Wearables (Garmin Lite)

The Garmin Lite integration in m-Path allows researchers to collect high-resolution physiological data from participants’ Garmin smartwatches without requiring the m-Path Sense app to run continuously in the background. Instead of streaming data in real time, participants sync their watch at defined moments during a study, such as when completing a daily questionnaire. Data is transferred directly from the watch to the app and uploaded to the researcher’s cloud storage.

This integration is intended for researchers who need higher-resolution Garmin data than the standard wearable integration provides, but do not need real-time trigger-based interventions. If you need triggers or continuous background sensing, see the Direct Garmin integration instead.

The Garmin Lite integration is available as an add-on. Contact m-Path to enable this feature: contact@m-path.io.

Key Features

• No background sensing required: The m-Path Sense app does not need to run continuously. Participants sync their watch when prompted during a questionnaire.
• High-resolution raw data: Access the same Garmin measurement types as the Direct integration.
• Privacy-friendly: Data is transferred directly from the watch to the m-Path Sense app, with no third-party integrations or apps required.
• Flexible sync window: Precisely configure how far back each sync reaches, or let the item automatically sync from the last sync point.

Not sure which wearable integration fits your study? Check here for an overview of the different smartwatch integrations possible with m-Path.

1. Setting Up the Garmin Lite Item

To use the Garmin Lite integration, add a Garmin Lite item to an interaction in the m-Path dashboard. This item can be placed in any interaction, but should typically be added to a recurring questionnaire (e.g. a daily beep) so that participants sync their watch at regular intervals throughout the study.

Configuration options

The Garmin Lite item has three configurable settings:

Setting	Description
syncWindowHours	How many hours back the sync should reach. For example, a value of 20 syncs all data from the past 20 hours. If left unspecified, the app syncs from the time of the last completed sync (saved automatically after each sync).
instructionText	Custom text shown to the participant when they encounter the item (e.g. “sync all available health data”). Displayed on the confirmation page before syncing begins.
autoSyncOnLoad	Controls whether syncing starts automatically. See below for details.

autoSyncOnLoad: true vs. false

The autoSyncOnLoad setting determines what the participant sees when they encounter the Garmin Lite item:

• false (default): The participant is shown a confirmation page listing the measure types to be synced and the current battery level of the watch. Syncing begins only after they confirm.
• true: If the watch is connected when the participant reaches the item, syncing starts automatically without a confirmation step. The participant still sees the sync progress.

Sensors and sampling rates

The Garmin Lite item supports the same measurement types and sampling rate configuration as the Direct Garmin integration. Refer to the valid sampling intervals table in the Direct Garmin integration guide for the full list of measures and their defaults.

2. Participant Setup and Pairing

Participants need the m-Path Sense app to use the Garmin Lite integration. Unlike the Direct integration, they do not need to keep the app running in the background between syncs.

Pairing

Pairing uses the same Bluetooth (BLE) process as the Direct Garmin integration. When a participant encounters a Garmin Lite item for the first time and no watch is connected, the app will take them through the pairing flow automatically. They scan for nearby Garmin devices, select their watch from the list, and the app establishes a connection.

On subsequent encounters (e.g. each daily questionnaire), the app connects to the already-paired watch automatically. If the watch cannot be found when the item initializes, the participant will be shown the pairing page again so they can reconnect before the sync begins.

Troubleshooting steps are available in the pairing troubleshooting section.

3. How Syncing Works

When a participant reaches a Garmin Lite item in a questionnaire, the following happens:

1. The app checks whether a Garmin watch is connected. If not, the pairing screen is shown first.
2. Depending on the autoSyncOnLoad setting, the participant either confirms the sync or syncing begins immediately.
3. The watch transfers all data within the configured sync window. The participant sees the progress of the sync.
4. Once complete, the sync time is saved automatically. The next sync will use this as its starting point if syncWindowHours is not configured.
5. The synced data(with measurements written in 15 minute chunks) is compressed and uploaded directly to the researcher’s pCloud or OneDrive storage.

4. Exporting and Analyzing Data

Data export

Data collected through the Garmin Lite integration is uploaded from the participant’s phone to a pCloud or OneDrive location configured in the researcher dashboard. See Adding a cloud storage location for client file uploads for setup instructions.

Data structure

Data is exported in JSON format, using the same structure as the Direct Garmin integration. Each entry includes a sensorStartTime and a data object containing the time window, entry counts, and the recorded samples per sensor type. For the full data structure and all measurement type definitions, see the data export section and Garmin measurement types in the Direct Garmin integration guide.