Garmin adds new transparent activity overlays to Connect app
Garmin has added a new sharing option to the Connect app, bringing transparent data and map overlays in different formats. It gives completed workouts a cleaner, more polished look, with key stats and route maps layered directly over your chosen image.
To use it, open a completed activity, tap the share button and choose from the available layouts. From there, the finished image is ready to post wherever you want, whether that is social media, messaging apps or elsewhere.
A cleaner way to share your workouts
The update is aimed at users who like posting their sessions online without needing third-party editing tools. Garmin has clearly leaned into social-friendly formats here, with the three aspect ratios covering the most common use cases.
The 1×1 layout works well for standard social posts and feeds. The 4×5 format is more suited for portrait-style feed posts where you want the image to take up more screen space. Then there is the 9×16 option, which is ideal for Stories, Reels and other vertical formats.
What stands out is the transparent design itself. Rather than placing the route map and workout figures inside opaque boxes, Garmin lets the image remain front and centre. The data sits more naturally on top of the photo, which gives the final result a much cleaner and more modern look.
As shown in these examples, the app overlays average heart rate, distance and average pace alongside a route outline. It makes the share card feel much less like a screenshot and more like something intentionally designed for posting.
A subtle shift
What makes this interesting is less the feature itself and more what it says about where Garmin Connect is heading. The app has long been centred on data analysis, training load and post-workout insights, but updates like this suggest Garmin is also paying more attention to presentation.
This is not an entirely new idea in the fitness app space. Strava and several third-party tools have offered activity share cards with route and stat overlays for some time, so Garmin is not breaking new ground here. What it is doing is bringing a cleaner, more polished version of that experience directly into Connect.
For many users, the workout no longer ends when the run or ride is over. Sharing progress, routes and milestone sessions has become part of the wider fitness experience, whether that is with friends, training groups or a broader online audience.
That is why this update feels relevant even if it is a relatively small addition. Garmin is making sure shared workouts look just as polished outside the app as the data looks inside it.
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