Ionic watch face is blank when not lit up - is there a way to configure the clock to be 'always on'?

[rbelusko]

I am seeing that the watch face turns off completely when it's idle. This is great, but I like at least the clock to be there. I have to move my wrist to trigger movement to get it to turn back on. This is highly annoying and I can't believe I'm the only person who is affected by this...

The Surge has similar behavior, except the the clock was always on (back-lit in gray, like the Amazon Kindle). Is there a way to do this on the Ionic?

Thanks

Bob

[N8teGee]

Unfortunately the Ionic doesn't have an always-on display in normal use. You can however set an always-on display during workouts, but this will be to the cost of battery life. 

[dannyb2100]

Hey,

Not as far as I know, but the "flick to wake" and "tap to wake" are available. 
But you're always welcome to add a feature request since I couldn't find one for it! 

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Suggestions/idb-p/features

[rbelusko]

Thanks for the information.

I think I'll do a feature request.

Honestly, having a blank display (without at least a clock) makes the watch useless when it's not lit up.

Unless my expectations of the device are wrong? I feel I shouldn't have to move my arm to trigger the clock.

Example (sitting down somewhere with my arm at rest and glancing over at the watch to check the time).

-Bob

[MatthewFitbit]

@rbelusko A slight rotation of your wrist towards you should illuminate the display. It can take a bit of practice to get the technique down, but this will let you glance at the watch display any time you like.

[rbelusko]

Yeah, I can probably get used to that - not my preference but it works...

Do you guys all think they would not be willing to add this as a feature? Would it be a waste of my time submitting it?

[N8teGee]

Personally I don't see it being implemented, the battery life would be horrendous. 

[rbelusko]

I think I might not correctly be explaining what I'm asking for...

The surge (what I used previously to this) always had the clock on, but the screen wasn't 'lit up'. The clock was in gray, just like it would appear on an Amazon Kindle or a classic digital watch/clock... you couldn't see it in the dark unless you moved (or tapped) the watch to get it to light up. This didn't kill the Surge battery. It's this, that I am asking for.

I totally get that having the display 'always on' would kill the battery, ha!

[SunsetRunner]

Hi @rbelusko

I don't think this is possible as the Ionic's screen is OLED where as the Surge was LCD.

In an LCD screen there is a layer that makes up what is displayed and there is a backlight behind. While not in use the LCD is still active on the Surge but the backlight is off.

In an OLED screen each pixel actually emits its own light, there is no separate backlight. This means the display can either be on or off but unfortunately nothing in between. It does make a very easy to read screen though!!

[N8teGee]

Actually the Ionic also uses an LCD screen, as taken from the fitbit spec page.

Display

• Touchscreen
• Colour LCD

They just use different variations of the technology. I believe the Ionic uses backlit wheres the surge uses reflective. The Ionic screen uses LCD tech similar to that of an iPhone. 

[SunsetRunner]

Oh! I found varying info yesterday while looking for this information!

The US Ionic page does say LCD though! I stand corrected!

[DonnaNP]

• Swipe left to scroll through the apps installed on your watch.  Then, set Screen Wake to auto.  That worked so that the watch would turn on when I turned my wrist. 

[duker2000]

How do you get the "flick to wake" or "tap to wake" feature?  I've been trying to rotate my wrist to wake it, but that hasn't worked most of the time.

[Jeff2017]

As said above swipe left from the main screen and then you will see Screen Wake. Set it to Auto

[rbelusko · Accepted solution]

As you said, it takes some getting used to - I'm still getting used to it : )

It seems that the 'wrist flick' may not be as sensitive as it should - hoping that could be fixed in a future firmware update.

Unrelated, I have not gotten music transfer to work at all yet...I'm trying to use personal music rather than Pandora but having WIFI connectivity problems. I'll search for related threads.

[Sharon40]

To Bobby: I came from a surge to ionic. I loved the surge clock interface an it begin on all the time. The ionic is taking me some to get use to. I have finally got my ionic setup after 7 days i am happy but still waiting on a few up dates. How do i shut down my ionic? I did everything not shutting down but does have great battery life. I Love 300 hundred song for it but don't know how to do that yet. Well my daughter of all things 11 going on 12 hooked me on the surge an now i am a ionic user.

Ps. I have badges love getting them but have No friends to push me...lol Iove my shirt my daughter got me stay fit never quite.

[Sharon40]

How do you turn off ionic ? Has great battery life been trying all day to turn it off. I have been working with it for 7 days an it updated today but still has updates to go. I would love to see the clock interface all the time to see the time but will take time to learn an use even the music i am having trouble with... How do you get Fitbit ionic friends?

[Sharon40]

What hooked me on the ionic was music you could download on to it for workouts an running.

Ps. I gave a family member my surge i had like new only used 8 mo an she is hooked an loves it.

[DonnaNP]

On main clock screen, do a swipe from left to right, then click on the feature for Screen Wake

[dschmidt918]

I’ve had the Iconic for about a month and have problems getting the screen to activate many times.  I can turn my wrist the same way 10 times over say 20 minutes and it’s about 50/50 on whether the display shows or not.  Any ideas?  The same also goes with the double tap of the screen.  

Thanks for for any ideas,