Fitbit Software Upgrades (Blaze)

[Sanchez]

So I've been a Fitbit user now for a little over 2 years. I love the products, but I'm little frustrated with the lack of updates. It seems like once the item is released, that's it, no other updates to keep the consumer happy. I love my Blaze, but 4 clock faces? How about a vibration to let me know when I've sat to much? I don't know, I guess I just expected more. Thoughts? I can't be the only person that feels a little disappointed.

[AndrewFitbit]

@Sanchez A lot more goes into firmware updates than most people think, that's why they're not released as frequently. Blaze has had two firmware updates since release, and while I don't know when the next one will be, there's always potential for new features and improvements to be included in future releases.

[Sanchez]

I understand completely

[Kikizmommy1]

I'm with you Sanchez. While I understand it's not easy to just pump out an update, I'm disappointed it's taking this long with not much comment or explanation as to why. Especially considering so many people are have issues, myself included!

[bbarrera]

The slow release schedule is disappointing, and unfortunately a common theme with my other Fitbit trackers. I own a lot of gadgets, and my day job is technical sales in the firmware industry (RTOS, Linux, Android). Completely agree firmware is difficult, see it first hand, but other companies get it done. 

At this point I'm more concerned that the Blaze isn't mature 4 months after it started shipping. Far too many people having accuracy issues. 

[Rich_Laue]

That is part of the problem, looking at this thread it looks like a lot of people with problems. In reality there are many more without these provlems. The fix requires to identify bad units, find out why, write a fix, test the fix on both affected and unaffected units. Then do more testing, making sure other problems haven't crept in. At the same time they could be adding new features. 

Disclaimer: the above is just my feelings based on what I've seen and know about updates with Fitbit travelers and phone apps. 

[bbarrera]

Looking at the number of posters in this forum, the reality is 99+% of Blaze owners don't visit this forum or vote in the Feature Request forum. And many are 'happy' and don't bother looking at accuracy. That includes everyone I personally know that has a Blaze. 

You make an assumption that "bad units" are the problem. Thats a pretty bold assumption for a product that for full operation requires a reliable Bluetooth connection to a mobile phone, and communication with Fitbit servers in the cloud. I'm inclined to believe Fitbit chose 'failover' options that impact accuracy. Why has it been widely reported that stride is used when calculating mileage on GPS walk? You reported seeing the same behavior in one thread. That doesn't sound like a bad unit, it sounds like an engineering decision.