Garmin EU Users Get iPhone Reply and Live Activities Support

EU-based Garmin owners are getting two iPhone features that previously required an Apple Watch: wrist-based message replies and Live Activities. Both unlock with iOS 26.5, paired with a pending Garmin firmware update. Runners in the UK and US stay locked out entirely.

Live Activities means you can now see real-time data from third-party apps directly on your Garmin display. Think Uber ride countdowns, flight gates, or delivery timers updating live on your watch face. Apple Watch has had this since iOS 16. Garmin is catching up, but only where EU digital competition rules force the door open.

The reply feature lets you respond to messages from your wrist without pulling out your phone. Not full keyboard input, but canned replies and likely voice-to-text depending on the Garmin model. Whoop and Oura still have no reply functionality at all, so this is a real gap Garmin is closing for EU athletes who rely on their watch during runs or sessions.

This is a direct result of the EU Digital Markets Act pressuring Apple to open its iPhone APIs to third-party wearables. The same regulation gave Garmin access to background heart rate data and deeper Bluetooth connectivity in previous update cycles. US and UK users are stuck waiting for Apple to voluntarily extend the same access, which has not happened.

Solid win for EU Garmin users. Not a full Apple Watch replacement for iPhone integration, but meaningfully closer than before.