Set up two Charge 2 devices on one account

[Cinny]

I just got a second Charge 2 and would like to add it to my account. However, the app is forcing me to disconnect the first one in order to add the second one. How do I connect both to my account so I can switch back and forth between them?

[PureEvil]

@RitterVonRappe,

Your observations about the settings is fair.  I occurred to me after I had posted the message.  Still, you're right... It'll take a few more minutes to everything configured the way you want.

All that said, I'm not a Fitbit employee, just an experienced user.  I can't compel Fitbit to implement features, but I can make suggestions to other posters on the thread how they might ultimately achieve what they want.

On what to do with your older Charge 2:  I can think of two options:

First, there's a healthy market for used Fitbits (even cracked ones).  I can see cracked Charge 2's selling on ebay for around the $40 range.  This accomplishes two things.  It gives your used Fitbit a home where someone presumably wants it and it recoups some of the cost of the replacement unit.

Second, you can loan it out to friends.  I know many folks who are curious about activity trackers and how they work or they simply be curious about a particular model.  Even with a crack on the screen, they can get a pretty good idea of how the device works and if they'd want to get one.  I've loaned out many of my trackers to friends.

On how to prevent damage to your existing Charge 2:  I'd lean towards either getting a 3rd party protector for it (there are plenty at Amazon) or getting a different model Fitbit that is unlikely to be damaged by your ranch job.  If you're not concerned with either heart rate or flights of stairs in your ranch job, the Flex 2 is a good choice for a couple of reasons.  First, it is water resistant to 50M, so it is unlikely to be damaged by water.  Second, the tracking unit itself is completely encased in the band, which is easy to replace.

On 'back in the olden days' reference:  FWIW, I have a few years on you.  I don't believe that the extra mustard, ketchup, or cheese on their burger is necessarily a good example.  The rationale?  The burger joint already has mustard, ketchup and cheese; it's really not that much of an imposition.  A better example would be if a customer (or even a small percentage of customers) asked for cashew butter...  I think if you went to a burger joint and asked for cashew butter on your burger, most employees would probably ask "what?!  why?!".  It's just not a scenario or combination that they anticipated and it's not a condiment that they can readily get.  Can the burger joint negotiate with their distributor to get cashew butter to all their restaurants in order to address the needs of their customers?  Absolutely.  Do you think that they're likely to do it?  I doubt it.

Let's be pragmatic.  The feature suggestion for this currently has 433 votes.  It's currently on the fourth page among top feature suggestions (and getting passed by newer feature requests).  Even if they went strictly by votes (and I don't imagine it does), there are literally dozens of other features that would get attention before this one.  I don't imagine it'll ever get to the 3rd page among feature suggestions.

You're asking for the statistical equivalent of cashew butter on your burger.

[PureEvil]

@tracyjstew,

You stated, "my preference is the Charge and I just don’t see why its such a huge dilemma to put 2 or 3 or even 10 of the same tracker on the same account.  That’s all."...  emphasis mine.

I mentioned before that the Fitbit UI was built around each model, but allow me to demonstrate.  I've mocked up what the UI would look like if you had 10 Charge 2's paired to your account.  This is roughly what it'd look like, right?

So you get home from the gym with your Charge 2, and now you want to switch to one of your other 9 Charge 2's.  Simple right?  So you want to manually sync the one you're taking off so that your stats are up to date.  You do this by tapping on that tracker and then doing "Sync Now".

Which one of those 10 is it?

You managed to find the one that you wore to the gym, you sync it and then you have to sync the one you're putting on next, right?

Which one of those 10 is it? 

Later you get ready for bed.  You have an early flight and don't want to needlessly wake up your spouse, so you set the silent alarm on your Charge 2 (and sync it) to wake up at 5am to get ready for your flight.  Cool.

You wake up at 8am because the Charge 2 that you wore to bed is not the correct one (of the 10) where you set the 5am alarm.  You miss your flight.  Yes, you could check the alarm on the actual physical Charge 2, but keep in mind that some trackers (like the Flex 2) do not have a display.

Like I mentioned before, much of the way that you interact with the Fitbit App or website assumes that there is at most one of each model on your account.  The Fitbit app itself can collect activity information of any of those 10 devices tied to your account; that's not the problem.  The problem comes when you interact with the device... try to sync a device or change its settings...  Like clock face, alarms, exercise shortcuts, etc.

