is that the software is being developed by Dynastream folks, not Garmin. Heads have rolled over this, trust me

[hellowhirled]

Excuse me, but it's very weak to place the blame on your supplier. Sure, shit happens. But if you have any kind of software project management you must have seen this coming for months. You could have found other solutions much earlier. But then again Training Center for Windows even lacks a printing function, which is so patently absurd it really hurts. I couldn't believe it's missing until I found blog postings where people described how they took screenshots(!) of Training Center and then printed them from another(!) app.

Do you have issue tracking software? Please add this issue: "Print function missing". And another one for Mac: "Can't import data file from Windows before software has been paired with device" which is NOT funny if your device is lacking Mac support COMPLETELY due to .. uh .. delays.

[Roger Beckett]

But isn't Dynastream a wholly owned subsidiary of Garmin?

[Frustrated 405 User]

Guys, this is unbelievable. I've had my 405 since May (and really do love it), but have not been able to touch any of the data.

I work for a real company and this crap would not fly.

[Tommy Sweden]

This is NOT OK. I wonder what kind of rights we have to get refund on the watch, since Garmin has failed to fulfill its obligations. First it was third quarter, Then end of year, Now first quarter 2009. I have no space on my watch either, and I refuse to ever lay my pure hands on a PC.

[Bob]

I love all the replies. I'm guessing Garmin does too or they would get this resolved after all the delays. I don't think I've ever seen a company come up with so many delays. Wait, I remember the old days of the first Avocet computers not coming out for a loooong time. I guess they never get tired of hearing how much this sucks at Garmin.

[Eric]

To be fair to Garmin, even though all the HW exists in the wild, they might legitimately be waiting on their HW suppliers for software (drivers, etc.).

However, given that a hobbyist at home was able to hack in support over a weekend, clearly this is not a priority for either Garmin or their HW supplier.

I think Mac support has long been quite neglected by Garmin, and given how long this has been going on, I suspect Garmin is simply not spending anything significant on their SW teams (Mac OR PC), and is instead spending all their cash on developing new HW. Which is really too bad. Their HW is already excellent, but their software in general leaves a lot to be desired. I reported a very simple divide-by-zero crash bug in the edge 305 firmware (having to do w/ HR zones) over a year ago, and there has been no firmware update since.

[Greg]

Frustrating. The 405 is my first Garmin purchase (6 months ago), poor customer experience. I should have bought the foot pod for my RS200 instead.

[Jeff]

This really is a heavy load Garmin and if it wasn't so sad...I'd even say laughable at this point.

How many times has the date for Mac support changed? I've lost count at this point. There are plenty of Mac FR50 and 405 users out there who bought the device due to Garmin's promise of Mac support in 08'. Deceptive advertising and failure to live up to advertising promises may some day lead to some type of class-action tort.

In my business, customer service is paramount and the foundation of our success. Garmin...considering your promised support of Macs for ANT products in 08', can you say the same?

Class Action lawsuit anyone?
I bought the Garmin F405 with their advertisement of delivering the Mac support soon (think they mentioned mid 2008 initially). This is frustrating and people that only have a Mac now have a watch they can't use with a full memory.

[Ken]

Does it make sense to have the "MotionBased is proud to support the Mac" logo on the homepage?

[ted]

I agree - there seems to be no end to the disappointment expecting Garmin to deliver on its announced promise of Mac OS X support for the 405. What is the point of deadlines and expected release dates (e.g. "Q1 2009") when they always slip? New customers should not be misled by this. There is NO certainty that there will ever be Mac OS X support. You can not count on this. (Message typed on my Mac.)

[Tommy Sweden]

I have bought my last product from Garmin.

[Mr. S]

I've been searching for a decent HRM for my girlfriend for christmas and the Forerunner 50 seemed to be the perfect choice. However, my girlfriend uses a Mac, so I'm very dissapointed to read this news. What terrible customer service.

I'll be buying a Polar instead.

[Warden]

Frustrating, indeed. The ANT Agent is the *only* remaining reason that I have to run Parallels on my Mac. As soon as the ANT support for OS X materializes, I will gladly delete the virus called "Windows" from my MacBook Pro... (Please, Garmin, make it my Christmas gift... ?)

For those of you who have commented on Polar, can you tell me more? I'm not familiar with their products. Do you recommend them? How do they compare with Garmin (aside from Mac support)? Anyone owned both and can comment intelligently?

Thanks for info.

Mac users :
http://www.montebellosoftware.com
price ~33 EUR - 50 USD
Widows :
http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/SportTracks/
donationware : 20-60 USD

storage on HDD

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