Tracking Shabbos

[Noah773]

Do you manually enter your Shabbos steps? If so, how many steps do you put in for Shabbat? 

I'm always a solid 10,000 behind half the people on my non-demoninational, friends leaderboard since I don't wear my fitbit on sabbath. 

Someone suggested just manually putting in 10,000 steps or doubling Sunday but I don't really want my numbers to be to low or high. The same goes for Yom Tov, Chaggim, yuntiff, any chag and other variations on the words for "Shabbos" and "Yom Tov" stuffed into this post to make sure your seach finds this discussion. 

How do you roll on Shabbos?

[jklein59]

@Noah773

is it permitted to be worn if it isn't a watch?

the answer is YES - the "surge" however has different issues.

(tech has it's beauty)

@John1234

GE and Whirlpool don't even mention their Shabbos mode in the manual - if you call in you get the instructions on how to get it on or off (ex: hit 3 times 1&2 together)

fitbit has no feature request form (that i know of) but with a little bit of will i'm positive i can get it to the HQ for review.

the GPS for zmanim - good idea 🙂

now what about the verients of rabinu taam... 🙂

I'm a developer as well - but it may take Fitbit a long time to see the value in OS modules.

[Michael]

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@jklein59 wrote:
 

fitbit has no feature request form (that i know of) but with a little bit of will i'm positive i can get it to the HQ for review.

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@jklein59 Fitbit does have a Feature Request board, where users can post and vote on features.

I did a quick search and couldn't find that anyone has already submitted a Shabbos mode request. (I thought I had seen one before, but maybe it was just discussion about Shabbos.)

[jklein59]

@Michael

thanks

I will formulate an official feature request for the Shabbos mode (and settings/options for it)

I will consult a Rav that's competent on these issues (I'm competent as well but i'm not an acting Dayan)

any suggestions may help - I'll post the request here first - for scrutiny by you all. 

[mpless]

I'm in the same situation as you - I have a FitBit Flex and want to wear it on Shabbos as well. I asked my rabbi about it, and he told me this:

1. If the FitBit has a digital watch function (some models do, mine doesn't) then you could probably wear it 'as a watch' and the step counting is incidental.

2. Measuring is a prohibited activity on Shabbos, but since you're not the one doing the measuring (the FitBit computer does) you're probably in the clear.

3. Is it in the spirit of Shabbos to wear FitBit? This is more of a personal question, does wearing FitBit and fulfilling your step goal get in the way of enjoying Shabbos as a day of rest?

Ultimately, he didn't give me a conclusive answer as to whether I should wear it or not. But I thought about what he said, and I have some additional considerations to add:

1. Wearing FitBit as a bracelet or watch probably exempts it from carrying, like it would for other jewerly or wearables.

2. The electricity use of FitBit is probably not a violation of Shabbat, since electric watches seem to be allowed.

3. However, the lights and vibration of FitBit are problematic - in the case of the Flex, lights come on if you tap the tracker, and this could be accidentally triggered if you knock your wrist into something (I've set it off putting on my coat.) Not only does it turn on a light, but it tells you about your progress - which would put you afoul of the prohibition against measuring. IDK if covering the display so you can't see a light, even if you trigger it by accident, is sufficient to get around this. 

The vibration (idk if you model does this, Flex does) when you attain your goal is also problematic for the same reason - you both cause the FitBit to do something prohibited, and you're now aware you've met your step goal, so you've now measured that. 

I myself would dearly like to be able to wear FitBit on Shabbos. But unless it was possible to modify FitBit so it wouldn't display your progress no matter what, it might not be allowed.

[jklein59]

Thanks for your input,

Fitbit does not allow for modification or extensions to ones device -  Such as "Shabbos Mode"

Fitbit does not seem to be interested in the development of it any time soon.

So as you piont out, the answar is NO, you are not alowed to use your Fitbit flex, Fitbit charge, or Fitbit surge on shabbos, (the other ones i did not check) since IT'S ALWAYS Motion/touch Activated w/o an OFF switch.

Let's wait for an update 😞

[mpless]

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Requests/Shabbos-Mode/idi-p/1118367#M44406

I put in a request for Shabbos Mode. Maybe if it gets upvoted the dev team will consider adding it - that said, it would be quite a project to do Shabbos Mode for all the different models, and they would probably need to bring in a rabbi to certify it. 

Still, it's something I'd be really interested in seeing in the future.

[Skyerules]

As a non-practicing Jewish woman, who was also baptised (Catholic father) my humble opinion is speak w/your rabi and see what he says.  Now, if the steps are important to you, I wonder if you could put your fitbit on activity mode on a non-shabbat day and go though what you would do typically on a shabbat day. Perhaps your could look at what the fitbit tracks and you could see if it's worth it to you to log that info on Shabbat days.   Consquently, I guess you could also look at shabbat as your "cheat" day from exercise.  

[ethegr8]

There are many various complicated issues, as discussed. One issue not mentioned yet, is the fact that (correct me if I'm wrong) most Fitbits have a feature where every time you twist your wrist, the screen goes on. Unless there is some kind of Sabbath feature added that stops this from happening, since chances are high that you will cause the screen to turn on on Shabbos, I belive most Orthodox Rabbis will tell you it is forbidden to wear it.

[A_Lurker]

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@ethegr8 wrote:

There are many various complicated issues, as discussed. One issue not mentioned yet, is the fact that (correct me if I'm wrong) most Fitbits have a feature where every time you twist your wrist, the screen goes on. Unless there is some kind of Sabbath feature added that stops this from happening, since chances are high that you will cause the screen to turn on on Shabbos, I belive most Orthodox Rabbis will tell you it is forbidden to wear it.

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You can turn that off.  Although on my new Blaze I have it on, for my previous (and still in use) Charge HR I have it turned off.  I can't speak to the question overall, but thought I'd mention this.

[USAF-Larry]

The "Quick View Gesture" can be turned off, @ethegr8, which eliminates the display from comming on by a quick flick of the wrist.  I keep it turned off on my Charge HR because I find that feature totally unnecessary for me.

[FitFighter103]

From what I've learned, I've been told that a timeless religion and its Bible can apply to all generations. While the Jews may have initially received the Bible thousands of years ago, the Bible was written by an eternal G-d, and therefore isn't bound by time. The Jews also have leaders and Rabbi's to help apply the timeless laws to their perspective generations. 

I hope that answers your question... 

[Odyssey13]

Hello and welcome to the forums @FitFighter103 . The original poster was on the forums almost four years ago asking that question. He last visited here two years ago. I'm not sure he's around to respond. It would be nice if he got your response and came back to reply. Glad you're with us!

[Noah773]

That does not answer the original question but thank you for the comment.

[FitFighter103]

Thank you for taking the time to explain that... 😊 Not many would bother, and I'm still trying to figure out the system lol

[Odyssey13]

Hi @Noah773  hope all is well in your world!

@FitFighter103  this is a huge forum. Lots of great people and many areas for sharing and learning. Look at the link in my signature for a place to start. We're here if you need us!