Garmin adds menstrual cycle tracking to its watches – here’s what it actually does
Garmin has added menstrual cycle tracking to a select number of its fitness trackers.
The company announced the feature on Tuesday confirming it will initially launch on the Garmin Forerunner 645 Music, Vívoactive 3, Vívoactive 3 Music and Fēnix 5 Plus Series.
A wider roll out has been confirmed for the Fēnix 5 Series, Fēnix Chronos, Forerunner 935, Forerunner 945, Forerunner 645, Forerunner 245 and Forerunner 245 Music at an unspecified point in the future.
The feature will be delivered via a software update in the Garmin Connect app and from what we’ve seen it works in a very similar way to Fitbit’s. Fitbit rolled out menstrual tracking to a select number of its wearables in 2018.
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The new Garmin feature will appear in the Connect app and let users log their cycle and report symptoms. From their the service will use biometric data logged on the device, plus the user info, to offer health advice and forecasting for everything from when their next period may be to early signs of menopause.
Garmin has sponsored research from The University of Kansas Medical Center to find ways to improve is menstrual tracking services, so further updates are expected in the near-ish future.
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Susan Lyman, Garmin vice president of global consumer marketing said the feature has been developed “for woman, by woman” and is part of a wider push to improve the company’s general health tracking services.
“Garmin has leveraged our unparalleled fitness expertise into a feature that lets active women track their cycle in the same place they tracked their last run,” she said.
“Cycle tracking was developed for women, by Garmin women – from the engineers, to the project managers, to the marketing team. In this way we could ensure that we were authentically addressing a woman’s actual wants and needs.”
Garmin is one of many fitness tracking companies pushing into the healthcare and overall wellness space. Apple has been rolling out a steady stream of healthcare features to its Apple Watch devices over the last few years. The latest included an updated heart rate sensor designed to help spot early signs of heart disease and a fall alert feature that aims to help people with mobility issues call for help.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
