How to get ant+ dongle working on galaxy tab A8

Android
1

Hi there,

As I’m not really savvy on this matter and my online searches have failed to help me, I’m trying here to see if someone could help me figure this out.

I have purchased the Samsung Galaxy Tab A8 recently and the bluetooth connection with Zwift seems to work. However, I also have an external ant+ dongle which I would like to use and connect. (I previously used this for laptop zwifting, but laptop broke down.)

I have been using the Ant Tester app and it shows that ant+ would be capable. There’s some links to apps/software to download that should work, but none of these are applicable and I can’t download these as the apps are created for “an older version of android”.
Are there any new apps available? I can’t seem to find any.

I’m connecting the ant+ dongle with a usb-C adapter (that worked on an apple laptop). If I plug it in, the ANT tester seems to detect it, but I think I need some supporting app/software to make it work?

thanks a lot!

2

You should have these 4 ANT+ services on Android tablet. They can be downloaded from Google Play Store.

Screenshot_20230303-194244_Google Play Store
Screenshot_20230303-194244_Google Play Store1080×1224 152 KB

Without the USB driver, your tablet cannot detect the dongle.

3

Thanks Kenneth for posting. I’m in exactly the same position. Purchased the A8 tablet knowing that it didn’t come with Ant+ receiver but believing that this could be worked around with a dongle and OTG adaptor. Thanks Patrick for your respinse. I too cannot find the needed apps on Playstore. Has anyone found a solution?

4

…and a test app for good measure: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.quantrity.anttester

Ensure you’ve granted each the necessary permissions to run.

5

Thanks CJ. I followed your links to Playstore. Unfortunately I get the message that apps are not available to me as they are made for an older version on android. Do you think an update may be coming?

6

I can’t speak to that point Hayden. You could try reaching out to the developer to inquire.

7

Hi. I am having trouble with this set up on my Tab A8. It connects for a few seconds then it stops.
I am using a Garmin ANT+ with a Samsung USB-C adapter, I have also tried a USB-C hub that I have for the tablet. If I try to Reset connection it says that the ANT hardware isn’t there. Any suggestions?

8

I’ve got the same problem.

It takes forever to connect then it does for a bit then “No Signal”

9

I supose you have installed the ANT+ driver and ANT+ USB Service and ANT+ plugin manager login apps?

WiFi, ANT, and BLE use the same radio they have to share. So high frequency channels, things like BT audio, WiFi for instance can negatively impact ANT+.

Maybe try switching off your Bluetooth devices and connections to see if it helps.