Even if Fitbit allowed you to name each device in the Fitbit App (which is already a significant amount of work), then how can you distinguish the physical devices?  Many of them look exactly the same.  If you had 10 of them in front of you, do you think you can tell them all apart (here are the Flex, One, and Alta HR side by side)?

The moment they allow this is the moment that silent alarms (and really, any setting) becomes unreliable (which one of multiple Charge 2's do you wear to bed?).  So they'd effectively break a cluster of features in order to appease a few folks who want two Charge 2's on their account...  and spend a lot of engineering time trying to get it to work (and not very well at that).

That, in a nutshell, is the huge dilemma...

That said, I took a quick look at your profile and your step graph for the last 30 days (by the way, it's publicly visible):

No offense, but this doesn't look like the step graph of someone who wears their tracker 24/7.  This looks like the step graph of someone who:

1. Charges their tracker and puts it on.
2. Wears it until the battery is depleted (or close to it, so every 3-5 days) and plugs it in.
3. Forgets that it's charging and leaves the house without putting it on the next day (hence the nearly blank day in between).

Then comes to the conclusion that the only way to 'fix' the problem of their forgetting to put their tracker on the next day is to have another one, just like it, that they can strap on immediately after taking the first one off.

Sure, no debate....  That is one way to solve this problem.

You know what's another way to solve this problem?  Come up with a way to make you unable to leave the house without your Fitbit.  As it happens, the USB charging cable fits through most conventional key rings.  Since (I assume) you don't leave the house without your keys, simply loop your charging cable through your keys before you plug in to charge, like this (plugged in to a battery pack):

The moment that you grab your keys, you'll have your Fitbit with you.

You know what's yet another way to solve this problem?  Always keep at least a day's charge on your tracker.  Before you tell me that this won't work, why don't you humor me and try this:

1. Keep a charging plug in your bathroom (you can get one from Amazon for under $7) or better yet, get a battery pack (so that you may use it in your car as well).
2. Plug in your Charge 2 in when you go in to the bath (or shower).
3. Put it back on the moment you get out.

This is what you'll probably find.  No, this will not get your Charge 2 to 100%, but it should get it enough charge to last until your next bath or shower.

There are some mornings that I wake up and find that my Versa's charge is low (9% or so).  I plug it in to charge during breakfast and by the time I'm ready to head up to shower (about 15-20 minutes later), it's up to around 30%.  If a full charge lasts for 5 days, 20% should last you a full day; that's enough to last me until tomorrow.

So assuming that you bathe or shower regularly (I shower everyday) and you spend at least a moderate amount of time in there (say 15 minutes), I imagine that you can keep your tracker charged if not indefinitely, for a really long time by simply plugging it in during this time.

Just my 2¢.

[tracyjstew]

Again, thank you for your time in figuring all of this. In reference to my step chart not appearing impressive to you, even though it is my own personal business, I have been very sick with gall bladder and have finally had surgery. Also, I have Rheumatoid Arthritis which means that, on some days, I am lucky to be able to handle 1000 steps. But, whatever I can do, I do and my Fitbit helps keep me motivated through the terrible and chronic pain and through the illness that was caused by a very bad gall bladder. Without my Fitbit on all the time, a lot of days I would give in and spend in bed on pain medication. I am winning and getting stronger and healthier every day. But, I should not have to explain to you or anybody on this forum why my step chart may not look impressive. To me, it’s very impressive; to my doctor, its extremely impressive. I am asking you to no longer contact me through this forum or any other way. I no longer care about my original question, whatever it was.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[Rich_Laue]

If you want 2 of the same tracker

Sync the tracker your taking off

Setup the other tracker using the add device

Choose the replace option.

Let the setup finish while putting it on the wrist .

[ablair]

I have the same issue.  I like to charge one while wearing the other, otherwise, I often find myself losing steps.  I think Fitbit needs to resolve this issue.  

[PureEvil]

@ablair,

Politely assuming that you shower regularly and that you don't get a wealth of steps while you shower, simply plug in your Charge 2 while you shower.

No, it won't get your charge up to 100%, but it'll charge it enough so that you can use it until your next shower.

I hope this helps.

[NouschF]

Hi 

I have two Charge 2's mainly because one doesn't work properly and doesn't track floors so Fitbit sent me a second one.  I would like to use the old one at the gym and in places where it could get dirty or damaged and use he new once at work with the shiny new stainless strap I bought for it but have the sim sync issues.  I guess I am making the point that there are many reasons why a person might have two of the same model.  I now have to choose the new one over the old one which is a waste really.

