Ionic's Secret Weapon: open SDK

[datalore]

I think the major advantage the Ionic has over the competition is the open SDK. I have preliminary plans to create an app for a small group of my friends. This app will only appeal to Clydesdales a small group of triathletes. The fact that I can quickly and easily [easily being a relative term] create this custom app is what has me most excited about this watch. I hope Fitbit treats the developer community well and really pushes this advantage. The ability to customize the experience and create a unique platform without any development hurdles is exciting. I realize this won't appeal to everyone, but it is an advantage. 

Moderator edit: edited title for clarity

[kenjamin]

You should submit it to the app store, who knows, there might be another group of Clydesdales or "Athenas" out there who find it useful. Ha I had to google the clydesdale thing. 

I agree though. The SDK will make writing quick apps for specific workouts or scenarios a breeze. I'm excited to dive in, and see what I can actually do with the API.  Although there are other  I have looked at Garmin's Monkey-C and it looked fairly easy to pick up. In the end though, the ease of JavaScript and my fandom of Pebble made it easy for me to choose to pre-order an Ionic. I can only hope Fitbit's APIs and SDK becomes anywhere near as fully featured as Pebble.

[datalore]

I really hope the pebble DNA survives in the fitbit studio. The pebble software approach is a winning one and Fitbit did the right thing buying those assets. It's cool that I can create a custom, private app for less than one half of one percent of the people on this board. I can't wait to dive into fitbit studio and see what the functionality is going to look like. Do you have any ideas of apps you want to create?

[N8teGee]

The big flaw in my opinion is the lack of a payment system in place for the app gallery. I read that developers are allowed to integrate their own payment systems, but I'm sure this might put some developers off altogether.

@datalore If you are taking requests, a simple app to start a driving activity would be good. A bit like drivebit but on the watch itself. I would try myself but I have no knowledge of programming. 

[datalore]

Good point. I plan to use my app as a proof of concept. I'm really doing it as a hobby thing just for me and a group of friends. I love the fact that I can personalize the software and my watch will be unique to me. The pebble approach gave us some funky, unique, and useless apps; which, I guess, was the point. I just hope fitbit continues with that approach. I do think truly unique revolutionary apps will succeed and people will have no problem paying for them. I'll look into the drive app after I finish the first one. The really good thing is Javascript is relatively easy to pick up. I'm sure you could pick it up in a couple of weeks just by visiting your local library. I never use the word easy by itself when it comes to programming as there is always a learning curve, but Javascript really isn't that difficult to get a rudimentary understanding of and to program basic functions in a short period of time. 

[kenjamin]

Do you have any ideas of apps you want to create?

My first app I am keeping extremely simple in order to get it out quickly and is targeted at runners: a simple step cadence calculator. From what I can tell I will not be able to hook into Fitbit's real-time activity API and my aim is not to replace their running app when all I really want to deliver is a simple feature. Just a way to see your average cadence for your previous running activities on the watch itself. Maybe also display how far off it was from your goal (such as 180 SPM). Cadence is something I always struggle with and while I wish I could get real-time feedback this will be better than nothing.

I'm really doing it as a hobby thing just for me and a group of friends. I love the fact that I can personalize the software and my watch will be unique to me.

That is what is appealing to me as well. I want to write an app that I will personally want to use and meets my exact criteria. Everybody has a different opinion about how something should work. Coding to solve a specific problem can often lead to the best results.

[N8teGee]

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@datalore wrote:

Good point. I plan to use my app as a proof of concept. I'm really doing it as a hobby thing just for me and a group of friends. I love the fact that I can personalize the software and my watch will be unique to me. The pebble approach gave us some funky, unique, and useless apps; which, I guess, was the point. I just hope fitbit continues with that approach. I do think truly unique revolutionary apps will succeed and people will have no problem paying for them. I'll look into the drive app after I finish the first one. The really good thing is Javascript is relatively easy to pick up. I'm sure you could pick it up in a couple of weeks just by visiting your local library. I never use the word easy by itself when it comes to programming as there is always a learning curve, but Javascript really isn't that difficult to get a rudimentary understanding of and to program basic functions in a short period of time. 

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I agree, the whole concept is a huge step in the right direction. I'm excited to see what people come up with. I'm happy to support developers, so I hope an easy payment system can be set up to reward their efforts. Like you say though, many will also just be doing as a fun hobby. I think I will have a look into Java script then, I'm sure there are many resources online. Thanks for the encouragement 🙂 

[datalore]

This is a good tutorial. Yeah, it's long, but if you chunk it and just read one section at a time and take your time you'll be writing your first programs soon. It really just is repetition. We tend to think of programmers as some kind of jedi, but really it's just people that put in reps. Trust me if I can do it anybody can. It's just a matter of putting the time in. https://www.tutorialspoint.com/javascript/javascript_tutorial.pdf

[N8teGee]

Thanks @datalore. I will give that a read later this evening. 

