Owner of the ANT+ protocol, Garmin has decided to end the certification of new sensors in the face of the growth of Bluetooth LE.
To communicate with each other, sports devices generally use a wireless communication protocol, ANT+. Used for sports watches, cardio belts, bicycle power sensors or treadmills, this protocol is however set to disappear.
To go further
Sports watch, cardio belt, armband… how to precisely measure your heart rate during sport
Indeed, in an article published at the end of last week, ANT Wireless announced “ changes » of importance regarding the future of this standard:
The ANT+ Membership Program and ANT+ Product Certification Programs and related engineering support will cease on June 30, 2025.
In fact, Garmin, owner of ANT Wireless, will no longer allow new products to be compatible with its wireless communication protocol as of June 30.
The manufacturer cites, among the reasons for abandoning ANT+, a “ regulatory change which requires a substantial redevelopment of ANT+ which would then cut the established compatibility in the product ecosystem».
More concretely, as the site points outDCRainmakera European directive on radio equipment now requires authentication and encryption of personal data. However, until now, ANT+ equipment did without this authentication.
Current equipment will continue to operate
For users, this shouldn’t change much. ANT+ compatible heart rate belts, watches, GPS bike computers or power meters will continue to work. However, this marks the end of the development of this technology launched in 2004.
Furthermore, the ANT+ protocol has already been experiencing growing competition from Bluetooth LE in the sports field for several years. From now on, Bluetooth allows several devices to be connected together, it is also compatible with smartphones and offers simpler, open, and license-free development for manufacturers.
Garmin, although it owns ANT+, already took the plunge a few years ago by now offering a Bluetooth LE connection in addition to ANT+ on its own sensors. This has been the case since the Garmin HRM-Dual belt, launched by the American manufacturer in 2029 with ANT+ and Bluetooth compatibility.
