The redesigned Android Fitbit app is rolling out!

[LizzyFitbit]

Hello everyone!

I would like to announce that the redesigned Fitbit app starts rolling out today! This new app will help you reach your goals, and bring the health and wellness information right on hand.

Check out our latest blog for how to get the most out of the new app. 

Note: Please be patient if you don't see the update right away, as it will take some time to roll out completely.

Happy stepping!

[waynecz]

@TedMittelstaedt  - The new map feature I originally got with the first update but all street names, location names, and detail on the map was gone.  It literally looked like a kindergarten sketch of a map and the map walking location drawing was a bunch of squiggly lines that also looked like a kindergartner sketch . The second time my app updated the map feature completely disappeared and I have not had a map drawing since.  But it really doesn't matter too much as the new map drawing was essentially useless anyhow.  You would think that since they own Google Maps this would have been an easy thing for them to do correctly in the app, but apparently not.   

[SunsetRunner]

I can't comment on the new vs older apps, I've only just been using Fitbit for the last couple of weeks since buying a Pixel Watch 2. Prior to this I've been a long time user of Samsung Galaxy and Samsung Health.

I thought I would chime in and say wow, I genuinely find navigating this app hard compared to Samsung Health and I'm seriously scratching my head at the glaring omissions. It really begs the question if people at Fitbit use their products because if they did, there's no way they would be happy putting out this calibre of app.

So I've just got back into running, and as a result I'm starting at 5km and working my distance back up. I've just completed my second run at 5km and checked the Android app to see how much time I've shaved off. Amazingly, Fitbit only think minutes count - shaving 30 seconds off a 5k can be quite a bit, why on earth would you only show minutes?!

Also on Samsung Health, I could filter all my exercises so I could just look at runs (hides all the auto tracked walks), which was nice to see how my pace was progressing over time. I'm 90% confident I could compare two runs side by side too, no such feature on Fitbit.

I love the lightweight Pixel 2 watch but wow is Fitbit disappointing.

[TrGibson]

Yep. Same here. 4 times now.

It used to be very user friendly and really useful. I'd say be glad you
don't have that disappointment on top of the general uselessness of it now.

[SunsetRunner]

This is what I mean by the minutes. The watch shows the seconds, but the app doesn't.

Also just noticed how poor the data layout is vs Samsung Health where you could select different series to map onto a line chart (elevation, heart rate, pace, cadence). Fitbit just shows heart rate.

 

[alice44]

I was very much looking forward to a chance to buy a Charge6. Because of the new app I have given that idea a pass.

I liked the old map, with marked streets,  with an obvious visible step count. The graphs were comprehensible.

[Kenfibithelp]

Where is the remaining battery power %

[waynecz]

@Lilbiddy  @Victamon  

Updated time frame 11/6/23

We do not get our emails deleted, well at least I don't as I am logged in thru Duck Duck Go and Outlook.  So it's now been 7 weeks and counting since the debacle of the new app and three weeks and counting since Fitbit said they would fix about five issues with the app.  Reading thru the comments there are more than five issues, and time keeps ticking, as expected,  with no new app update.  We also don't need an IT tech guy telling us how difficult it is to write code and get it approved by Apple and Android to get into the app stores.  Everyone has difficult jobs they do, but in business you are under time constraints.  More and more articles have come out, almost all the same article as Fitbit probably sent them information to write, about "they hear the customers" and are going to make changes "soon".  When is "soon"?   

Here are the issues Fitbit/Google says they are going to fix or bring back according to their Blog Post:

1. Battery Percentage
2. Step Streaks (and add to Android that never had this feature)
3.  Celebrations for Step Goals 
4. Making the Today screen functional again with less wasted space
5. Customizable again instead of groupings according to how Google thought they should be grouped.

