Always on display on the Iconic

[Scottybonner]

The whole reason I have a Surge right now and not a Blaze is because the Surge has a (sort-of) always-on watch face. Pushing a button or wrist flicking is problematic when carrying stuff or when taking a quick glance. Please make this option configurable, so we can choose to take a big hit on battery life in order to get the always-on display option we need.  Thanks.

Update 09/13/2017: Here is the link to the feature request specific to the Ionic - https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Suggestions/Always-on-display-on-the-Iconic/idi-p/2181208 

[kathytn]

Once again. It is not an option - for any reason.

--
Kathleen Smith
kathleensmith138@gmail.com

[Julia_G]

@Jorkal and @kathytn, it seems that it is only available while "exercising", so you will find it under exercise settings.  Click on your "Exercise" app and in the top left of the screen you will see a little gear icon.  Click on that and scroll down to the "always on" screen.

[Brent10]

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@Crusin wrote:

I previously owned a Basis Peak - a fitness watch which offered many of the features of the Ionic. The display was on continuously to display the time - but when I wanted to monitor my heart rate or workout progress, I would have to press several buttons. I was one of the many users who strongly urged Basis to allow for a continuous display of heart rate and workout progress. Basis listened to its users and added this feature. Unfortunately, due to a technical glitch with the heart rate sensor, all the watches were recalled.

Since then, I have been looking for a wearable with the right mix of fitness monitoring, smartwatch features, quality and pleasing design to peak my interest - but none of the other quality fitness watches offer an Always-On feature for monitoring heart rate and workout progress. When I saw the Ionic I thought maybe this is the one - but a quick Chat revealed the same short coming,

Adding this feature should not prove to be technologically challenging and would give the Ionic a marketing advantage over all the competition. And, maybe I will buy one! 

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I agree.  I loved my Basis Peak.  The Heartrate function was pretty good, the always-on screen was awesome, the automatic sleep tracking was very accurate, battery life was exceptional, auto fitness tracking was superb, and smartphone app notifications were great...  
Such a shame it was recalled and no other watch has the same mix of features.

[MrBluesky]

Well folks  I ran the Chicago Marathon with my new iconic last week and result is in...I really miss my Surge. 

I had the always on while exercising setting set and the watch died after 2:36:12. I'm not 20 anymore and do not finish in that time so yes, my iconic died while I was still grinding it out on the course...my Surge lasted the whole race ever time prior to this. 

So really ticked off I went to the Apple Store the next am (Chicago has a great Apple Store) after really grilling the staff there I came to the conclusion if I want the bells and whistles of a "smart watch" and am not a gifted athlete or

have Kenyan blood I either shut off always on mode and learn the smart watch twitch move or go back to my timex iron man watch for race day.

so, I'm keeping my iconic, still better

than Apple in regards to overall battery life, and will live this limitation because I do like  all the positive features of the watch.

cheers , happy runs! 

[kathytn]

Where did you find the "Aways on" mode\instructions or was it for that
workout only? We're looking at\wanting it for the watchface. Or the
ability to at least increase the "timeout" on it.

Kathleen Smith
Kathleensmith138@gmail.com

[MrBluesky]

If you hit the "exercises" icon (yellow figure running icon) then hit the little gear icon in the upper left a series of options should appear; show cues, automatic queue settings, customize stats, etc... use your finger to scroll down to "Always on screen" and tap the green "on/off" option.

Hope that helps... Fitbit please post some useful pictures step by step on the web...would help us all out tremendously.
Cheers!

From T. Chase

[kathytn]

Thanks, just tried it, but unfortunately it doesn't work on the watchface
itself - only that app. But I did learn some things from your
instructions. Had not explored that before. Tx

Kathleen Smith

Moderator edit: Removed personal information 

[Rich_Laue]

@MrBluesky now you see the problem with an always on display with an oled, it is a battery hog.

The LCD display like the Surge and the Basis Peak, as @Brent10 has pointed out, sips the battery allowing the display to be turned on.

As for my 33 month old Surge, i still easily get 8 hours of GPS usage on a single charge.

[cjthomp]

Lack of always-on screen, and difficulty getting watch to turn the screen on (often fails to register wrist-flick, screen is almost never on when I want to see it, turns off quickly, and is generally fighting against me) is the direct reason I'm sending this back. This is 100% a deal-breaker for me on what otherwise seems to be a nice piece of hardware. 

I'm a software dev who was looking forward to diving into that side also, so this is doubly disappointing for me.

This watch either needs to *stay on* (even if at a reduced brightness unless 'activated') or have a user-configurable sensitivity and screen-on duration. My wife is a nurse and needs 5 minutes at least or the watch is a no-go. I need a much greater sensitivity for activating the screen as I basically have to dislocate my shoulder or raise my arm over my head to get it to realize I want the screen on.

I'm *very* disappointed in this product and with Fitbit right now.

[kathytn]

I concur regarding the "activation". I usually end up tapping the screen
to make it come on. That defeats the purpose - might as well just pick up
the phone instead.

--
Kathleen Smith
kathleensmith138@gmail.com

[giovi1969]

I bought two and returned them both today. Cannot wait forever for a very simple thing to be fixed. The apple watch is also not on all the times but it wakes up very quickly. This is not a watch if you cannot read the time when you need to. If Fitbit tells me when an update comes out I will buy it again. 

[wundrbred]

The 'Always-on' screen feature does actually exist for the Ionic, but it appears to be only enabled for the exercise modes. When you choose an exercise, you'll see that each exercise has its own settings icon. Once clicked, you'll be able to access the 'Always-on' Screen feature at the end of the settings list. It does indicate that if it is activated, it will reduce battery life.

[giovi1969]

Yes but I am not exercising all day...

[Scottybonner]

[accidental duplicate post]

[Scottybonner]

These reports of having trouble getting the Ionic to respond to the wrist flick pretty much fix me at a "no" on buying it. Bad enough they refuse to give us the option to have an always-on option or even to set clock duration once activated, but they can't even get the already painfully awkward flick thing right? Yeah, no thanks! Between this and the proprietary charger, it's obvious we aren't valued customers to satisfy so much as cash cows to be milked.

[bibby425]

How do you get to this setting for bike ride? 

[kathytn]

There is not one.   That's what we are all complaining about.

[USAF-Larry]

@bibby425, it is very easy to set the screen to Always On for the Bike ride, but beware that it drains the battery faster.   While the Bike exercise mode is displayed on the screen, tap on the settings gear icon in the upper left hand corner of the screen, then scroll down to "Always-on Screen" and tap on it to toggle from Off to On.  The screen will then stay on for the duration of that exercise.

[Rich_Laue]

@Scottybonner simply make sure the forearm is somewhat horizontal then rotate the wrist 90`. It works every time I don't even have to lift my arm up. My arm can be on my lap or table, a 90` rotate will always turn it on. 

My problem is occaisionly I find the quick View turned off and not sure why or how it happened. 

This is the same for the Blaze, Alta HR, Flex 2, and Charge 2. The older tracker a needed the display to rotate from 0` to 90`. The newer just look for a 90` rotation while the arm is somewhat parallel to the ground.

[USAF-Larry]

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@Rich_Laue wrote:

My problem is occaisionly I find the quick View turned off and not sure why or how it happened. 

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This periodically happens to me when I scroll the screen over to view the battery strength, and lightly press the screen on Screen Wake which toggles it from Auto to Manual.