Feedback about Fitbit app and Inspire HR

[davidgiga1993]

It's a long time since my last post, just to recap I got my first Fitbit about 5 years ago. At that time I had issues getting it to sync with any device, let it be my (at that time supported) phone, via usb dongle or anything else.

It was frustrating and a lot of other people had the same issues. At the end I just stopped syncing data all together. After 2 years the wrist band broke and since there was no way to replace it I just never got in contact with Fitbit again... Until recently when I won a Fitbit inspire HR.

Naively assuming Fitbit did their homework in the meantime I installed the app again and setup the device. Which already took about 40min until the thing even tried to synchronize.

I also discovered a couple of firmware bugs which are also happening to other users (screen not changing anymore, screen not turning on anymore until a restart). Fitbit reaction? "Did you try to restart the device?" YES! But that is no solution to the issue. No I don't want to restart my phone and fitbit every day/week to get it to do the thing that is advertised.

So since Fitbit reaction is always the same I did some more in depth debugging and it seems like the sync issue is in most of the cases for me caused by the fitbit not responding to bluetooth request. There is a chance that the device gets into a state where is simply is not responding anymore. Aka an issue with the firmware.

If I restart the device daily the device replies as expected (sync still not working sometimes). But then again this is no solution.

On top of that there was an update for the Fitbit app - great I thought - let's look at the changelog: "Bug fixes and performance improvements". Well that's generic. You could've as well written "we did something, have fun guessing what". So I look at the changelogs of the last years and they are nearly all the same! What the hell does your release management do? "Better tell the customer not what we fix or otherwise they realize that we have no clue"

Back to the app update, it installed and was stuck at "updating database". Since the last 2h, with a fast wifi connection. I know a solution is to clear the cache of the app and reset everything but wtf? You can't be serious expecting a user to do all that stuff because you've messed up to show a proper error message, or proper loading dialog, or anything that provides more feedback than a endless loading animation! Same goes for the sync btw, just show a proper error so a user knows what the issue is, not that stupid "oh I'll just do nothing, maybe the user doesn't notice something's broken". And that's exactly why there are so many rage posts about sync.

People don't want generic answers, they want to be understood with their issue and know that their issue is important enough to be acknowledged as such.

Moderator edit: Subject for clarity 

[RicardoFitbit]

Hi @davidgiga1993, it's nice to see you again participating here in the Community Forums, welcome back!

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts and personal experience with your Fitbit device, I understand your situation and how frustrating this matter can be for you. I'd like to let you know that we are always striving to improve the Fitbit experience with our products and services, therefore, the feedback that's shared here in the Community Forums is always appreciated and really helpful for us to evaluate our procedures and make sure that we are delivering what our users want and need.

Since you already received assistance from our Customer Support team, I suggest you to contact them back if you require further assistance or if you have any additional questions about the outcome of your case.

Let me know if you have any additional questions, I'll be around.