New update coming this week! 3rd party notifications, new watch faces!

[dkboxing]

Also reminders to move! 

Article on Cnet.

The Fitbit Blaze is getting an update. Fitbit announced on Monday that its fitness smartwatch will soon receive an update that enables third-party notifications and other new features.

The Blaze, which costs $230 in the US (£179 in the UK and AU$370 in Australia), was released earlier this year. The watch can track steps, distance, calories burned, active minutes and sleep. It was also the first Fitbit that could display incoming calls, text messages and calendar alerts when connected to an iPhone orAndroid phone.

Users will soon be able to view notifications from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Gmail and other third-party apps. The update will also add five new watch faces to the Blaze, which brings the total to nine, and a new move reminder feature.

The feature was previously found in the Fitbit Alta and is included on the new Charge 2and Flex 2. Rather than a basic "stand" or "move" reminder, the Blaze will now encourage users to meet a mini-step goal of 250 steps each hour. If the goal hasn't been reached 10 minutes prior to the top of the hour, the watch will gently vibrate to remind you to get up and go.

The update will begin rolling out to Blaze owners later this week.

[KiloLima64]

Here is my problem with Fitbit in general. As good business and customer service they need to be more forthcoming with hard concrete dates about update releases and such. I would like to see Fitbit more involved in its customer base than it is. It seems like you buy their product and then you are pretty much on your own. In this day and age customer want real information not just vague and broad timelines. I personally am a little disappointed in their whole software and problem solving abilities. People want info so it would be nice if there were some soft of newsletter published that gave indications of where products where going and acknowledgement of issues that they are working on. Even Polar does that. Just saying.

[Rich_Laue]

It would be nice if fitbit had a concrete date, they don't and try not to commit to one. Unforeseen problems with parties outside of fitbit and Fitbits control can have disasterrous affects on a fitbit release. 

[ConexV7]

So I have talked to a couple customer service representatives of FitBit about this 8.3 update coming "in September" But I've gotten a wide range of answers from each one. The first one which I talked to, two days ago, the 9th, said that The update would be released sometime "Next week" I am assuming he meant the week of the 12th. That's fine right? But just a couple hours later I talked to another customer service rep to see if I could get a better answer, she just said "It'll be released sometime this month" So at this point I'm a little confused. Now yesterday I talked to one more customer service rep, about the same thing, and after a little research, she told me "The update came out on August 30th of 2016" (Which is the day that the new update features were put up on the FitBit website) She continued with "But not everyone has gotten the update yet, our team is working out on rolling the update out to everybody" So that seems fine again, right? Just seems like they're doing a little beta test for feedback before the actual release, but I made this comment to her and she told me "No this is an official release, it's just taking our engineers a little while to get the update out to everyone" SO NOW IM REALLY CONFUSED. I've read one post on this website about someone claiming to have the new update, I don't think it takes a company 11 days to roll out an update to their customers, and still hasn't reached hardly any of their customers. So I want an answer as to why I am getting so many mixed responses about this update, and if this update is already out, then why haven't half of their customers received it yet? If anyone has ANY information about this please feel free to share.

[rkvm]

Again thanks for keeping me/us updated it seems difficult to understand why they are taking so long but I guess it's just a case of wait and see, lets hope it's soon because people are becoming very frustrated waiting.

RKM

[racertempo]

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@Rich_Laue wrote:

@racertempo you might want to edit your last post, the charge has multiple faces(4), one of which displays seconds. 

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Those really are not faces , they are minor digital read out that are all black and white.  No one would really ever say they use the Charge for the nice screen or color faces......so how about I say that the Blaze is color and the Charge is not?

[racertempo]

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@James_Rochford wrote:
Why are certain people getting so angry about paying customers stating their opinion on Fitbit's promise fulfilment, or lack of. I mean come on...if you buy a double cheeseburger from MyDonalds and you only get one piece of meat don't you feel angry?
Maybe we should all just say positive things about Fitbit and not mention their shortcomings...someone pass me the Kool aid!!

