7 days free on every face · one-time code · no subscription
DIALFORGE
LCD 84

7-day free trial, then a one-time 3.99 EUR unlock code at dialforge.dev. No subscription.

A retro segment LCD for your wrist: real seven-segment digits with faint unlit segments, like the digital watch you wore in the 80s.

What you get

  • Big HH:MM built from real segments, with the dim "ghost 88" of unlit segments on AMOLED screens
  • Seconds in small segments next to the time, shown only while the screen is awake
  • Weekday in dot-matrix letters and the date in small segments
  • LCD indicators: alarm bell, phone connection and a 5-segment battery gauge
  • Two numeric readouts at the bottom with short labels
  • Negative style (light segments on black) or Positive style (dark segments on a tinted LCD background)
  • 4 segment colours: LCD grey, amber, cyan, green
  • Weekday in 13 languages (by watch language, or fixed to English or Polish)
  • Always-on mode for AMOLED: thin dimmed time segments only, shifted every minute against burn-in

Data fields

Heart rate, steps, battery, battery days, distance, calories, floors, intensity minutes, Body Battery, stress, altitude, pressure, notifications, solar intensity, temperature, sunrise, sunset, next sun event, respiration, Pulse Ox, recovery time, resting HR, VO2 max, sleep score*, 5K prediction*, weekly run distance*, moon phase, week number, day of year.

* needs a watch with Connect IQ 4.2 or newer

No reading, no invented value: the readout shows dashes.

Since 1.2.0: new data to choose from: weather with icon, wind, humidity, UV, chance of rain, active calories, alarms, phone connection, do not disturb, move bar, 10K, half and full marathon predictions, cycling VO2 max, weekly ride distance and a second time zone (a fixed UTC offset, no daylight saving); time format (12/24 h) and leading zero settings; on touchscreen watches, touch and hold a field to open its screen.

Garmin does not give watch faces access to HRV status or Training Readiness, so no Connect IQ watch face can show them.

Code not working? Write to kontakt@dialforge.dev and we fix it or refund you.

Settings: on the watch (hold MENU, then Watch face, then Customize) or in the Connect IQ app.

A little request from the maker

Dialforge is my student project. I build these watch faces after classes, so they are still at an early stage, and I could not test every watch model myself. If something looks wrong on your watch, please do not leave a negative rating: write to me first at https://dialforge.dev/faces/lcd84/ and I will fix it, usually within 24 hours. A kind review means more to me than you can imagine. And if you like my work, you can buy me a coffee (the link is at the bottom of dialforge.dev): I am saving up to pay for my studies. Thank you for your patience and for giving a young developer a chance.

Manual

LCD 84: user manual

What it does

LCD 84 is a retro digital watch: HH:MM in real seven-segment digits with faint unlit segments, a dot-matrix weekday, the date as D-M, bell, phone and battery indicators, and two readouts at the bottom.

Requirements and supported watches

Needs Connect IQ 3.3.0+ and the Connect IQ or Garmin Connect phone app. Supported watches:

  • Round AMOLED: epix 2 and epix Pro 2, fēnix 8, E, Forerunner 165, 265, 570, 965, 970, Instinct 3 AMOLED, Crossover AMOLED, Venu 2, 3, 4, vivoactive 5, 6.
  • Round MIP: enduro 3, fēnix 7 series, 8 Solar, Forerunner 55, 245, 255, vivoactive 4.
  • Square and rectangular AMOLED: Venu Sq 2, Venu X1.

Installation

In the Connect IQ app on your phone (or Garmin Connect, then the Connect IQ Store) find "LCD 84" by Dialforge, tap Install and sync the watch. Then hold the watch face (or the menu button), choose Watch Face and select LCD 84.

First launch

Negative style in LCD grey: light segments on black. Left readout shows steps, right shows heart rate, seconds are on. The 7-day trial starts the first time the face runs.

