Is the subscription required to view sleep stats?

[SunsetRunner]

Hi Fitbit,

May I just voice my disappointment with the fact that you make Sleeping Heart Rate and Restlessness a paid feature now! This is a gross business practice. What's next, I'll have to pay to track activities or access my daily heart rate logs? Fair enough that the access to extra features such as workouts is extra, but sleep tracking is standard feature of Fitbit. Outrageous. 

Moderator edit: Updated subject for clarity 

[Gainn]

While it is there.. Its not exactly easy to get to. It wouldn't have been hard to just add the sleep score and leave the average where it was.. 

But.. Without context on what the score breaks down to its pretty useless anyway. My sleep last week sucked, but I still got an 81 average.. So is that a good thing? A bad thing? A nothing?

[Arthsterorama]

Yeah this is getting stupid now. 

I paid a small fortune for a device that can do all this amazing stuff only to find out that I now have to pay a monthly subscription to use the tracker. 

Look I get what you are trying to do. Go ahead and charge for a personalized coaches and and and... But this is basic tracker functionality.... WHICH I MIGHT ADD IS THE REASON I BOUGHT THE TRACKER... 

This is pathetic... really really pathetic. 

Instead of building lasting relationships with customers... you are handing them to your competitors on a silver plate. 

[wearmiat]

Yeah, it's still extremely lame to charge for the "extra" sleep analysis.  This is a health tracker and all the health info should come with the software and hardware on the device.  This situation is akin to buying a phone and then having to pay for software updates.  Updates should be included in the purchase price for three years, not some membership fee.  I understand tech changes, and in 3-4 years it might be worth buying a new watch/tracker for improved features, but this is not that.  This is a bad model for FB and I think it'll be their deathblow.  Sure, some hardcore users will probably pay the premium, but it's certainly not going to gain or keep casual users.  I know I'm done with them, and I really liked the Versa; I didn't need a smartphone on my wrist, just wanted the data, quick messaging replies and battery life.  I wanted FB to succeed.

[KatsyKline]

SilviaFitbit, I have Narcolepsy, a sleep disorder. I just started receiving Sleep Scores. Is this score a free trial? So far, the Sleep Score appears to be meaningless. My goal is 7 hours of sleep. For 6 hours average of sleep, on different nights, I have received Sleep Scores of 63, 57, 62, and 71. For 4'39" I got a Sleep Score of 75, and for 4'16" a Sleep Score of 70. As I can barely function on 4 hours of sleep, these Scores mean nothing to me. I do not want them. If the added Sleep Score is all I will lose if I don't subscribe to Premium, I'm fine with that. Keep it. However, if without Premium I lose data I currently receive and have received for YEARS concerning my sleep, then you are perpetrating a bait and switch. I bought Fitbit for sleep tracking because of my medical disorder. I analyze the data (time I fell asleep and woke, times I woke to take medication, total time Awake, total time in Light, total time in REM, and total time in Deep) on a daily and weekly basis. I analyze it in relation to how much exercise I get per day, stress levels and other medications I take. If part of these data I have relied on for years  will now be hidden from me unless I subscribe on a monthly basis for $15, you are making my FItbit useless to me. Why should I pay for something monthly that I have received as part of my purchase? Please explain.

[MattJ71]

I don't think many people will pay for Premium.  The value is just not there.  Just look at the Fitbit stock price, from a high of $46 to $3.50 today.....  the market has spoken and Fitbit needs to adapt unless it wants to go the way of BlackBerry.

I do believe the technology is nothing special.  The hardware is decent, and has some good technology, however, it's the "back end" that has value and all the data collected over the years.

The business model is actually quite simple:

1.  Create good hardware.

2.  Optimize battery life.

3.  Provide the most advanced fitness tracking/algorithm on the market.

4.  Provide regular OS updates to add and refine features.

Fitbit needs to stay away from some of the "smartwatch" features.  Calls and notifications and music is good, but the whole "app" ecosystem that is not related to health and fitness is a distraction.  I don't need to play Tic-Tac-Toe on my Ionic.  I can use my phone for that.

Focus on what made Fitbit great.... good hardware, advanced health tracking and long battery life. 

[G-Man_505]

Eljae said "The manual posted in this section clearly states that you should still be getting the same features for free. Maybe there are just certain glitches during the rollout"

I'm sorry Eljae. Whilst the moderator has marked your comment as being the solution... you are wrong.

As the original poster pointed out, we had access to items such as "sleeping heart rate" previously, which is now hidden behind a premium pay wall. So we definitely don't have access to the same features for free. If that's what the manual says, then the manual is clearly wrong.

[SunsetRunner]

@G-Man_505 I have removed the moderator's "solution", as clearly you are correct - the same features are not available for free.

If the moderator is looking for a real solution, my suggestion would be for Fitbit to stop milking their customers for premium where it is not applicable.

[Jeanette2169]

Makes me wish I'd never purchased a Charge 3.  The price of the device should include sleep as its a oart of being "fit".  Feeling a bit ripped off. 

;o(

[SilviaFitbit]

Hey everyone!

Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback. We welcome all feedback because this helps us to improve our services and Fitbit devices.

