Use fitbit app with non fitbit stepcounters?

[brightsidelife]

My husband has been inquiring with his friends to see what devices they use/how they like them. He's looking at the Blaze, primarily to "friend" and compete against me and a few family members who already have fitbits.

One of his friends advised that he can join the fitbit app or Dashboard using a wide variety of step counting wearables, including the pebble watch. I cannot find any info here about third party devices ....

Does anyone know if this is true?

[PureEvil]

Hello @brightsidelife,

Well, it's a yes and no...

Yes:  A number of other trackers, like the Vivofit, will allow you to import some data from their dashboard into Fitbit.  However, in the case of the Vivofit, this is at an activity level (they import activities).  So regular stats are not imported (like steps, active minutes, etc).  Only when they're associated with an activity.  So unless you want an all-day activity called 'Walking', it doesn't make much sense.  It would really be the same as entering a manual activity with the same information through the activity page.

No: However, while the steps show up on your dashboard...  not all steps are created equal.  Fitbit only awards badges and steps in a challenge from Fitbit devices, so even if your pebble watch detected 25,000 steps, you won't get the that badge.  So he would not be able to effectively "friend" and compete against you the way he would be able to with an actual Fitbit tracker.

That said, if your phone supports this mode, you can set up your phone as a tracker.  The feature is called MobileTrack.  I believe these steps do count towards badges and challenges.  Naturally, you'll need to carry the phone in your pocket in order for it to track your steps.

[Catlover8243]

Do you know if a generic fitness tracker wiring Walmart will connect and work with the Fitbit app?

[Corr]

Hi @Catlover8243 

As @PureEvil explained, it is not possible to wire a tracker from another brand to the Fitbit app.

However you can import some (limited) data from other apps to the Fitbit app and you can export (limited) data from the Fitbit app to apps from other brands.

I don't know which brands exactly, but it works with Garmin. Again, not with all data!