Controls

Watches with buttons (START, UP, DOWN, BACK)

  • No actions of its own. Settings: menu button (UP), Watch Face, Customize.

Touch watches (tap, hold, swipe)

  • Touch and hold a data field to open Garmin's screen for it. No matching screen, nothing happens.
  • The two bottom readouts (label and digits together) are the touch spots.

Settings

Watch: menu button, Watch Face, Customize. Phone: Connect IQ app, LCD 84, Settings (code fields only there).

  • Left readout, Right readout: each shows one of 45 data types, from heart rate to weather, or stays empty. Defaults in that order: Steps, Heart rate.
  • Display style: Negative, Positive. Default: Negative.
  • Segment colour: LCD grey, Amber, Cyan, Green. Default: LCD grey.
  • Seconds: on or off. Default: on.
  • Time format: Automatic (watch setting), 12-hour, 24-hour. Default: Automatic.
  • Second time zone: fixed UTC offset, UTC-12 to UTC+14 with half-hour zones, no automatic daylight saving.
  • Date language: Automatic, English, Polski. Default: Automatic. It keeps working after the trial.
  • Display style: Negative is light segments on black, Positive is dark segments on a tinted LCD background.
  • The bell lights when an alarm is set, the phone symbol when the phone is connected.

License

  • Trial: 7 days from the first launch, everything works.
  • Price: 3.99 EUR once at dialforge.dev, no subscription. The 8-character code is tied to your watch's UID.
  • Where to enter it: phone, Connect IQ app, LCD 84, Settings. Read the UID in "UID (dialforge.dev)", buy the code, then type it into "Unlock code".
  • After the trial without a code: settings return to defaults (the language setting stays) and UNLOCK DIALFORGE.DEV appears at the bottom. Time and data keep working.

Privacy and permissions

Permissions:

  • Sensor history: recent body battery, stress and similar values.
  • User profile: data like max heart rate and units.
  • Complications: Garmin's own data for the fields.

No internet use at all.

Troubleshooting

The code does not work. Check that the UID you bought for matches "UID (dialforge.dev)" and type all 8 characters (case is ignored, no 0, O, 1 or I). A code for another face does not fit. Sync, then reopen.

A field shows --. The watch has no value for it right now: it may need a sensor reading, a connected phone (weather), a Garmin feature turned on, or a newer watch. The face never invents numbers.

Battery drain? Seconds are drawn only while the watch is awake, in low-power mode the face redraws once a minute.

What does always-on look like? On AMOLED, always-on shows only the time segments, thin and dimmed in the segment color, shifted every minute. MIP watches have no separate always-on mode.

12-hour or 24-hour? Automatic follows the watch's 12/24-hour setting. You can force 12 or 24 hours in the settings.

Contact

kontakt@dialforge.dev or dialforge.dev. Please write before leaving a low rating.

Permissions and privacy

This product asks the watch for the permissions below. Connect IQ shows them when you install it.

  • Sensor history: Reads recent values stored by the watch (for example Body Battery, stress, heart rate, steps trend).
  • Your profile: Reads your Garmin profile on the watch (for example age, weight, heart rate zones) to calculate values for you.
  • Watch data (complications): Shows data from other watch features, such as battery or steps, on the face.

This product does not use the internet and sends no data to our servers.

Unlock

€3.99

One-time payment. No subscription. The code works on the watch whose UID you enter.

  1. Install the face from the Connect IQ store. It is free for 7 days.
  2. Find your 10-digit UID: Connect IQ app on the phone > My Device > Watch faces > LCD 84 > Settings (first field).
  3. Enter UID and e-mail, pay with PayPal (cards work without a PayPal account). The code appears here at once.
  4. Type the code into the same settings page, field "Unlock code". The watch checks it offline.

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Tell us how to make it better

Missing a data field, a colour, a layout? Found a bug on your watch model? Write it here. We read every message and ship improvements in updates.

LCD 84€3.99Unlock