The smartwatch maker Garmin is testing a link with Waze that could alert drivers to cyclists who wear its devices. This effort reflects Garmin’s broader aim to improve safety for active-lifestyle users by integrating its wearable technology with popular navigation platforms.
The Connect app’s LiveTrack feature lets users broadcast their real-time position to friends, family, or emergency contacts. During a recent analysis of the Android package (APK), researchers uncovered hidden options labeled “Share location with Waze” and “Waze Location Sharing,” indicating that a direct data bridge has been built into the software.
Code comments indicate that when LiveTrack and location sharing are active, drivers running the navigation app could see the cyclist’s spot on the map. Waze already flags moving trucks and snowplows through its Moving Vehicle Information feed, a system that alerts motorists to large, slow-moving obstacles.
Extending that feed to include cyclists would require only a minor software tweak, according to the examined code. The modification would involve adding a new icon type and a small rule set to differentiate cyclists from other moving objects.
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The alert would work for any driver with the app open, regardless of whether they own a smartwatch, meaning that the safety benefit could reach a wide audience of road users.
Earlier integrations, such as the garbage-truck alerts, showed how the platform gradually adds vulnerable-road-user warnings. Those alerts demonstrated that Waze can push real-time notifications about slow-moving traffic without requiring a separate subscription. Adding cyclists follows the same safety-first trajectory and may set a template for future pedestrian or scooter notifications.
The rollout schedule remains unclear, and no official statement has confirmed a launch date. The flagship Fenix 8 Pro MicroLED is likely to receive the update first, but the feature could spread to entry-level models that already support LiveTrack. If the update proceeds as anticipated, Garmin’s newer devices could become the first wearables to provide this specific type of cyclist-to-driver communication.
At present, the functionality exists only in the app’s codebase; users will have to wait for an official software release before the cyclist icons appear on Waze maps. Until that release occurs, the hidden settings remain inaccessible to the public, and the safety enhancement will stay in a testing phase.
