User Guide

Garmin watch app / iOS + Android companion / sync help

RinkPulse is two pieces: the Garmin watch app records the hockey session, and the iOS or Android companion stores imported sessions locally for history and bigger-screen review. Start the session on the watch first. The companion app cannot pull every old Garmin activity from your account.

Before your next skate: update both apps

If you use the companion app, update both pieces before your next RinkPulse session. The companion app adds local history, support diagnostics, optional RinkPulse cloud saves after sign-in, and expanded shift-detection details after import. The Garmin watch update adds the latest shift and heart-rate import fixes, including the hockey-v4 shift detector.

Update RinkPulse on your Garmin watch from the Connect IQ Store.
Update RinkPulse Companion on iPhone through TestFlight, or on Android from Google Play. For the Android open test, join on the web first, then install on Android.
Open Garmin Connect Mobile and confirm your watch is connected.
Open RinkPulse Companion once after updating so it can check the watch connection and prepare local history.
If history is missing or sync is behaving oddly, do not uninstall the app, clear app storage, or switch install sources before contacting support.

The local backup is not cloud sync. It helps protect history on this phone after the updated companion app has opened and written a backup where supported. It cannot recover sessions after uninstalling, clearing app data, or before the update has created a backup.

Quick start on the watch

Open RinkPulse on your Garmin watch.
Pick the mode that matches the skate: Game, Practice, Pickup, Goalie, Open Skate, or Pond Hockey.
Check the setup screen. Skater modes use automatic shift detection. Goalie mode enables save and goal-against tracking.
Press START or SELECT to begin the workout.
Play normally. You do not need to press a button every shift.
When finished, press START/STOP, SELECT, BACK, or MENU depending on your watch layout, then choose End Workout.
Review the summary on the watch. If you use the companion app, open RinkPulse Companion to import the completed session.

Only RinkPulse sessions import to the companion app. A regular Garmin activity may still show in Garmin Connect, but it will not have RinkPulse shift data for the companion app.

Watch controls and pages

During a workout, the watch has multiple pages. If you only see elapsed time and heart rate, you are probably on the Live Stats page. Move to the other pages to see speed, distance, shifts, goalie stats, HR zones, and the post-game summary.

Button watches

DOWN: next page
UP: previous page
START/STOP or SELECT: end workout prompt during tracking
BACK, MENU, or long-press UP: alternate end workout path on supported watches

Touch watches

Swipe down or left: next page
Swipe up: previous page
Right swipe is guarded during workouts so you do not end a session by accident
Use START/STOP, SELECT, BACK, or MENU to end the workout depending on your watch

Workout pages

Live Stats: elapsed time, heart rate, on-ice or bench state, current shift timer, ice time, and calories.
Speed & Distance: max speed, average speed, and total distance.
Shifts: shift count, average shift, longest shift, and work/rest ratio.
Goalie Stats: save tracking, goals against, shots faced, and save percentage in goalie mode.
HR Zones: time spent in heart-rate zones and the RinkPulse VO2 estimate.

How the main metrics work

Shifts and ice time

RinkPulse detects shifts automatically from skating motion, speed or distance evidence when available, short heart-rate context, and gyroscope-backed confidence on supported watches. It waits for several seconds of strong skating before starting a shift, then keeps the shift alive through short glides and coast periods. It ends the shift after the watch sees enough bench evidence and no keep-alive evidence.

Speed and distance

Outdoor or strong GPS sessions can use Garmin distance and speed evidence. Indoor rinks often have weak GPS, so RinkPulse can show estimated speed and distance from motion. Estimated values may be marked with a "~" on watch summaries. Garmin Connect may still show different GPS-based speed or distance.

Heart rate, calories, and zones

Heart rate depends on the watch sensor and fit. Cold rinks, loose straps, gloves, and wrist flexion can affect readings. Calories come from Garmin's activity recording. HR zones and VO2 are RinkPulse fitness estimates, not medical measurements.

Work/rest ratio

Work/rest compares time on ice to time on the bench. A lower number means more rest between shifts. A higher number means you spent more of the session working.

