(Disclaimer - I am not the developer, nor do I have any interest at all in this product except to let you know about it.) As I was setting up my wife's new Garmin yesterday, I found that there is a new soccer referee timer app (note - Garmin Connect account required to review) on the Connect store. It's been there for less then three weeks. I've included a photo of the display, which does seem to have some promise to it. It's another Spintso-type timer app that allows for tracking game time, stoppage time, and the "real time" that is left for play in a half. In a lot of ways, I actually like this display setup more than the popular Referee Watch app because 1) The countdown timer for high school/college matches is still large when it's not the main display and 2) we really don't have to worry too much about seconds, so it's fine that the seconds on the countup display is small. The app does track heart rate and GPS like the Referee Watch app. One caveat - after messing around with the app last night, the app did crash and I had to uninstall it. I sent a note to the developer with some feedback. I'm hoping the bugs get worked out. This seems to have some promise and offers an alternative to the Referee Watch app. The RW app is great, but like with anything else it's always good to have competition so new features and performance keeps things fresh. For right now, it looks like it doesn't have Vivoactive support. You would need a Forerunner or a Fenix to use it.
Unfortunately, the app continues to freeze when I attempt to change the settings. I've tried to change the halves to 30 minutes, halftimes to 5 minutes, and to also disable the tracking of heart rate and stats to mimic when I'm being a parent and keeping track of time when my son is playing. I have just sent a second email to the developer asking for a status update since I didn't get a response for the first email I sent on Friday. I'm trying to not post a negative review, but a lack of response from the developer is a good way for me to post a negative review.
I installed on my Garmin 235 after reading your posts. From main watch face, you need to use up > on left side of watch to make adjustments. I was able to turn off GPS/HR. I was able to change time. When you return to watch face it still displayed 45 but started at 30. Once you exit app and return it defaults to 45 minutes and you will need to reset. The app can be slow responding to changes, which is very annoying, but they do work. An example is changing the time where I repeatedly push button to change time and it goes past the desired time. Just like a slow computer.
I tried using the up/left button (middle button on the left side) of my Fenix 5 after reading your post. That does nothing for me. I’m wondering if the developer is using the Forerunner as the first watch to test (which isn’t a bad strategy). I just wish he would tell me that. I get these things take time and some trial and error. I just would like a response, even if it’s “it isn’t working on the Fenix and won’t be until I get it working on the Forerunner.” The lack of any response at all is what bothers me.
I wish the developer all the best of luck, but considering that there is a well–working, well-received app already in the store, that when we are using it we don’t have time to fiddle around, and getting things working well on a fiddly platform like Garmin is tricky, there’s just no way I would try a different app.
I also tried this app on a garmin 230- similar difficulties. i did update the referee watch app and found some functionality that I hadn’t been aware of, such as the option to have the backlight stay on while in the app...
Similar problems for me on my Forerunner 230. But right now the other Garmin Ref Watch app is acting up - I can't change the time when I launch it. It's stuck in Futsal mode, 15 minutes, one period only. :-(
I was doing a watch update, and I saw this app was no longer in my removed list. I went to the link, and this app has been removed from Garmin Connect. Looks like @seattlebeach was spot on - the popular Referee Timer app appears to have a good hold on the market.
Has anybody successfully replaced the battery in a less-expensive Garmin watch (specifically in my case the Vivoactive)?