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What people get angry about, myself included are people like Ginger stating that they bought the product expecting it to have something it did not have.  Many people for months even came on here complaining that it was not waterproof and wanted to return their product......or mad that the reminder to move was not there day 1 when it was never advertised as such.

Ginger is calling me a coolaid drinker when another thread someone is calling me a fitbit hater, but over 600 posts and 430+ liked votes does not make me a troll.  You came on here only to complain, and in your own post stated that you did not see an errant press release, you just expected it would have the update.  

As a result, James, the Cheeseburger reference does not fit.  What frustrates a lot of people is the analogy of "i bought a car and it did not have GPS".  Well, did you do your homework first?  Why would you expect anything to be added that is extra.   Sure, if I buy a cheeseburger I want and expect cheese.  

It is three weeks at most for pete-sake......this is why Fitbit would have been better to not provide a press statement because of the people that can read and "want it now".  They (fitbit) can't win for trying.....they are literally giving many things to people in an update that folks wanted, but people are angry it is no available now.  Like I said, if on Oct 1 it is not there them blast away, otherwise Fitbit did not do anything wrong aside from post a release that soemthing was coming this month.

[racertempo]

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@Gingerantics wrote:
Clearly @racertempo is drinking the coolade. I've been a loyal fitbit customer for YEARS, and have had multiple devices. I have greatly enjoyed the products I have used. I bought this new device because I was given the impression it would have all of these improvements. If I wanted the blaze as it is now, I would have bought it when it came out. "In September" is vague and useless. The more iOS and apple watch OS will be out in September, on the 16th. THAT is real information. I understand that you disagree with those of us who are upset, but that doesn't make how we feel any less valid than you feel about the situation. Fitbit's email about this made it update sound imminent. Clearly it was not. "End of September" is better than just "September" with a website that sounds like it's dropping in the immediate future. Clearly you're just trolling the community boards to talk smack about people. We all just want some more information, some more concrete information. Unless you have that to give us, you're just trolling for a fight.

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in September is not as concrete as Sept 16th, but it is better then they have done for 6 months months on here which is just telling people, "it is coming soon".  So they finally gave a timeframe, sorry it not specific enough for you, but expecting it to be there and being angry that you might have to wait 1 day or 19 days is just silly.

I am not trolling for a fight, i have been on here for yours and have plenty of posts and likes, you have posted in 1 thread just to complain about your false expectations.  I just tried to point out that buying something on an IOU or with an expectation not based in fact is never a good idea.  

In several posts you are taking cheap shots at the company saying they don't even believe in their products and they are going to shut down soon.  If "september" is useless, then return it and buy it in 2 days, or 15 days, when the update is out.  I said it in my last post, Fitbit got blasted on here for months for their lack of updates, now they give an update and it is not good enough.  

On Oct 1 freel free to blast away if the update is not here, otherwise just chill out and wait.  

[Gingerantics]

@racetempo I got an email from fitbit saying that two new devices would be coming out the next week (first week of September) and that the blaze now had this great new update. I went to the website to read more. Again, the fitbit WEBSITE told me this new update was available right next to a button to "order now" (as I have previously stated). I purchased because the information I had from the company itself said the update was available. For 20 minutes after I plugged in my blaze out of the box, the device updated. So, according to you, I stupidly believed that what I had been told by fitbit was accurate. I had no way of knowing, at that point, that the website had been changed. I had already ordered my new device so there was no reason for me to go to the page selling the device. Apparently that page was not changed until the first week of September and my new device arrived in August, so even if I had gone to the page, it still would have said the same thing it said when I ordered. I'm sorry if you think my being upset is unreasonable because I believed what fitbit's email and website said. I'm really sorry I didn't see this ever important press release that would somehow make my being upset more palpable to you. What I am most sorry about, however, is ever joining this "community." This has turned out to be complete and total fitbit HELL. I merely expressed my frustration at this situation and the lack of new information once everything was changed. If you will notice, I had my device for over a week before I came on these boards to see if I could find out how long the roll out process would take. Pardon me if that wasn't good enough. All I can say is that between fitbit's total lack of communication on this issue and people like you that feel the need to come in here and berate everyone you disagree with (trust me, you are one of several) has cost fitbit at least one customer. I'm sure I'm not the only one. I have never said anything about them shutting down soon, so I should read more carefully in the future. I would be HIGHLY surprised if fitbit went out of business anytime soon. What I read when I purchased said NOTHING about an IOU. The language in the email and on the site at that time said that the update was available. According to some customer service reps, it was available at that time as well. I have never had a need to post on the boards before. I have never been frustrated with this company before. I'm really sorry my internet posting habits don't meet your personal guidelines for validity. I was given my first fitbit as a gift when I first started grad school and really haven't had time for message boards and the like. I'm beginning to understand, post graduation, that there is a good reason to just stay out of them. Thanks for that.