As shared by one user, All Fitbit users will continue to have access to their time asleep, sleep schedule, sleep quality details, as well as weekly hours slept compared to their sleep schedule. Additionally, all Fitbit users with a device capable of heart-rate tracking will also see their sleep stages and sleep score. 

You can still see your weekly sleep average. To view it, tap the sleep tile in the app, swipe left on the graphs at the top until you see “Hours in Sleep Stages,” then tap the graph to see your weekly averages. Your sleep average is still available in Fitbit.com Dashboard if you don't want to see your sleep score. 

Premium members will receive a deeper analysis of how their sleep score is calculated. This deeper analysis includes visibility into sub-scores for time asleep, deep and REM sleep stages, and restoration details, which provides analysis of your sleeping heart rate and time spent tossing and turning. You can learn more about it by checking this post: Fitbit Premium Guide

If you're not seeing your sleep stages or sleep in general, let me know and I can troubleshoot this with you. 

I'll be around if you need further assistance. 

[G-Man_505]

Thanks Sylvia for replying.

So you do confirm that "sleeping heart rate", despite the fact it was available to us before, has been taken away and placed behind a pay wall. Thank you.

I think you are missing the point that most of your "casual users" have been happy to pay a premium price up front for a fully featured tracker and insights... I want to pay one price up front and move on... So as a casual user I AM NEVER going pay for an ongoing subscription to access simple sleep tracking details (sleep restlessness and sleeping heart rate)... I have no interest in any of the other coaching feature of premium.

So if you are now going to start limiting the information and features you are providing to  us casual users, you will simply lose us as casual users, because the majority of us will never commit to an ongoing subscription.

The fact that you are changing the deal after we have already purchased our devices just makes the whole matter worse.

[ph30n1x]

I have no faith in Fitbit, moderators won't admit information that was available such as "sleeping heartrate" each night is now locked to the subscription.

The other joke was the coach (ripoff of freeletics) didn't monitor the actual fitness device so would push people far beyond their limits. Also the order of activities was really bad

[Gainn]

Another reason sleep score seems pretty worthless is that a 'no details' night doesn't seem to affect the score no matter how bad it was. 

I'd just like the average sleep back on the weekly header because I'm not paying an overpriced subscription for something that doesn't appear to indicate anything useful. 

[SilviaFitbit]

Hey @G-Man_505, @ph30n1x and @Gainn. Sorry for the delayed reply. 

The sleep part of the Fitbit app has changed and some features were added. However, all Fitbit users will continue to have access to their time asleep, sleep schedule, sleep quality details, as well as weekly hours slept compared to their sleep schedule. Additionally, all Fitbit users with a device capable of heart-rate tracking will also see their sleep stages and sleep score. 

The best place to make your voice heard is our Feature Suggestion board, you can vote and comment on these ideas: Make sleep score optional and Show average weekly sleep hours again.

Catch you later! 

[G-Man_505]

Hi Sylvia,

Your last post makes me feel that you are not understanding the point of the original poster.

Suggesting to go and vote on SLEEP SCORE and AVERAGE SLEEP (which I understand is still available but very much hidden and poorly presented) does not address the OP.

The feature suggestion you should be suggesting is... "Make SLEEP RESTLESSNESS and SLEEPING HEARTRATE non-premium/free AGAIN."

[SunsetRunner]

So if the sleep heart rate information is now premium, how are you going to deal with the heart score since that supposedly takes into account your heart rate when you are asleep? If the Fitbit will not sync all the information, how is it useful to us anymore? I would love to hear the rationale of charging user to see the data their own body is producing and providing to Fitbit for whatever purpose they choose for essentially free? I'm not whining or entitled. This is just common sense.

[KMC76]

I came to Fitbit to also express my disappointment with charging to use a watch feature- and not surprised to see others have also voiced dissatisfaction. I purchased my watch already - why charge again to now use its functions. Makes no sense and will not create trust with your customers. I get charging for workouts- it’s not a “watch” function, but I bought my Fitbit because of the heart and sleeping info. Stop charging or a lose customer!

[KMC76]

@LarryFish You can speak you opinion without being disrespectful and insulting to others.  Before telling people to grow up, maybe reflect on your own behavior.

[SilviaFitbit]

Hey @G-Man_505, @SunsetRunner  and @KMC76. Thanks for providing your feedback about Fitbit Premium. 

Currently, Fitbit app will display sleep score instead of average sleep. We very much appreciate your feedback and this is why we have our Feature Suggestion board, where our users can provide feedback about features that are being implemented and this help us improving and implementing new things. 

Heart rate information is still available to all users, you should still be able to see heart rate data in your Dashboard. You can learn more about it by checking this article: How do I track my heart rate with my Fitbit device?

If you have any questions about Fitbit Premium, you can check this post: Fitbit Premium Guide. 

Let me know how it goes. 

[SunsetRunner]

As per usual, this answer is maddeningly unhelpful. What I -- and others I'm sure -- want to know is how is this "premium" heart rate and sleep thing going to affect the information that we already receive? Is it going to be skewed in any way? If we have to pay more to get access to OUR OWN BODIES' output, how can we be assured (if we're non-premium users) that the data that we're used to seeing as far as our resting heart rate and heart score will be affected by not having that premium access? It would be much more helpful if the moderators would use real-world answers and not robot answers.

[G-Man_505]

🤦🏻

I give up.