No new apps anytime soon. :(

[KarenLeah]

I just finished chatting with support and now they can not confirm when new apps will be arriving or what the apps will be.

 The rep said late winter to early spring hopefully. 

Wondering if if I want to wait that long or return the ionic? How are others feeling about this? I thought apps would be here before Thanksgiving.  😕 

I am worried Fitbit will replace the Ionic by then and never give good support for it. So I would have purchased this device for nothing. 

[NellyG]

Some new apps would be nice, but I love my Ionic as a fitness tracker anyway! I really doubt they will be replacingnthe Ionic any time soon! They are more likely to upgrade some of the other (lesser) trackers next I would think. But thats a guess

[KarenLeah]

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@NellyG wrote:

Some new apps would be nice, but I love my Ionic as a fitness tracker anyway

It really is a fabulous fitness tracker! I keeping thinking about returning it and getting the Garmin Forerunner 235 but the screen on the Ionic is so much nicer! I’m just trying to justify the price. 

[WavyDavey]

@KarenLeah,

What app are you specifically looking for?

[soguilk]

That’s such horrible news. Thank you for actually confirming my suspicion. I have been digging for questions for days now  about the state of ionic and they have been going around my questions. So early adopters were used as beta testers for a product that was marketed as a smartwatch that never ready to be released on oct 1st.

[billdehaan]

I think that Fitbit is between a rock and a hard place here, unfortunately.

The hardware for the Ionic is mature, but the operating system and software is not. In a perfect world, they would spend another six months testing and improving that before releasing it.

The problem is that the market, and competition, don't allow them to do that. If they waited another six months to release it, they'd miss the Christmas season, and there's a good chance that Fitbit wouldn't survive to release it in 2018. Keep in mind that people were originally expecting Fitbit to release its' smartwatch in the spring or early summer of 2017.

So, it's out now. The hardware, from all accounts is solid, but the software isn't. Fortunately, software can be updated by OTA updates.

The OS and app situation will get better, but I expect realistically that it will take 6-9 months. In all honesty, I expect that it really won't be a solid system until the Ionic 2 (or whatever the next generation FitbitOS device will be called) is ready, and I don't expect that until late next year or 2019.

As always, when buying bleeding edge tech, make your decision on whether to get it based on what it does at the time of purchase, not on promises of what it might do in the future.

[soguilk]

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@billdehaan wrote:

So, it's out now. The hardware, from all accounts is solid, but the software isn't. Fortunately, software can be updated by OTA updates.

The OS and app situation will get better, but I expect realistically that it will take 6-9 months. In all honesty, I expect that it really won't be a solid system until the Ionic 2 (or whatever the next generation FitbitOS device will be called) is ready, and I don't expect that until late next year or 2019.

As always, when buying bleeding edge tech, make your decision on whether to get it based on what it does at the time of purchase, not on promises of what it might do in the future.

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That's the mistake i made :(. I didn't realize that all the bug fix, software update would take longer than this. As a normal consumer with no background in app development we don't know these things. several people have already ask me about the ionic. Frankly I end up just telling them how much its lacking compared to other smartwatches.

[Kurto2021]

What watch offers more?  Multi platform, music, battery life, accurate. The only watch i have had to come close was the MotoActv.  TomTom, Apple, Polar, Moto360, all have issues or missing features. Garmin is solid but no music.  Android wear has battery issues, Apple series 2 is battery and iPhone only, MotoActv was awesome but they didn't build on it.

I am gonna ride this a while as it is really close to being great

[zennode]

I too am optimistic.  But Fitbit needs to step up their game soon.

[DramaQueenDiva]

The good news with the lack of apps available now is that it gives users a chance to get more familiar with how the watch works and really get the basics down before new apps roll out.

[EvKo]

Fitbit is focused of fitness and health. The Ionic is the ultimate smartwatch/fitness-tracker with these goals. I have needed to restart it once or twice in the last three weeks when it did not sync. I also had to contact support for one small issue. However, complaining for the lack of apps (that ultimately will be there - does anybody remember how long it took the iphone to start having a regular flow of apps and an app store), is really missing the point of using the fitbit properly and enjoying its benefits. I really think that those of us who are more concerned about  the apps than using the Ionic to improve their health and fitness, should consider switching to Apple or Garmin. My two cents...

Happy fitbiting!

[SunsetRunner]

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@DramaQueenDiva wrote:

The good news with the lack of apps available now is that it gives users a chance to get more familiar with how the watch works and really get the basics down before new apps roll out.

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Lol, must remember to tell that to the next iWatch user I see 

[WavyDavey]

Some of it is a catch-22. The final device would have to be released before app development can really  get rolling, especially if the OS is still being tweaked. And the device needs apps to maximize its sales. Release now, or wait, it's a choice. And I'd suggest many many tech companies make the choice to release as early as possible.