[PureEvil]

@NouschF,

Welcome to the community!

Yes, I understand that there are a modest number of folks out there that have a viable reason to have two of the same model.

That said, the reason why Fitbit initially allowed multiple Fitbit devices on one account was so you may use different features on different models that would complement each other.  Since two devices of the same model have the exact same features, it's not a scenario that they are looking to enable.

While I understand that, if they had infinite resources and zero engineering costs, they'd implement features that a modest number of Fitbit users want.  Fitbit doesn't have infinite resources nor zero engineering costs and given this or some other feature, like team challenges, I'd want the latter.

[KelliJo]

I understand the need for this completely. I have two of the same model of fitbit, the Carge 2. One is my work tracker that gets banged up and scratched at the warehouse I work in and has the rubbery plum colored band on it. The other is one that I wear when I go out and about dressed nicely and I have a nice, stylish band on it. 

It would be nice to be able to use one without completely getting rid of the other on the account. 

[Texas-Mark]

Add me to the list of people wanting to have two of the same model. I was going to buy a Charge 3, but after reading all of the issues with it decided to buy a second Charge 2. Imagine my surprise and disappointment when it would not let me add a second fitbit that was the same model.

I have read through this whole thread and some of the excuses are ridiculous. It would be as simple as allowing one to name the device. Nearly every digital device in the past decade or more have allowed you to name it when you have multiples. Someone asked how you would tell them apart. Well, first off, one of mine is all black and the other has the silver side. But one could simply have different bands.I can think of many other ways to tell them apart.

The bottom line is just like so many other things we have asked for over the years, Fitbit does not really care what we want no matter how simple the request. I'm still waiting for them to increase the notification vibration time. 95% of the time, I never feel it alert me. I gave up on the sleep stages ever since they broke what was working fine before that. . 

[PureEvil]

@KelliJo,

Welcome to the community!

While I understand that this sounds like what you'd want, allow me to point out why this isn't nearly as convenient as you think it'd be.

So say you get home from work, get ready to go out and switch from your banged up plum Charge 2 to your nice, stylish Charge 2.  I assume that you'd want the one that you're wearing to go out to accurately reflect your day's activity, so in order to do this, you'll have to:

1. Sync your plum one (to push your stats to the server)
2. Sync your stylish one (to fetch your stats from the server and put the on your tracker)

And you have to do it in this order for it to work.  Well, I just tried doing that on my account with my two trackers (Versa and One), and syncing two trackers in a particular order took nearly three minutes:

If you're skeptical, I've included the screenshot of the time it took me.

You know what takes considerably less time?  ...physically swapping the bands on the tracker.  Pop off the plum band and put on the nice, stylish one.  If you're worried about the actual tracker (not the band) getting banged up and scratched, then get a protector like this one for $9 for when you're at work in the warehouse:

I'd be willing to bet that you can swap out the bands and remove/put on the protector in less time than the 2:43 at it took me to sync the two trackers in the appropriate order.

I hope this helps.

[YRainey]

WOW!   I just read this entire thread.   Someone on here is totally condescending and rude!    

[KelliJo]

Duh... I know how to do it. I do it all the time. And no.. I workout in my already sweaty beat up Fitbit.  It's just a pain in the **ahem** to do it all the time. 

[KelliJo]

Also.... putting the nice looking band on a beat up Charge 2 isn't what I want. I specifically bought the nice band so that the entire tracker would look more like a nice accessory than a beat up watch with a new band. 

[KelliJo]

I understand that you have no affiliation with FitBit. Do yourself and everyone else a favor and keep your day job. 

You are not helpful. You are, indeed, opinionated, argumentative and condescending. I feel that Fitbit community SUPPORT is not your forte. You seem to be saying to everyone in this forum "You are stupid for wanting to have an attractive tracker for wearing for "dress" while you continue to utilize the functions of your cracked/scratched up model when you are in situations where it will likely get more scratched up." 

If it's not possible to do your appropriate customer service response would be, "I understand your frustration but at this time that option has not been added to the function of this tracker. Thank you for your input."

[PureEvil]

@KelliJo,

What you want to do is simply take off your beat up Charge 2, put on your fancy Charge 2 and go out (and vice versa).

You can't do that now... and you won't be able to do that even if Fitbit allows you to put both Charge 2's on your account.