[KiloLima64]

@Gingerantics don't let closed minded rude people keep you from posting. I also never recieved this all knowing email/newsletter/holy grail item either. I first learned about the update by accident. I am also frustrated at the total lack of and confusion of information from Fitbit. Just try to ignore those types of people. I only did a quick read of your posts and don't see anything wrong with them. The lack of a definitive date for release is very frustrating and personally I'm looking at replacing my Blaze with a new Apple Watch in the near future.

[racertempo]

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@SunsetRunner wrote:

"I don't know. It's silly and stupid, don't announce something till you can put a date on it. Plain and simple, easy, keeps people happy. "

I have a different view,  I want to know a feature is committed to by a company as soon as possible.  I think the solution is to state - 'coming soon' without the date..  or put it in big terms - Q3,2016 ..  rather than "this week" or some specific date.   But knowing features that are coming generates excitement, anticipation, etc..  hey - if  you weren't  feeling some sort of interest, you wouldn't even be in this thread.  

anyway - my 2 cetnts.  

I agree with the original point MissKLC - that posting features as part of the product (for me this was missing advertised watch faces) and then not delivering on them in the released version was a problem.  That was awhile ago though. 

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This is the best post of the thread.  People literally complain for month, rightfully so, that Fitbit is not/was not providing an update on the status of the firmware for the Blaze.  They game the update that you recommended, that it "was coming soon"; however, that lost traction and started to anger people when 5-6 months went by without anything aside from the same update each month.

Now they give an update with a fairly specific time frame, a 1 month period for release, and that angers people......so you are **ahem**ed if you do and **ahem**ed if you don't.  Had they said 3Q2016 it would have been even more frustration from people on here.

[racertempo]

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@Gingerantics wrote:
I bought my blaze with the belief that an update would be available when it arrived or within the next week or so. Now all of a sudden that's just not happening. I'm debating weather I should return it or not. There are plenty of other products that compete with fitbit that can do what this update will supposedly do. I'm upset that I put my faith in fitbit for no reason. I'm seriously questioning my loyalty to a company that clearly has no loyalty toward it's long time customers.

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Just return it then, you now know it might be available tomorrow, or Sept 30.  You don't like that timeframe which to each their own.....lots of people are happy that they FINALLY game some sort of update at all as for month it has been nothing but......"it will be soon, in the next update" followed by a month of silence.  Debate it until the cows come home, it will not change that we don't have a sepcific date.  You feel you were wronged and stated in this post that they are other products to compete that do what this update can do........so why not go buy one?  None of the products are apples to apples, all have different features depending on the price point.  If you want everything buy a Garmin Fenix for $500.

That fact that fitbit is acually updating the Blaze is a surprise and total shock to me, as I did not expect any added features.  So wait a few more days, or 2.5 weeks at most.....or return it, there is no debate to be had.  If it your mind there is currently no difference from the Charge then stick with the Charge.  There are several differences, but perhaps those are not important to you, which I get.  I am happy with nothing more then it being a tracker with interchangeable bands that be purchased for $5-20 dollars, so it looks decent and not just like a piece of rubber.  Saying it does "nothing different" from the Charge though just really shows you are angry and not looking at the products for what they are, but maybe you just meant it does nothing different that you care about.  

