Real-Time On Phone Display of Exercise

[SunsetRunner]

Does anyone know if it is possible to have the Fitbit app display exercise metrics on your phone so that you could look at your phone for current HR, pace and distance?

[SunsetRunner]

Hello @SunsetRunner 

I hope I understand your question properly. I think it would depend on what exercise your doing and what exact stats you want to view during the exercise. Take for example I enjoy Treadmill Interval HIITS and during my workout I have my Fitbit App open to the Today page on my iPad and I have it being held up by my treadmills screen. I can easily see my current heart rate and distance (miles) I’ve ran live on the screen as it syncs throughout my HIIT exercise. But let’s say an aerobic exercise class it would be harder to see the screen if I’m doing different types of aerobics that have constant body position changing.
So basically live data does exist because you can still see your stats and heart rate changing while doing a workout or during your daily activities. But I believe you want deep analysis during an exercise which isn’t really possible at this point. But the thought of it becoming a regular staple built into the Fitbit App would be an awesome addition to the existing app. Maybe even options to enable/disable which stats you want displayed during that live exercise season as well. 
😉 I hope this provides some clarity and answer to your question. It’s not totally possible just yet in the degree that your want. 

[SunsetRunner]

For me, it would be for biking and was hoping there was a way to have the basics of HR (from Sense smartwatch), distance, speed displayed on the phones lock screen.  In a sense, I was hoping there was a way to have the phone act as a cycling computer "head unit" during the ride since I already have the phone mounted on the handlebars to stream music.

If this hasn't been added to the feature request, I think it would be a great addition.

[SunsetRunner]

Hello @SunsetRunner 

You can capture GPS data, including a workout intensity map that shows your pace, distance, and heart-rate zones, with built-in GPS or connected GPS, depending on your device. You said you have Fitbit Sense so  yours has a built in GPS. But only activities where you cover physical distance outdoors, like a run, walk, hike, or bike ride, offer GPS tracking. This information will be displayed on your screen. (Example image below) 

Look here on how to see how it’s set up on your Fitbit Tracker: https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1874.htm

 

😃I’m hoping this gave you a possible answer and solution to your needs. Please let me know if this does indeed answer your question. 

[SunsetRunner]

Looking for something that can be displayed on the lock screen, if possible, to replace using a dedicated cycling computer to view current distance, HR, and speed.

I'm currently capturing the GPS data during rides using my Sense, which I view post ride, and it generally works well.

If I want to see my current speed, distance or HR, I have to take at least 1 hand off the handlebars to view them, which seems senseless if the data could be displayed on the lock screen of my phone that is already mounted on the handlebars.

In case Fitbit is monitoring the community threads, when riding a bicycle, it is generally best practice to keep both hands on the handlebars.  Especially for those of us that have to ride on roads and streets.

[t.parker]

@SunsetRunner you want the Fitbit app on your phone to act as an extended display for your watch turning your phone into bike computer. Sounds like pretty good idea (and you may post a feature suggestion, that wouldn't hurt) but it's very unlikely Fitbit will ever implement such thing. You just use wrong watch for your needs.

[Rufous44]

@t.parker answer should be Best Answer in my opinion.

[t.parker · Accepted solution]

@Rufous44 I encountered that problem years ago. The solution was finding the watch that could connect to external sensors (HR and all the bike sensors like cadence, and speed) and just mounting the watch onto the handlebar to see all metrics and (if the watch supports) satnav. It is a simple solution to a simple problem. The watch should provide an "always-on" mode (you don't want to have to wake it up), optionally, automatically cycle through data screens if you don't want to have to do it (ideally, for me it must support enough data fields on the single screen so I never have to switch to another screen) and have good visibility in the bright light. We are talking here about pretty much any proper sports watch manufactured within the last 5-8 years. This also works well with indoor bike trainers (I rarely bother to use a bike computer on the trainer, attaching the watch to the handlebar for 15min spin is just more time-efficient). I always say a user should pick the right tool for the job, if the tool doesn't do what you want then it's not the right tool. Fitbit's focus isn't sports tracking but rather overall health, sleep, weight loss and basic activity. We may be posting feature suggestions and voting for it and that's fine but there are already tools that meet more complex requirements.