u/SouthernMembership85

Over the past month we’ve spent an unreasonable amount of time refactoring one specific part of the watch face: the hands.

The goal was pretty simple on paper, but difficult in practice: make the hands significantly more customizable, more readable, and more visually refined, while keeping the same efficiency and battery life Portal Hybrid has become known for.

Version 4.0 introduces a completely new hand transparency system, allowing anything from fully filled hands to skeleton-style configurations with multiple transparency levels, all without compromising performance or battery efficiency.

This update also includes:
• all accent colours now available for hand fill
• improved contrast for MIP / Solar devices
• smoother native settings experience
• updated shadows and visual refinements
• new feels like ° temperature and metric system toggles
• multiple bug fixes and data refresh improvements (including Tides complication fix)

Make sure to update your Portal Hybrid: it’s available now: https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/0b7cce1f-e530-48cd-b22a-be89873e1a4a

And genuinely, thank you for the support over these past 7 months. We’ve been heavily supporting Portal Hybrid since launch and intend to continue doing so going forward…

P.S. If you enjoy the watch face, please consider leaving a Connect IQ review. It really helps motivate us to continue refining and supporting the project long-term.

There’s something about the imperfect, almost analogue character of the screen on the Fēnix 8 Solar that makes it feel much more like an actual watch rather than just another sports gadget.

Funny enough, the less perfect it is compared to AMOLED, the more timeless it feels on the wrist for me…

I really hope Garmin keeps MIP displays going forward with F9. Posting this with hope that Garmin sees this and considers as another small vote from someone who genuinely enjoys MIP.

Helix Heritage is built for people who actually like Garmin watches to feel like watches. Every detail is rendered on device, no .png is involved (:

The goal was simple: strip things back to clarity, legibility, and restraint, without losing character.

A big part of the inspiration came from late 90s industrial design, especially the shift you saw in tools like AutoCAD, where interfaces evolved from rigid, sharp geometries into more refined, fluid forms. That transition heavily influenced the way Helix Heritage is drawn.

You’ll notice it in the softened transitions, the balance between straight lines and subtle curvature, and the way elements sit together without feeling mechanical or over-engineered.

What’s inside:
- 27 accent colours, each hand-matched for AMOLED and Solar/MIP displays
- Configurable hands (feat. styles from Modello GMT and Portal Hybrid) with transparency control + independent second hand colour
- Filled or contour hour marks
- Battery arc — hour marks quietly double as a battery indicator
- 2 fully configurable complications
- Larger font option
- Beautiful AOD
- Full MIP support
- Battery efficiency
- and much more

Curious what you think, especially from those who appreciate more data heavy designs. Could this be your date night option? 🧐🤔

Link in the comment section 👌🏼