Intervals Pro shuts down as Garmin tightens access to training data

Intervals Pro, an AI coaching service that generated training plans using athletes’ Intervals.icu data, shut down on October 12. The UK developer behind it pulled the plug after Intervals.icu warned that updated Garmin developer terms could restrict how Garmin-sourced data is passed between third-party platforms.

Intervals Pro used training and recovery data pulled through Intervals.icu, a popular training platform used by endurance athletes. Intervals.icu itself is running normally, but its developer says Garmin’s updated terms will likely prevent Garmin-sourced data from being passed onwards through the platform’s API.

Intervals Pro billing has stopped, and any unused prepaid time is being refunded automatically. Users have until October 19 to log in and download their coaching conversations

What Garmin is changing

The issue is not Garmin sending your workouts to another service. That still works. If you connect Garmin directly to a platform such as Intervals.icu, your activities can continue to arrive there.

The problem comes at the next step. Garmin appears to be restricting whether that platform can then make the same Garmin-sourced data available to another app or service unless Garmin has approved it.

Intervals.icu developer David Tinker says the new conditions appeared in Garmin’s developer portal without advance notice. He expects the platform will have to block Garmin data from its API, although discussions with Garmin are still ongoing and nothing has been finalised yet.

That uncertainty was enough for Intervals Pro to pull the plug. The service relied heavily on data coming through Intervals.icu to analyse training history, sleep, HRV, training load and upcoming workouts, then use that information for AI-based coaching.

This could go beyond one small coaching app

Not every training service has its own direct Garmin integration. Smaller developers often connect to a platform that already collects data from multiple wearable brands, then build their own coaching, analysis or AI tools on top of that.

Garmin’s approach could make that much harder. If a service wants access to Garmin data, it may increasingly need its own approved relationship with Garmin rather than getting that information indirectly through another platform.

There is also a possibility that the restriction will apply to older data. Tinker said on October 12 that he expects complete Garmin activities, FIT files, data streams and wellness information to be covered, including historical data that originally arrived through Garmin’s API. He stressed that this is still being discussed with Garmin rather than a final decision. 

Files uploaded by users themselves may be treated differently. An independent project called Garmin Intervals Bridge is already experimenting with replacing Garmin-imported activities with original FIT files uploaded by the athlete, which could keep that information available to other authorised tools. But this is very much a workaround rather than an official solution. 

For most Garmin owners, nothing changes today. Garmin activities can still sync into Intervals.icu as normal, and the restrictions being discussed concern what happens when that Garmin-sourced data is then passed on to another service.

But the closure of Intervals Pro shows where things may be heading. Garmin appears to want more control over where its data goes after it reaches another platform, and smaller apps built on top of that data are likely to feel the effects first.