[Bunnybear_05]

I'm putting in a request...a notes/reminder app !!!! 

I always forget stuff. It would be nice to look on my wrist and see a grocery list..reminder that my kid needs to bring a picture to school etc. productivity ! 

Ya know...if any of you guys who app develop have the time. Lol. 

[datalore]

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@Bunnybear_05 wrote:

I'm putting in a request...a notes/reminder app !!!! 

I always forget stuff. It would be nice to look on my wrist and see a grocery list..reminder that my kid needs to bring a picture to school etc. productivity ! 

Ya know...if any of you guys who app develop have the time. Lol. 

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That should actually be a fairly easy one. I think you'll see a reminder app at launch or shortly thereafter. If one doesn't exist by November; I'll try to hook you up. It depends on how long this first app takes. It should be relatively straight forward, but as we say in programming: everybody has a plan until they start coding. A metaphor that applies to more than programming; it's a reminder to stay flexible and realize you don't have all the answers. Sorry for the philosophical digression.

[SiGr]

Garmin have an open SDK as well under the name of ConnectIQ.

I think the fitbit sdk looks pretty nice though, js, css and svg should make it a breeze to make good quality apps.

[ErickFitbit]

@datalore @kenjamin @SiGr It is exciting to know that there are endless possibilities of what our awesome community of users will create with the open SDK.

@N8teGee @datalore

 @Bunnybear_05 I recommend creating an idea in the Feature Suggestions board. I am interested in seeing how Ionic users with coding experience start to use the FS board to get ideas for new apps.

[SiGr]

Im interested in seeing how the battery / resource limiting will work.  Most of these apps will be poling something whether thats on device or via the phone.

The chip guessing on what is in the Ionic looks like it could offer up some interesting limitations, time will tell.  Right now I'm excited but need to decide whether to Ionic or Not Ionic 😄

[ratcityrain]

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@N8teGee wrote:

The big flaw in my opinion is the lack of a payment system in place for the app gallery. I read that developers are allowed to integrate their own payment systems, but I'm sure this might put some developers off altogether.

@datalore If you are taking requests, a simple app to start a driving activity would be good. A bit like drivebit but on the watch itself. I would try myself but I have no knowledge of programming. 

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I agree with you - I use Wunderlist so I hope to have alert capabilities from that app to remind me of stuff I need to take care of 

[bbarrera]

@ratcityrain if Wunderlist sends notifications to your iPhone/Android lock screen, then you'll get those on your Ionic. No app required. Same reason I've been getting Fitbit app nudges, challenge alerts, and messages on my Apple Watch for 2+ years now (even before Blaze users got them).

[mlindgren]

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@kenjamin wrote:

Do you have any ideas of apps you want to create?

My first app I am keeping extremely simple in order to get it out quickly and is targeted at runners: a simple step cadence calculator. From what I can tell I will not be able to hook into Fitbit's real-time activity API and my aim is not to replace their running app when all I really want to deliver is a simple feature. Just a way to see your average cadence for your previous running activities on the watch itself. Maybe also display how far off it was from your goal (such as 180 SPM). Cadence is something I always struggle with and while I wish I could get real-time feedback this will be better than nothing.

Based on this, it looks like you should be able to use the sensors API to poll the accelerator accelerometer at up to 100Hz. You should be able to use that to detect cadence. It's unfortunate that they don't have a simple "step" event so you can let Fitbit's existing algorithms determine for you what is and isn't a step, but in the absence of that, it shouldn't be too hard to isolate steps yourself to determine realtime cadence.

[kenjamin]

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@mlindgren wrote:

Based on this, it looks like you should be able to use the sensors API to poll the accelerator at up to 100Hz. You should be able to use that to detect cadence. It's unfortunate that they don't have a simple "step" event so you can let Fitbit's existing algorithms determine for you what is and isn't a step, but in the absence of that, it shouldn't be too hard to isolate steps yourself to determine realtime cadence.

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That's a great idea. I'm sure accurate step detection is actually a pretty complex system but I might be able to get a simple one going. I'll at least do some basic experiments.

I dug up an article I remember about Stanford "Open-Sourcing" some equations for step counting. It'll take a bit for me to wrap my head around it. Linking it here in case anyone finds it interesting.

[ratcityrain]

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@bbarrera wrote:

@ratcityrain if Wunderlist sends notifications to your iPhone/Android lock screen, then you'll get those on your Ionic. No app required. Same reason I've been getting Fitbit app nudges, challenge alerts, and messages on my Apple Watch for 2+ years now (even before Blaze users got them).

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Then I'm good to go. Wunderlist does do that 

[bbarrera]

@ratcityrain 👍🏼