StepSmash Garmin Connect Integration
StepSmash supports syncing your activity data directly from your Garmin Connect account. Once linked, your steps, distance, and Active Zone Minutes from Garmin will automatically count toward your StepSmash games.
Linking Your Garmin Account
- Open StepSmash and go to Settings → Fitness Accounts
- Tap Garmin Connect
- Follow the sign-in flow to log into your Garmin account
- Approve the permissions when prompted so StepSmash can access your activity data
- Enter your age when prompted (required for Active Zone Minutes calculation)
Permissions Requested
When you link Garmin Connect, StepSmash requests only the minimum permissions needed to power the games:
- Daily Health Stats - tracks your daily step count, walking+running distance, heart rate throughout the day, and resting heart rate
- Sync historical data - imports your recent activity history so StepSmash can personalize your Bingo tile targets from day one. Without this, it can take up to 7 days for StepSmash to learn your activity patterns.
Once you’ve connected, Garmin Connect will automatically push your latest data to StepSmash every time you sync your Garmin device.
How Data Sync Works
Your Garmin device syncs with Garmin Connect periodically throughout the day. The new data will be available in StepSmash a few moments after your device finishes syncing with Garmin Connect.
If your Garmin app hasn’t synced recently, StepSmash won’t see your latest data until it does. You can always check your Last Sync time under Garmin in Settings → Fitness Accounts.
Active Zone Minutes (AZM) Support
StepSmash calculates Active Zone Minutes from your heart rate or step data synced through Garmin Connect. Please see How Active Minutes Work in StepSmash for a deep dive into the algorithms we use here.
Legacy Users
If you connected your Garmin account before heart rate-based Active Zone Minutes were available, you’ll need to add your age to your StepSmash profile to enable this feature.
To add your age:
- Go to Settings → Profile
- Enter your age and birth month
Without your age set, StepSmash falls back to motion-based Active Minutes detection, which only works for step-based activities. This means activities like cycling, swimming, or other non-step workouts won’t earn Active Minutes even if your heart rate was elevated. Once you add your age, StepSmash will use your heart rate data to calculate Active Minutes for all activities.
How Smash Bingo Uses Garmin Data
StepSmash uses your Garmin data for Bingo tiles and other game types:
| Smash Bingo Tile | Garmin Data Used | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Steps | Daily step total | From Garmin’s step count |
| Distance | Distance walked or run | Converted automatically between miles/km |
| Active Zone Minutes | Heart rate data | Calculated from your heart rate zones (see above) |
Troubleshooting
Data Not Syncing
- Make sure your Garmin device has synced with the Garmin Connect app recently
- Check that your Garmin account is still linked in Settings → Fitness Accounts
- If it looks connected but data is missing, try disconnecting and reconnecting Garmin
- Verify your Last Sync time to see when Garmin Connect last pushed data to StepSmash
AZM Showing Zero
- Ensure you’ve entered your age in StepSmash
- Verify your Garmin device has a heart rate sensor and is recording HR
- Check that your activities are syncing to Garmin Connect
- AZM only counts when your heart rate reaches the moderate zone (40%+ of HR reserve)
AZM Different from Garmin’s Intensity Minutes
Garmin provides Intensity Minutes as a daily total, but not in a timeline format showing when each minute was earned. Since StepSmash games start at midnight in the host’s timezone, we need timestamped data to attribute activity to the correct challenge day. StepSmash calculates Active Minutes from your heart rate data instead, which may produce slightly different results than what you see in Garmin Connect.
Bingo Targets Too Easy or Too Hard
If your Bingo tile targets don’t match your activity level, you may not have synced historical data when connecting. You can disconnect and reconnect Garmin in Settings → Fitness Accounts, making sure to select “Sync historical data” to import your activity history. Otherwise, StepSmash will learn your patterns over the next 7 days.
Still stuck? Post in Tracker Integrations Support so we can take a look.