Comparison

Wahoo vs Garmin Jr.™

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Wahoo

This app transforms your iPhone or iPad into a powerful fitness tracker for various activities like running, cycling, and strength training. It helps you visualize training zones, analyze past workouts, and connect with Bluetooth sensors for detailed data. You can also manage and update compatible Wahoo devices.

Highlights
  • Record indoor and outdoor workouts
  • Visualize training zones (power, heart rate)
  • Analyze activity history from Wahoo devices
  • Pair and use multiple Bluetooth sensors
  • Connect, update, and set up Wahoo devices
  • Control KICKR smart bikes and trainers
  • Accurate calorie burn calculation
Features
Read full description

◇ Build the better athlete within yourself ◇ Wahoo harnesses the power of your iPhone or iPad to transform the way you ride, run, and train to reach your personalized fitness goals. Visit www.wahoofitness.com to learn more about Wahoo products. ◇ Features ◇ ◇ Record workouts for both indoor and outdoor activities across running, cycling, strength training, and more. ◇ Visualize and manage your training zones for power and heart rate in a single place. ◇ Analyze your activity history from all your Wahoo devices. Get a summary of results from your entire workout, including GPS route, organized by date, and workout type. ◇ Easily find and pair Bluetooth Smart sensors to track heart rate, stride rate data, cycling power, speed, cadence, and more. Even use multiple sensors at the same time. ◇ Discover, connect, and update Wahoo devices via the app. Find comprehensive setup guides to help you onboard and use Wahoo hardware. ◇ Pair with KICKR smart bikes and trainers for the ultimate indoor cycling experience. Control the smart trainer in Passive, Target Power, Simulation, and Resistance modes. ◇ Get the most accurate calorie burn count when paired to a power meter or heart rate monitor. Add age, weight, and height to get your personalized caloric burn. ◇ Share workouts to your favorite training websites, including: Adidas Running Apple Health Dropbox Komoot MapMyFitness MapMyTracks MyFitnessPal RideWithGPS Strava TrainingPeaks Share to email & export your .fit files Please Note: Continued use of GPS running in the background can decrease battery life. MINIMUM DEVICE REQUIREMENTS iPhone/iPad: iOS 16 Terms of Service: https://www.wahoofitness.com/terms-of-service

About

Garmin Jr.™

This app helps parents manage their child's activity, sleep, and chores when paired with a compatible wearable. It also offers communication features and location tracking for added safety.

Highlights
  • Activity and sleep tracking
  • Chore management and rewards
  • Location tracking
  • Text and voice messaging
  • Family boundary alerts
  • Family challenges
Features
Read full description

When paired with a compatible Garmin kid’s wearable device, the Garmin Jr.™ app¹ is a parent’s resource for keeping track of kids’ activity² and sleep, managing chores and rewards and encouraging daily activity. With a compatible LTE-capable device, parents can also stay connected to their kids with texts, voice messages or voice calls to and from the device. They can track their location on the map in the Garmin Jr.™ app, set boundaries and receive alerts related to those boundaries. Your kids will only be able to interact with the people you add to your family in the app. The Parent Helper With the Garmin Jr.™ app on their smartphone, parents can: • Call and receive calls from your child’s compatible Garmin device.* • Send text and voice messages to your child’s compatible device.* • Track your child’s location on the map.* • Get detailed statistics about your child’s activity and sleep. • Celebrate personal records, including steps and active minutes. • Assign tasks and chores and reward your kids for a job well done. • Manage your child’s device settings, including goals, alarms, icons and display. • Create challenges to encourage the whole family to be more active. • Connect with other families and compete in multi-family challenges. • Invite up to nine trusted people to your family. • Get notified when your child leaves or arrives at a family boundary.* • Get notified when kids in the family request assistance from their compatible devices. • Add and organize music on your child’s compatible device. ¹Requires app loaded on parent’s compatible smartphone ²Activity tracking accuracy: http://www.garmin.com.en-us/legal/atdisclaimer * To use LTE features, an active subscription plan is necessary

