Enable SDK for Karoo (3)
Dear Hammerhead,
Can you please enable the SDK for the new Karoo (3) like you did for 1 and 2 before?!
It’s extremely important for most of us who’re riding our bikes with other groupsets like your mother company provides…
Most of us made you big with purchasing version 1 and version 2 and it would be a very well appreciated move if you prioritise this point on your list.
Please always remember who supported you all the years - it’s us, your community!
Best regards
Andi
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I don't care about di2 support, but I do care about 3rd party apps for the Karoo. I've switched across from Garmin but it feels severely limited without the 3rd party applications - even simple things like a media controller or calorie datafield could then be created by community instead of waiting forever for hammerhead to do it.
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"I don't think they have any plans to release the SDK. Every time I have it clearer. It's a shame, because if they opened the environment to developers, the device would surely improve a lot."
When Karoo was intro'd, the Android OS and it's ability to facilitate open development was a major feature of the device. As it turned out, it was also the major factor in why Karoo's battery life is relatively short vs. the competitors. Without the SDK, there is no ability for open architecture, but the battery life still remains below the competition. So there is no upside now to Android; and the disadvantages continue. With that in mind, I've ordered a Garmin 1050 to see how much I like it vs. the Karoo. I loved my K2, but now it is 4 year old tech, with significantly less battery life, and the new unit (which I have but don't often use due to its lack of Di2 functionality) is less functional to me than the K2. IMO, SRAM seems to have ruined Karoo. -
The problem is there is no official statement and nothing officially confirmed in the launch which has left a lot of us guessing / hoping.
The lack of communication on this feels like they completely misunderstood the demand, didn’t think this was important enough to carry over or are simply trying to kill it by not talking about it.
As a product manager I would be curious to understand their thoughts on addressable market and whether they really are comfortable selling to only SRAM customers. That might be good enough for them. If that’s the case that feels like this will become a niche product and probably eventually die.
They should be leaning into this as a competitive differentiator - although they are also probably looking at the number of developers who are cyclists and contributing apps. This in itself might justify them not spending time on it.
They are running the risk of destroying the DNA of the original devices and what a good portion of the community bought in to though.
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They don't even really care for the SRAM customers!
I recently learned that they siltently disabled the low pressure warnings for the SRAM TyreWiz sensors because a few users complained about false warnings. So instead of fixing the problem they just disabled the most useful feature for these quite expensive sensors.
And of course, they did NOT announce this regression in the change log! I only found out about it because I raised a support ticket for the missing warnings. -
Just an update. Iv just been speaking to HH support asking about the SDK (Shruti has been very helpful 😊) as I recently purchased a Karoo 3, not realizing it doesn't integrate with the Di2. I've been told that the SDK is coming but no time frame available. Unfortunately this is forced my decision to return the K3 and I'm going to go and buy a Garmin 1050 as well as everyone else on here seems to be.
Sorry to say HH if you're products can't integrate with the biggest selling road bike components then your pretty much dead in the water. I expect in a year or two HH will go bum up as the market for a high end bike GPS that only integrates with SRAM components is a very very small market.
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I agree with Fraser 100%. Hammerhead now seems to be a SRAM centric product now. I live in a cycling world where there are products made by numerous makers, so I have no need for any product that doesn't work with all major products.
I can't see buying any more Hammerhead/SRAM products.
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I do see why you all are complaining and I also do not understand why no SDK (I also want it, though for different reasons). But remember, this war has been brought upon us by Shimano and I think you should also complain to them because they are the ones who started this misery. And they still don't give a damn about their customers. For me this is makes Shimano a bad choice because nobody knows what kind of battle they will start next on the back of their customers.
After all, there *was* Di2 support in Karoo, official one even- until Shimano made it illegal and threatened Hammerhead legally.
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Yea id like to know the background to that issue. HH have their formal response which is "At the request of Shimano, effective the software update on June 2nd 2022, the Di2 integration will be removed"
We cant assign blame at this stage as we don't know why the disagreement is there. It could be that Shimano have pulled access to HH as its now owned by Sram, in a tactical move, but it also might be that HH refuse to sign an end user agreement with Shimano in the belief that users will drop Shimano for Sram if forced? (They are delusional if so)
Its all in the legal background and I'm guessing neither side is going to say exactly what's happening, long and short of it us end users don't care about the disagreement, we just want units that we purchased to work with all our bikes, and hence I'm moving over to Garmin.
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Fraser Hocks, you're missing the point. The whole "sell" of the Karoo over the competition was that the end users could customise their devices through community created apps. If people wanted something full featured they bought a Garmin, something easy to use they got a wahoo, customisable they got a Karoo. No one in this thread that I've seen is demanding hammerhead immediately overcome their differences with Shimano, they just want to restore the basis in which they became a part of the Karoo ecosystem in the first place and then let the community manage the issue with Shimano.
I don't actually think they have not enabled the SDK because of the Shimano issue. It's a combination of laziness and relatively poor uptake of Karoo apps on prior revisions.
You're confusing the SDK with support for di2 integration.
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Actually Adam Charles, I couldn't care less about the background politics or what software is involved, I just want the device to be able to display and be controlled by all the bikes I own with electronic drivetrains, regardless of how that happens.
I bought the Karoo 3 thinking it was compatible with both Shimano and SRAM electronic drivetrain, only to find out it's not, and now I'm very disappointed. I'm swapping over to Garmin (waiting for a sale at the moment) due to lack of compatibly with this device, and it seems Garmin offers a device with full compatibly. Im expecting the only people that will stick with the Karoo 3 are those that only have SRAM drivetrains, and to be honest that's very poorly supported with this device 🥺
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+++K3 SDK confirmed, but no timeline yet+++
I contacted support last week again, at least they now seem to have decided internally to implement the SDK for K3, however there is no timeline yet. This was the response:
Hi,
I'm glad to provide an update.
I do not have the timeline yet but we will release an SDK for the Karoo. It is a large and complex project that requires input from several developers, but rest assured that it is in the works.
Don't hesitate to reach out if you have additional questions!
Have a great weekend,
Jami
Hammerhead -
Please re-enable the SDK. As a professional technologist, I believe this is the ONLY way to create an open platform. You don't have enough developers to build all the features your customers (and early adopters like me) want. Why not leverage other people's money (and goodwill) to beat the competition? Some of us are bound to other groupsets for reasons of physical challenges. I have to ride with very short cranks (less than 145mm), and there are many more options that can be shortened in the Shimano space than the SRAM space.
I'm also somewhat annoyed right now. I upgraded to the 3 for its better hardware and companion app. I wouldn't have if I had known about the loss of the SDK.
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I would really like to see HAMMERHEAD (HH) provide an SDK for Karoo 3. Having recently subscribed to XERT, I found that, unlike the older Karoo 2, the latest computer does not display XERT fields. It would be great to know the timeline for implementing this feature, if it's still under consideration. I can't believe it’s not being considered, as it presents a fantastic opportunity for HH to showcase its Android capabilities and stand out from other manufacturers with its unique selling point. Ensuring backwards compatibility is crucial for maintaining customer loyalty and the company's reputation, alongside a stable UI/platform. HH team, if you're reading this, I would greatly appreciate your response.
P.S.: I love the unit—it just needs a bit of fine-tuning to be super competitive in the market.
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