Your generalized frustration and escellated hatred towards this firmware release just shows you only see one side of the coin, pointing at Apple as being able to give and stick to dates.  FItbit has a history of giving vague dates at every CES, just like the Charge2 and Flex 2 are "expected to be released prior to christmas".  It is just the way they operate, not really the end of the world as they sold over 1M blazes and have the majority of the fitness tracker market at about 60-70%.  When you are the top of the market it is hard to make everyone happy with every decision, and clearly you are not happy.

[racertempo]

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@KiloLima64 wrote:

The lack of a definitive date for release is very frustrating and personally I'm looking at replacing my Blaze with a new Apple Watch in the near future.

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But there is a timeframe they gave, just not as definitive as many would like, while other have been happy with the date provided.  Enjoy daily charging of your future Apple Watch.

[MissKLC]

I guess what I was trying to say, is that I'm fine, and super happy when I hear that a company is working on an update. I can hold out and wait a long time for that. I like knowing they've listened and them letting me know they are working on it.

I don't like a company emailing me saying "New Updated Blaze" instead of "update for Blaze in the works", The website advertising it as having these new updated features, not that they are coming. On top of all that, the website then being editted and the update release becoming more and more vague. 

I receive emails all the time from companies that say "oops we goofed" for the most trivial of things. But rather than Fitbit admitting that they may have jumped the gun and sent out an ad campaign that implies the update was already available and tricked customers into purchasing the device at the time (i'm not saying intentionally, but when you advertise a product as having features that it doesn't have yet...), they just delete and go silent. This doesn't make  me feel confident in the device I've invested in. 

I'd appreciate a more transparent company. Less full ad campaigns, and more little emails or forum posts letting us know what's in the works, letting us know what they are hoping to achieve, I'll feel more supportive of when they run into trouble or releases get delayed because I feel like they care. 

We needed an email saying these features are being worked on not an email saying "new blaze update!"

I for one am beyond happy in the idea of their announcement, these are updates that I'm so glad they're doing, and I never thought they would! I just was dissapointed and confused by the way they chose to do it, and completely understand how that false advertisement (while short lived was still long enough for people to buy during) could upset people who purchased it based on how it was advertised.

[Zootje10]

Hi. I'm new to this community and got a question about the new update.

I live in the Netherlands and just read about die new update, I've got the first Blaze edition (bought 26/03/2016). Will the new update be available for this Blaze as well or only for the new edition? And when will it be available in the Netherlands? I could'nt get the update today, just tried it....?

Hope to see a reaction soon 🙂

[MikeF]

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@Gingerantics wrote:
. FitStar is only a plus if you're willing to put out an additional fee. 

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No, the Blaze Fitstar function is included with the Blaze. No extra fee required.

[mcrmama]

It will be available for all the Blazes. Fit has said September, not sure if it will roll out everywhere in that time frame or if the first wave will be by then. Will be fun to see the new features on century arrive.

[MikeF]

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@Zootje10 wrote:

Hi. I'm new to this community and got a question about the new update.

I live in the Netherlands and just read about die new update, I've got the first Blaze edition (bought 26/03/2016). Will the new update be available for this Blaze as well or only for the new edition? And when will it be available in the Netherlands? I could'nt get the update today, just tried it....?

Hope to see a reaction soon 🙂

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Available for all on release 🙂

[James_Rochford]

Fitbit has made huge profits from the Blaze so when they slip on their customer service and make big news of an update that isn't available, in order to sell more units, I think that they should be held to account by their customers. Criticism is healthy and should be applauded...unless this community is simply a pro Fitbit mouthpiece for Fitbit fanatics and then what's the point asking for our opinions?
I've always said I like my Blaze and Fitbit have done good things. However, I'm not here to advertise Fitbit and won't be told nor to voice my opinion on the poorer aspects of Fitbit's service...Sorry for not ignoring shortcomings, I don't work for Fitbit...

[James_Rochford]

I'm sure those of us tht live outside the US will have to wait even longer for the alleged roll out of the update...not that Fitbit will keep anyone informed.

[Zootje10]

Thanks for your quick response! Great to hear it is for all editions, looking forward to the update!! 👌