Here are some of the other issues they are not yet addressing or acknowledging as problems:

1. Battery power drain on smartwatch devices.
2. Battery Power drain on phones, both Android and Apple.
3. Sync issues with many different types of their smartwatch devices.
4. Disabling of numerous devices (seems to mostly be Charge 4 and Charge 5 devices that I have read)
5. Colors for enabling better sight for color blind people.
6. Colors and functionality for disabled people.
7. Peak Heart Rates during exercise being summarized as before.
8. Maps for those who no longer get them and actual maps with street names again rather than the kids scribble that came out with the app update. 
9. Exercises timed by seconds not minutes
10. Hourly activity telling you if your step count during the hour instead of just the last ten minutes of the hour if you made the 250 threshold.
11. Accuracy of steps, distance, zone minutes, heart rates: all of these reported as not accurate by numerous users across different devices.
12. Food not being processed in correct time periods ie food recorded on "today" ,often some of it shows up on "tomorrow". 
13. Food Calories left being displayed as before with how many calories are left per your weight loss goals. e.g I am over budget today and show 0 calories in, 0 calories out on the app - How am I overbudget?
14. Macro Nutrients not being recorded percentage wise correctly if you add up the grams and then divide each by the total the percentages are wrong.
15. Problems syncing with other Fitness Apps that could sync previously like Strava being reported and others.
16. Swim laps are no longer being counted as they were previously is also being reported multiple times. 

[thenewapps]

I have linked my account to google and set the phone to not auto update anything - for sometime now when there are updates available there is a message I can just delete and it stays gone until there is a new update, I can also click on the message and just select those I want to update or there is the never to be used "update all" option - I got caught out once by a downgrade (update) before I changed the phone settings

[Eddavis]

Yes!! I've loved my fitbit but since this app update I'm very disgruntled. Why fix a perfectly good app that was so much more user friendly! Ugh!

[Talgowan]

I want to know where the battery percentage is, too.

[JWF.]

Holy cow, it's ugly.  

[LarryH123]

The battery level indicator was taken off in the new app. The percentage charge indicator is needed and needs to be put back. Please listen to your customer base and correct the issue in the new app.

[Mac01383]

Absolutely Dreadful,   I actually cannot believe that this Update passed Focus Groups and was Signed-Off by Management.  It is Unbelievably bad, totally uninspiring, bland, cheap looking. it looks like it was a High School Project, not something from a World Leading High Tech Company......... Honestly. !!!!! 

Please Roll this back and give us back our Excellent App.  To be honest it was actually the App that made me choose to buy the Fit Bit watch, not the other way round.

The Colour Segments for exercising have gone from a visually pleasing and easily understandable to different shades of baby diarrhoea.... Yuk !!       

I am just shaking my head everyday, I simply cannot believe how someone thought this was an improvement.   

Total Disaster !!!!!!!!!!

[Bear28]

Absolutely hate the new app design, sorry. Can we get the old version back or are we just stuck with this? 

[TrGibson]

Stuck

[FiCat]

I find it interesting that you bought a Google Pixel watch but use the Fitbit app. Does that mean that this is the only app available to Google fitness tracker users also? If so, run everybody, run from all things related to Google fitness tracking!

[TrGibson]

Google Fit sucks worse than the new update. Unfortunately I think they will
merge them in favor  ty Google.

Moderator edit: word choice.

[RunKatana]

Great post!
Fitbit please reply numbers by numbers !
These are the issues. What are you're going to do about it ?

[Dmicbkt25]

Adding on here: I can't record partial miles when I log my treadmill steps. Walk for 1.5 miles? Too bad. Have to record 1 mile or 2. 

It would be easier if the app did a better job of recording my steps but it seems to just turn off if I walk in place.

It also doesn't show my last recorded weight. It shows my lowest record weight. I had a random low day a week or so ago and then I gained a lb or two over the weekend. It just keeps showing the weight from last week not what I weigh now. It's really annoying. I just want to see my accurate weight today.

Not recording my exercise accurately,  not recording my weight accurately. What is the app good for at this point?

[Lilbiddy]

@LizzyFitbit Would you care to explain why and how the roll out of this version of the app is apparently able to override the block on auto updates? My husband did not authorise the update on his phone, yet there it is.

It's bad enough that we are not given a choice of which version we prefer to use but forcing an update past our personal controls and preferences is taking the biscuit.