v8.6.0
Garmin watch companion support arrives with a broad device line-up and approval UX improvements, alongside a new Athletes overview in race control and redesigned team management dialogs.
Devices
- Technical officials: Garmin watches now work with RaceRanger — submit penalties and incidents from your wrist the same way you would from Apple Watch. Pair from Garmin pairing on your profile; an Enable Garmin watch link toggle on the same screen keeps the integration dormant when it's not in use. Supported models: Forerunner 165, 245, 255, 265, 570, 745, 945, 955, 965, and 970; fēnix 6, 7, and 8; epix Gen 2; Venu 2, 3, 4, and X1; vívoactive 4, 5, and 6.
- Technical officials: Watch-submitted penalties and incidents show a source chip in the review panel — Apple Watch or the specific Garmin model — so it's immediately clear which wearable made the submission. On Android, a RaceRanger watch link active notification keeps the connection alive in race mode; on iPhone, the pairing dialog now correctly shows RaceRanger is ready when the watch is connected.
- Technical officials: On Garmin, the approval confirmation screen now uses a tappable OK button on touch-enabled watches instead of a hold gesture, and the approvals list shows a clear "Nothing to approve" screen when the queue is empty.
Officiating
- A new Athletes tab in race control shows a filterable roster with live status chips for penalties, incidents, DNF, DSQ, and lap count. Tapping any athlete expands a timeline of their penalties and incidents. The same view is available in the mobile race-mode start list with a search bar.
- Tapping a penalty notification opens that penalty directly for review; tapping an incident notification opens that incident. Race control shows a live clock in the header.
- In the penalty box, free stopwatches in drafting races now show a Pen / Draft mode toggle to switch the countdown between the penalty time and the drafting time.
Event setup
- Technical delegates: The race officials assignment panel on web has been redesigned — search by name or role, assign multiple roles per official in one step, and copy the full TO assignment from another race in the same event.
- Technical delegates: Add and edit user dialogs on web and phone have been redesigned with user search, inline role assignment, and a QR invite code for events. The web event info sidebar adds a map preview and share links for the invite QR.
Account
- Sign-up now shows a specific message when a password doesn't meet the requirements, instead of a generic error. Network problems and invalid email addresses also show clear guidance.
- Spaces in the email or password fields during sign-up and sign-in are stripped automatically, preventing a common cause of failed authentication.
Behind the scenes
- The Apple Watch app returns to its home screen immediately when the race switches or your permissions change, and race mode transitions update on your wrist in real time.
- Garmin watch submissions retry automatically if the phone connection drops briefly.
- Crashes in list views have been fixed.
- Penalty decisions and race-status changes now push automatically to connected event management systems as they happen.