7 days free on every face · one-time code · no subscription
DIALFORGE
Red Hours

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

A tactical digital face that turns red after sunset, so your night vision stays intact.

  • Automatic night mode: from sunset to sunrise the whole face switches to red on black, dimmed, with no white anywhere. Set it to Auto (sun), Always or Off.
  • 24-hour sun ring on the bezel: noon at the top, the daylight arc across the upper half, sunrise and sunset notches and a marker for the current time. The part of the day or night already gone is drawn thick.
  • Countdown to sunset during the day and to sunrise at night.
  • Big two-tone time, date in 13 languages (by watch language, or fixed to English or Polish), optional seconds between today's sunrise and sunset times.
  • Four data fields on a crosshair.
  • Day colours: Signal, Olive, Sand, Steel or a quiet Grey.
  • Sun times are calculated on the watch from your last known position. Without a position the face uses 19:00 to 07:00 as night.
  • Always-on mode for AMOLED: dim time and date with a small sun marker, shifted every minute, dark red at night.

Data fields (4 slots): heart rate, steps, battery, distance, calories, floors, active minutes, Body Battery, stress, altitude, notifications, solar, battery days, temperature, sunrise, sunset, next sun event, respiration, SpO2, recovery time, pressure, resting heart rate, VO2 max, sleep score, training status, 5K race prediction, calendar, weekly running distance, moon phase, week number, day of year.

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.

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/redhours/ 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

Red Hours: user manual

What it does

Red Hours is a tactical digital face that turns red after sunset to protect night vision. It has a 24-hour sun ring, big two-tone time, a countdown to sunset or sunrise and four fields on a crosshair.

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 (Instinct 3 AMOLED 45 mm, Instinct 3 AMOLED 50 mm), 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 "Red Hours" by Dialforge, tap Install and sync the watch. Then hold the watch face (or the menu button), choose Watch Face and select Red Hours.

First launch

Time in Signal orange, the sun ring with a marker for now, sunrise and sunset times with seconds between them. Fields: Altitude, Steps, Heart rate, Battery. Night mode is Auto (sun). 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 four crosshair fields are touch spots.

Settings

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

  • Field 1, Field 2, Field 3, Field 4: each shows one of 47 data types, from heart rate to weather, or stays empty. Defaults in that order: Altitude, Steps, Heart rate, Battery %.
  • Night mode: Auto (sun), Always, Off. Default: Auto (sun).
  • Day colour: Signal, Olive, Sand, Steel, Grey. Default: Signal.
  • 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.
  • Night mode: Auto (sun) goes red between sunset and sunrise, calculated from your last known position; with no position the face counts night as 19:00 to 07:00. Always and Off force it.

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, Red Hours, 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 dim time and a short date, plus a small sun marker on round watches, shifted every minute and dark red at night. 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 > Red Hours > 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.

More faces

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.

Red Hours€3.99Unlock