Interacting with Alta

[ErickFitbit]

So you've got yourself an Alta and are wondering "where's the button?" Check out how to interact with Alta!

• How do I view the time on my Alta? 

You have 2 options to view the time on your Alta. 

1. You can use Quick View to wake up your Alta's screen without touching the tracker. Just turn your wrist towards you and the time will appear for a few seconds.
   
   
2. The other option is to double-tap your Alta where the band and tracker meet. This will illuminate the Alta and display the time and date (depending on the clock face that you've selected as default).

• How do I view my daily stats?

To view your daily stats just use Quick View to bring up your clock and then single tap the Alta where the band and tracker meet (as seen in image below) to toggle between your steps, distance, calories burned and Active Minutes stats.

Alother way to do this is to double tap on the Alta to bring up the clock and then single tap the Alta where the band and tracker meet to toggle between stats.

• What's the best way to tap on my Alta?

With a bit of practice, you'll find the best way to tap on your Alta. We advise aiming toward the bottom of its display, and not tapping too hard or too softly. You shouldn't have to hit it with any significant pressure, but you should feel the tap lightly on your wrist.

Make sure to give your device time to react - you shouldn't ever be tapping more than once or twice per second, and may need to pause a moment after your tap before you see the device react. If you're having trouble, try slowing down your taps.

Video below:

[trimcc]

Thanks for that! I tried it and it works better that way for me, too!

[Sophiechops]

I have had problems getting the display on my new Alta to come up, the wrist movement hardly ever works and the double tapping was very hit and miss, about one in 4 times.

Just read the forum comments and discovered there is a particular place to tap - why don't they tell you this in the set up information?

It is where the band meets the display, however in my case, if I tap just on the band rather than the display it works much more reliably.    

The wrist tilt still not worked that one out - any suggestions to get the knack of the wrist tilt to display, it is so annoying!!??

[SJSJ]

This worked for me, I can't tap it, I have to strike it quite hard!!!

[juanar]

Cant go to the link, tells me page not found.

[itshotincali]

Well I have to say - after buying my first Fitbit I was disappointed. I was about to send my Alta back but before I did I did a quick Google search and found out that nearly every buyer has this same issue. Even when I found the sweet spot on the wrist, it still seems to work only 65% of the time.

Lift fit, row fit, send it back fit. It's all fit.

[BambiEyez725]

I just got my Alta & this tapping is really working my nerves.  I find that tapping, really hard, in the middle of my screen works the best.  Which in turns has me looking like I'm beating on my arm.  I should have to tap this hard to get a response 🙂

[Bartek]

I've given up with this bottom or screen tapping procedure to see the info. Since day 1, it worked randomly almost for me so decided to tap on the side which works heaps better.

[Justjode]

I just got mine yesterday and have the same problem! Tapping like crazy before anything appears and then it zooms by everything so fast I don't end up seeing it anyway! 😞 blah

[Dugster]

I agree. Tapping on the side actually works just fine. Predictable behavior. It's a non-issue. The drawing should show this method.

[scubasnacks]

@BambiEyez725 I had the same issue and tapping hard seems to do the trick, doesn't matter where.  You post helped in my case- thanks!  

I received a Surge for Christmas and interacting with it is much more natural and subtle, I love it. My only issue it is big/bulky and overkill for wearing to work. I call it my Fatbit.  I just got this Alta for something a little more streamlined and I like it besides the reduced tap sensor sensitivity.

[Dugster]

My motives identical to yours. I have a charge which I wear for pure athletic stuff. I wear the Alta to work.

[Illi]

Relying on Internet to provide instructions is poor marketing and customer service. If fitbit can print a card with pictures, you could print instructional steps. Still doesn't sync to my s7!!

[Dugster]

I completely agree. It's as if they didn't know the best way to use it. I came very close to returning mine until I saw posts that pointed me in the right direction.

[ErickFitbit]

@smj34 @trimcc Glad to hear that you're starting to get into your groove with the Alta and it's tapping and Quick View functionality. For reference, here are the restart instructions if needed in the future.

@Sophiechops @juanar @itshotincali @BambiEyez725 @Bartek @Justjode @scubasnacks @Illi @Dugster Check out the video at the bottom of my lead-in post for this thread. Hoping the visual of using Quick View and double-tapping gestures will help you to get it responding.

@Illi The S7 is not currently listed as a supported device on this list. This may explain why you're running into issues when attempting to sync. I recommend keeping your eye on that list as that will be updated once the S7 has been tested and is fully supported.

[Illi]

It's working on s7...

[ErickFitbit]

@Illi Glad to hear it's working for you but for some other users, it's not working. It may be something on a per carrier basis as my T-Mobile Note 5 works great with my Fitbit App but I've seen others here experiencing issues, which goes back to not being listed as fully supported yet.

[Illi]

It sounds like you're guessing erik. As a moderator you should be able to send internal messages to validate and also inform fitbit of issues and solutions. Each phone operates the same with all carriers. The carrier is not the issue since no matter what carrier is used they all draw from the same app store. Fitbit provided the dongle for a reason. It may be old-school to use the dongle yet it is a way to circumvent hours of downloading and attempting to install and configure your phone.

[ErickFitbit]

@Illi All Android phones vary baseband and kernel versions from carrier to carrier, which is why some users experience success with syncing and some don't with unsupported devices. The baseband on the phone is in a sense, the firmware of the cellular radio inside your phone. 

You're right, if you're experiencing issues with syncing on your mobile device an alternative method for syncing would be to try with a computer and the wireless sync dongle. That's a great suggestion!

[gosubaru]

i have the same issues and I'm sending it back.

[joalta]

After reading a lot of these tips and tricks, I figured out with my alta to tap directly on the band itself. I was always trying to tap the bottom of the screen, then becan to tap where the display and the band come together, it didn't work. low and behold tapping directly on the band near the connection works almost everytime!