Goalie mode

Goalie mode is for tracking saves and goals against on the watch. Use the goalie page during the session to add saves and goals against. RinkPulse calculates shots faced and save percentage from what you enter.

Goalie stats depend on user input. The watch cannot know every save automatically. If a save was not entered, it will not appear later in the summary.

Score and stat edits

Skater scorekeeping is handled in RinkPulse Companion, not on the watch during play. After a manual entry or Garmin import, open the session on iPhone or Android and use Edit Stats to adjust goals, assists, plus/minus, team score, opponent score, or notes.

Keeping score edits on the phone makes the watch workout flow simpler while still letting you correct the stat line later. If the same RinkPulse watch session imports again, companion-edited skater stats are preserved.

Syncing to the phone companion

The iOS and Android companion apps store imported RinkPulse sessions locally on your phone and can optionally sync RinkPulse session history after sign-in. This is not Garmin account cloud sync. The current watch import path sends completed RinkPulse watch-session summaries through Garmin Connect Mobile and the Connect IQ phone connection.

Confirm the Garmin watch app and phone companion are both updated.
Finish and save the workout in the RinkPulse watch app.
Keep your watch near the phone.
Make sure Garmin Connect Mobile is installed, signed in, and showing the watch as connected.
Open RinkPulse Companion on iPhone or Android.
On iPhone, go to Profile, choose Select Garmin Watch if needed, then use Retry Watch Backlog. On Android, look for the Garmin sync card on Home.
If the session does not appear, tap Retry.
If Retry still does not pull it in, open RinkPulse on the watch to the main mode-select screen, then tap Retry again in the companion app.
To back up or restore RinkPulse sessions across installs, sign in from Profile, then use Cloud Saves on iPhone or Data & Sync on Android, and run a cloud sync.

What imports

Imported sessions can include timing, mode, role, ice time, bench time, shifts, calories, distance, speed, heart-rate summary, HR zones, goalie stats, estimated speed/distance flags, and shift-detection diagnostics such as high-rate accel/gyro status and ice/bench confidence when those fields are available. Skater score stats are edited and stored in the companion app.

What does not import

Generic Garmin activities that were not recorded with RinkPulse.
Your full Garmin account history.
Cloud history unless you signed in for RinkPulse cloud saves before the local data was removed.
Sessions older than the small pending backlog kept by the watch.

If it is not syncing

Run this checklist

Update RinkPulse on the watch and RinkPulse Companion on iPhone or Android.
Open Garmin Connect Mobile and confirm the watch is connected.
Open RinkPulse Companion and wait for the sync status to finish checking.
Use Retry Watch Backlog on iPhone or tap Retry on the Android sync card.
Open RinkPulse on the watch and leave it on the first screen, then tap Retry again in the companion app.
Confirm the workout was ended and saved in the RinkPulse watch app.
Restart Garmin Connect Mobile and RinkPulse Companion if the status still says Garmin Connect is unavailable.

Common status messages

Garmin Connect is not available: install or open Garmin Connect Mobile, then relaunch RinkPulse Companion.
No Garmin watches found: Garmin Connect Mobile does not yet know about a paired watch on this phone.
Watch found, but not connected: bring the watch near the phone and wait for Garmin Connect Mobile to reconnect.
Listening for completed RinkPulse watch sessions: the phone side is ready. Finish a RinkPulse watch session or tap Retry for a pending one.
RinkPulse watch app may be out of date: update the watch app from Connect IQ, then reopen Garmin Connect Mobile and RinkPulse Companion.
Imported RinkPulse session: the session was received and saved locally in the companion app.

If companion history looks missing

Do not uninstall RinkPulse Companion, clear app storage, or switch between TestFlight, Play, or internal-test installs while troubleshooting. Open the app, go to Profile, then use Export support diagnostics if the button is available.

Send a useful bug report

If it still will not sync, email rinkpulsesupport@gmail.com with your Garmin watch model, phone model, RinkPulse watch app version, companion app version, the sync status text, whether the session appears in Garmin Connect, and the exported diagnostics report if you can get it from the app.

Email sync help