Screenshots

Wahoo4 screens
Garmin Jr.™4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Garmin Jr.™ at none against Wahoo's 2. Garmin Jr.™ also leads on review sentiment (76% vs 43%) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). Wahoo's advantage is ratings volume (43K vs 7.4K). On price, rating, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Wahoo sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Garmin Jr.™ asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Wahoo against 4.6 for Garmin Jr.™. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Wahoo has 43K ratings behind it against 7.4K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 43% of Wahoo's written reviews are positive against 76% of Garmin Jr.™'s.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Wahoo ships an update fortnightly, Garmin Jr.™ every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Wahoo versus Garmin Jr.™: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWahooGarmin Jr.™
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (43K ratings) — better4.6 (7.4K ratings)
Positive reviews42.5% of reviews76.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings43K — better7.4K
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size380 MB386 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperWahoo FitnessGarmin

Customer experience

Wahoo

All ratings43,469 ratings
Positive93.7%
Neutral2.9%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews1,508 reviews
Positive42.5%
Neutral10.1%
Negative47.3%

Garmin Jr.™

All ratings7,354 ratings
Positive92.0%
Neutral3.3%
Negative4.8%
Written reviews1,223 reviews
Positive76.4%
Neutral7.4%
Negative16.2%

User reviews

Wahoo

From 43K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Tracks more than just pace and heart rate
  • 🚀 GPS tracking is sound
  • 👍 Audio announcements have good options
  • 👍 Works well with Zwift
  • 👍 Provides a consistent training experience

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes frequently, especially for long workouts
  • 🔋 Drains battery quickly even in battery saving mode
  • 🔒 Requires mandatory account creation and data sharing
  • 🐛 Unreliable GPS and cadence tracking
  • 🐛 Inconsistent distance and calorie measurements

Garmin Jr.™

From 7.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Motivating for kids
  • 📊 Helpful for tracking activity and sleep
  • 💰 Effective chore and reward system
  • 🤝 Good for family communication

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Connectivity issues and syncing problems
  • 🔋 Poor battery life
  • 🤔 Limited game and story content
  • 🔍 Lack of customization options
  • 🕰️ Inaccurate activity tracking

Bugs and requests

Wahoo

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes when connecting to trainer
  • Fails to record GPS, heart rate, and other sensor data
  • Syncing issues with Strava and other platforms
  • Inconsistent behavior when switching between workout types

Requested features

5 requests
  • Allow customization of data screens
  • Add ability to create and load pre-set workouts
  • Improve Strava and Apple Health integration
  • Bring back offline workout editing
  • Add an Apple Watch app for better integration

Garmin Jr.™

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Watch time and date resets unexpectedly
  • App crashes when trying to access certain features
  • Coins and rewards not syncing properly between watch and app
  • Activity data not accurately recorded

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add GPS tracking capability
  • Improve app responsiveness and stability
  • Expand game and story content
  • Allow more customization of chores and rewards
  • Enhance sleep tracking and reporting

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Wahoo

Subscriptions2
  • Wahoo Core14 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Wahoo14 Days trial$17.991 Month
None

Garmin Jr.™

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Wahoo free?
Wahoo is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Garmin Jr.™ free?
Garmin Jr.™ is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Wahoo or Garmin Jr.™?
Wahoo is rated higher. Wahoo averages 4.7 out of 5 from 43K ratings, while Garmin Jr.™ averages 4.6 from 7.4K ratings.
Do Wahoo or Garmin Jr.™ have ads?
Neither Wahoo nor Garmin Jr.™ shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Wahoo or Garmin Jr.™?
Wahoo ships an update fortnightly, and Garmin Jr.™ every 3 weeks. Most recently, Wahoo was updated on October 29, 2026 and Garmin Jr.™ on October 29, 2026.

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