Garmin EU Users Get iPhone Reply and Live Activities Support

EU-based Garmin owners are getting two iPhone features that Apple Watch users have held exclusively for years: Live Activities on the wrist and the ability to reply to messages directly from the watch. Both arrive via iOS 18.5, with a matching Garmin firmware update still pending. This is a direct result of the EU Digital Markets Act forcing Apple to open its ecosystem to third-party wearables.

Live Activities means you can track your Uber, food delivery, or sports scores in real time on your Garmin face without pulling out your phone. For athletes, the practical angle is race-day apps and pacing tools that push live data to your wrist. Think live split updates from a coach app or a real-time event tracker during a triathlon. This is useful on a Forerunner or Fenix face.

Message replies from the wrist close a gap that has frustrated Garmin users paired to iPhones for years. Android users already had this. Now EU iPhone owners running a compatible Garmin device get it too. Users in the UK and US are locked out entirely, since this is purely a regulatory unlock, not a technical one.

The catch is timing. Garmin has not shipped the firmware yet, so nothing works today even if you updated to iOS 18.5 already. Garmin firmware drops can lag weeks behind announcements. If you are outside the EU, no workaround exists short of changing your Apple ID region, which carries its own risks.

Solid win for EU Garmin users. Not a full Apple Watch replacement, but it closes two real gaps. Everyone else waits, and probably waits a long time.