When I think of almost every piece of sophisticated technology, it has had a bumpy liftoff.  Look at Windows. Microsoft is HUGE-- and Windows 95 had an A,B, and C version before it would run right. Windows 98 needed all kinds of fixes and another edition, and let's not bring up Windows ME... As I recall, the fixes for these operating systems took many months. And Apple has had some spectacular falls as well out of the gate, as well as HP, Dell, etc. Most get this smoothed out, but it takes some time.

If we buy technology products the month they come out, we're doing the bleeding edge thing, and expectations should follow that. If we don't realize we're on the bleeding edge--then ouch!

We buy products from Microsoft and Apple that aren't fully realized, and still claim loyalty. Are we as forgiving with Fitbit?

[datalore]

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@KarenLeah wrote:

I just finished chatting with support and now they can not confirm when new apps will be arriving or what the apps will be.

 The rep said late winter to early spring hopefully. 

Wondering if if I want to wait that long or return the ionic? How are others feeling about this? I thought apps would be here before Thanksgiving.  😕 

I am worried Fitbit will replace the Ionic by then and never give good support for it. So I would have purchased this device for nothing. 

---

The ionic is fitbit's Hail Mary. The company isn't profitable and if this doesn't work who knows if they can survive. They were in a tough spot, if they waited until Ionic was ready and missed this holiday season, they may not have survived as a company. They will back this watch to the fullest; they have no choice. There is no doubt they're having software issues, but I'm confident they'll get those worked out. Another Catch-22 for them is the more the watch sells the more developers will create software, so they had to release a buggy product and hope they could stay on top of it enough to move units. My plan was always to wait until Black Friday when I'm betting they'll go for $250.00. If Ionic meets your needs right now then get it, if it doesn't then I'd wait. 

[minigno]

I would say that given supports general knowledge of product release (including the ionic, as some of you remember from patrolling this board), I would take their knowledge of the app store release with a grain of salt.  Chances are it was the support person's best guess with no info.

With that said, I think I do remember the app store coming late 2017/early 2018.  Not that far off either way.

[KarenLeah]

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@WavyDavey wrote:

@KarenLeah,

What app are you specifically looking for?

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I would love something I could track my hydration intake on! It doesn’t even have to talk to the Fitbit app because at the end of the day I could just look at my Ionic and enter in the amount I drank into the Fitbit app. I just don’t like having to take out my phone to record fluid intake. 

Also more clock faces faces to choose from would be really nice. 

[KarenLeah]

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@billdehaan wrote:

  I expect that it really won't be a solid system until the Ionic 2 (or whatever the next generation FitbitOS device will be called) is ready, and I don't expect that until late next year or 2019.

As always, when buying bleeding edge tech, make your decision on whether to get it based on what it does at the time of purchase, not on promises of what it might do in the future.

---

This is why I was thinking about returning my ionic. I’m concerned that instead of providing updates and support for this device, they will just release a NEW one and those of us that bought this one will be stuck. 

[KarenLeah]

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@WavyDavey wrote:

We buy products from Microsoft and Apple that aren't fully realized, and still claim loyalty. Are we as forgiving with Fitbit?


Don’t get me wrong, I love fitbit! Truly! I am just concerned because they are always coming out with a new device and then don’t support the older ones. I loved my Blaze until I smacked it and broke the screen (I had insurance on it thank goodness LOL!) When I went to go buy a new Blaze I saw it was no longer carried at the store I went to, but I did see the New Ionic. So Iconic came home with me. I was sad the Blaze was gone, however very excited to see a new device! 

It it just seems Fitbit is always making new devices and then not supporting the previous ones. That’s technology I guess. 

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[WavyDavey]

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@KarenLeah wrote:

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@WavyDavey wrote:

@KarenLeah,

What app are you specifically looking for?

---

I would love something I could track my hydration intake on! It doesn’t even have to talk to the Fitbit app because at the end of the day I could just look at my Ionic and enter in the amount I drank into the Fitbit app. I just don’t like having to take out my phone to record fluid intake. 

Also more clock faces faces to choose from would be really nice. 

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I know hydration tracking has been requested. Add your vote, so Fitbit knows there's interest in it..

The nice thing about the Ionic is a whole lot more people are going to be developing apps, so there should be a lot more choices than waiting for Fitbit developers.

As far as the Ionic becoming obsolete, I don't really see that happening. If we look at new features that came out with newer trackers, such as Charge 2's Relax, we later often see that feature added to other trackers like Blaze, Surge, etc. So when the hardware allows it, they can add it later.

Clock faces will probably be the very first thing coming. I know one of the reviewers of the Ionic made his own already, so it can happen.

[KarenLeah]

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@datalore wrote:

My plan was always to wait until Black Friday when I'm betting they'll go for $250.00. If Ionic meets your needs right now then get it, if it doesn't then I'd wait. 

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Good thought! 

I was able to purchase my ionic for $269.00 and no sales tax. I did buy a 2 year replacement plan for it (I have MS and being clumsy is a given LOL!) so I feel like at least I didn’t plan full price. (Was able to get tax free by buying it on a military base, hubby is retired Navy.)