Where this was said
Did They Even Test This? Garmin Connect's Broken Exercise Search
At 11:07 · chapter starts 3:18
Ellis has been trying to broaden his horizons beyond Apple products, cycling through Garmin watches and now attempting to log PT exercises in Garmin Connect. The app's exercise search is the target of his 'Did They Even Test This?' — typing 'leg' returns nothing, 'press' returns everything, and 'single leg leg press' is simply unfindable. The hosts explore whether the problem is Ellis's beginner status or genuinely broken keyword logic, landing on both. The conversation drifts to whether macro fitness data is even useful for beginners and whether Garmin will add AI coaching behind a subscription. The segment ends with Ellis requesting crowdsourced help from listeners.
Garmin's auto-exercise detection gets the right exercise about 75% of the time on upper body workouts, but only correctly tracks reps 50% of the time.
Ellis typed 'leg' into Garmin Connect's exercise search and got nothing. He typed 'press' and got 50 million results. He typed 'leg press' and found it — but not single-leg leg press. Garmin's search logic is so broken that a legitimate, common exercise is effectively unfindable.
After DIY enthusiasts started attaching traditional watches to Fitbit Air straps on social media — even getting a nod from a former Verge editor now at Google — Google officially released hardware specs for third-party accessory makers. The wearable ecosystem that the hosts predicted would emerge organically just got a formal green light.
