Charge 6 - Fitbit recently changed Sleep Algorithm

[whollis]

After several weeks of nonsensical results, I got confirmation that they quietly changed the algorithm to add awake along with restless = “New Awake” results dramatically increase and my sleep scores are now in the 60s & 70s.  Jan - May was an average in the low 80s.  A few nights ago it had a solid block of 4 hours awake.  I think I’d know if I were awake that long.

If like me angry over the **ahem**ic change, send feedback and call tech support so they are bombarded with complaints.  Wonder if they consulted with sleep experts and scientists for validation but so far no comment from an escalation supervisor.

Engineering didn’t even communicate the change to tech support & the supervisory teams!  My supervisor agreed with me it makes no sense.  AI will validate being restless is different from awake so it’s now providing a fake awake calculation.

it should be rolled back to mid June before they sneakily made the change to destroy your sleep scores to consistently poor or fair.  

How do others feel?  Did you notice a major different/degradation?  Be vocal if you support me in demanding it return to the original algorithm.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[raleighfit]

I'm getting 5 hours awake when I only awake a few minutes 

[CJW88]

Here’s another gem to add to the list of complaints. I’ve been sick since the day after Christmas so not getting my normal steps/activity. These were the mixed messages I got today.  The first message says I’ve been overdoing it, the second says just the opposite.

 

 

[Mczech]

Mine no longer shows any data.  All I have is bed time and wake up.  No score or graph

[khknecht]

It's terrible! I hate their changes!

[Ali123456]

I finally got this to work again today! Couldn't believe it when it showed me sleep stages when I added in the sleep it missed. Don't know if anything else is better

[Ali123456]

This is working for me since yesterday 

[slav50]

last night I did not wear the band, and yet it recorded 3h of sleep with -8C body temperature fluctuation. the new algorytm is great!

[Seltzinator]

It may be an annoying change, but your fitbit does not affect your sleep quality, it only measures it. If your sleep has changed, it is not the result of the algorithm. Probably your sleep is the same. 

[SleepHead73]

I voted with my feet and just canceled my FB Premium Finally had enough of Googles arrogance, opaqueness, and capricious (and non-sensical) changes.

[Treynolds57]

I noticed this on both my Inspire 3 and new Charge 6. I thought I’d made some mistake and spent hours trying various resets, etc. I now no longer get good sleep graphs. Sleep data is the PRIMARY reason I got FitBit devices. I’m so disappointed that Harry couldn’t leave a good thing alone and screwed it up.

[Treynolds57]

Inspire 3 and Charge 6. Neither now logs sleeps as before. New numbers are USELESS.

[Treynolds57]

Alternative?

[Treynolds57]

4.60 didn’t fix the issue either…

[Treynolds57]

I had the Inspire 3. Went wonky after the firmware update. Bought a Charge 6 thinking it would fix the problem; it didn’t: same problem with the new device. I’m angry.

[collettchris]

I agree, it’s just changed on me and is far less informative- no sleep score at all and no record of deep sleep which for health reasons I was monitoring.

Time to change to some other system perhaps.5

[JoleneStewart]

I agree; what you describe has been a big disappointment buying this fitbit, because sleep tracking is what is most relevant to me. The results from fitbit are so different from Sleep as Android, in this specific way, that I don't know if I can trust any of it.

There is also a big difference in how much deep sleep I am getting. SasA communicates a high rate, but my fitbit tells me that I am getting almost none.

I have done all the things that fitbit and everyone else online say to do to fix the sensor, but nothing has worked.

Why can't fitbit process an update to fix the issue?

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What the poster describes, and tech support as quoted here, makes clear sense to me. I do not understand why you are struggling with the information.

This is exactly what I see happening with my sleep tracking. But why the update? 

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Hear, hear. The reading needs to be accurate, period. Different is, if different means less coherent, less scientifically precise, a problem.

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Inspire 3.

I have sleep apnea. I need the correct read on whether I am "awake" or "restless". Also; my device does not track my sleep automatically. It'll say that I slept 2.5 hours over an 8 hrs period. So I change the start end time to reflect what Sleep as Android reports, and suddenly fitbit increases my sleep time to 4.37 hrs sleep - still way less than makes sense, and less than Sleep as Android. Whose read does appear to make more sense than the fitbit, but can't be really. 

The combination should be really useful, for snoring, HRV, movement, and breathing all in sync for the most precisely accurate read possible, but I feel like I know less about my sleep patterns than I did to begin with.