Apple Watch to Garmin

I absolutely love my Apple Watch Ultra. And I absolutely love my Garmin Edge 540 Cycling GPS. I just wish the two ecosystems would cohabitate better together. The biggest headache? Using the Apple Watch as a Heart Rate strap for the Garmin.

So what's the problem?
As health data, the heart rate sensor on the apple watch is only accessible from on-device apps or from apps on the connected iPhone. So, that's a no-go for the Edge 540 which wants to connect to either an ANT+ or Bluetooth HR strap. The obvious solution is to just ditch the Apple Watch and get a cheap chest or optical heart rate monitor, but I wanted to only wear one device on my arm so off I went to find a way to use my Apple Watch!

Some solutions to try:

• Apple Watch/iPhone Apps as bridge: There are a handful of apps on the App store that will read the Apple Heart Rate data and rebroadcast that over bluetooth to other devices, like the Garmin. Some apps I tried included ECHO and HeartCast I tested HeartCast on a Wahoo Element Bolt and it would connect as long as the iphone was not paired with the device through the Wahoo app. Users reported that it wouldn't work with Garmin at all so I didn't bother testing it. The ECHO app was just plain flaky. Sometimes it would connect, others it wouldn't. Ironically, ECHO is made by the same developer that provides the solution I actually got to work the best, and which I'm using daily. See below:
• Using a WatchLink Pod hardware device: This wasn't free, but not having to fiddle with a flaky app was worth the relatively small cost: the Watchlink Pod is a small hardware device that you pair with your apple watch through an included app. Once connected to the watch, you use the app itself to control the pod and set it to broadcast over ANT+. Once you start the broadcast, your Pod appears as a device in your Garmin ready to connect. Once you pair the Pod the first time, all you need to do is start the Watchlink App on your watch, click the big red "Start" button and a few seconds later your Garmin starts picking up the ANT+ signal.

The WatchLINK pod is small, about the size of the sensor pod on a chest strap style monitor. I've got it permanently stashed in the tool compartment in my Trek Domane frame. It's powered by a CR2032 battery that they claim will last 3-6 months. It's been working for me flawlessly with only one brief hiccup. After a software update it started dropping signal every 10 minutes or so. Deleting and then reinstalling and re-pairing the pod fixed it and it's been rock solid ever since. I fixed that in the middle of a ride without removing the physical pod from it's hiding place.

At time of writing (Summer 2025) the Watchlink Pod is going for $59.99 direct from the manufacturer. If you are a Wahoo user, I first tested it on the Bolt V2 and it worked flawlessly on that platform as well.