Do I need a Garmin account to use this?

[ghost]

My goal is to use the watch without a Garmin account and without the Garmin Connect app as I find mobile phones too small at my age.
I would like to be able to connect the watch to my Windows PC, download the data and analyze it on my big PC screen.
Is this possible using this app?

[jebins]

Hi,

Same question here: I would like to use my Garmin Watch without a Garmin Connect account.

The description of this repository states that garmindb can :

Download and parse data from Garmin Connect or a Garmin watch

But I struggle to find documentation related to this use-case.

[lpierron]

1. Use Garmin Express (https://www.garmin.com/en-US/software/express/mac/) to connect and mount your Garmin Watch on your system.
2. Check the entry copy:mount_dir or directories:mount_dir in your configuration file: GarminConnectConfig.json. Be sure that your watch content is mounted on the right directory: mount_dir.
3. Copy the datas in your GarminDB folder with: garmindb_cli.py -c

[ghost]

[lpierron]

Garmin Express need an account on Garmin Connect Web, with your watches identified. Garmin Express mounts your watch on your PC File System and after that you can use garmindb_cli.py -c to copy the files from your watch volume to your GarminDB database.
Maybe you can find some information, on how to mount Garmin watches without Garmin Express: https://www.reddit.com/r/running/comments/rcg9yl/garmin_watches_and_computers_running_linux_eg/