Before I elaborate on that, I think you folks need to take a deep breath and get a little perspective.  Just because I'm stating something about how Fitbit works, does not in any way imply that you don't know it nor does it come with the implication that you're 'stupid'.  Read my posts (I rarely amend my posts), and you'll see that I don't use the word 'stupid'.  You have made a total of four posts, I have no insight into what you've done with your Fitbit (like changing your band).  So in a nutshell...

If I mention something that you already know, you interpret it as my calling you stupid because you think I assumed you didn't know it.

If I mention something that you didn't already know, you interpret it as my calling you stupid because you think I'm implying that you should know it.

At least entertain the idea that it's not so much what I'm actually saying, but more the way that you perceive it.

The reason why it won't work the way you expect (even if Fitbit allows both on the same account)...  When you take off your plum Charge 2 and put on your fancy Charge 2, I imagine you expect your stats and progress to be available on your fancy Charge 2.  This doesn't happen automatically.  If you were to read through Fitbit's help page on multiple trackers:

"For best results, don't wear more than one device at a time and sync each device before taking it off and putting on another."

So say that this happens:

1. You go to the gym (with plum Charge 2) and work out for an hour.
2. You get up to 8k steps for the day.
3. You get home, shower, and switch to your nice Charge 2 and go out.

You check the steps on your nice Charge 2, it reads 1k steps for the day.

Can we at least agree that this is not what you want?

In order to prevent this from happening, when you switch trackers, you'll need to sync the one you're taking off and then sync the one you're putting on.  These are Fitbit's instructions, not mine.

It takes time to do this from the Fitbit App...  When I did this on 01/28, it took me nearly three minutes to do.  Ironically, it takes about the same amount of time that it takes to replace a tracker, which you admit is a bit of a nuisance.

And yes, if you have multiple trackers (independent of models) paired to your account, you'll need to do this every time you switch trackers.  I'm speculating that, on average, this will take you around 1-1.5 minutes.

To avoid needing to sync both trackers, I suggested that you instead keep one tracker and just swap the bands between the one tracker, to which you responded:

"Also.... putting the nice looking band on a beat up Charge 2 isn't what I want. I specifically bought the nice band so that the entire tracker would look more like a nice accessory than a beat up watch with a new band."

Now, you're just reading statements that I simply didn't write...  Where on my post (still unedited) did I suggest putting the nice looking band on the beat up Charge 2?  I don't.

I am suggesting putting the beat up Charge 2 band on the newer unmarred Charge 2 tracker and wearing that in your warehouse job.  Yes, I understand that you don't want risk getting it scratched while you're at work...  Though I even suggested getting a protector (even provided you a link to order it).

After your last angry response, I ordered one and that's why it's taken me a few days to respond while I waited for it to arrive.  This is what the tracker looks like with and without the protector.  You can barely notice that it's there and you can't feel that it's on: 

I'm only suggesting that you put the protector on when you want to prevent any damage to the tracker (like at work); feel free to take it off when you put on your nice band on.  How well does it protect the tracker?  I put it on the tracker and I proceeded to scratch it up quite thoroughly with a metal file, then I took it off and took a picture of the tracker, completely unscathed:

So I imagine that the scratches on your beat up plum Charge 2 are not as severe as this, and this protector effectively protects the tracker from getting damaged.

I was also curious as to how long it would take to do this, so I:

1. Removed one set of bands
2. Removed the plastic protector
3. Wiped down the tracker with a damp cloth
4. Attached the second set of bands

And I was routinely able to do this in under 30 seconds.

So in summary, you have two options:

Option A:

• Wait for Fitbit to implement this feature (support for multiple Charge 2's per account)
• Once they do, you pair your second Charge 2 to your account
• You sync both trackers each time you swap them, which can take anywhere from 1-3 minutes

Option B:

• Sell your 'beat up' Charge 2 on ebay (you may be able to get as much as $35 for just the tracker)
• Get a protector for $9 from Amazon
• Swap bands, wipe down the tracker, put on/take off the protector.  This typically takes about 30 seconds

Option A means that you'll have to wait for Fitbit to implement the feature, which may take months or years (if ever).  Option B you can do today and even pocket some money in the process (when you sell your old tracker).  Ultimately the decision is yours.

Since Fitbit still hasn't implemented this feature, I'm simply trying to give you options so that you can get what you want without needing to wait for them...  the ability to switch back and forth between a nice tracker and a beat up tracker with minimal hassle.

I hope this helps.

[Nattmcg]

I was thinking the same thing!!!!!! So rude for literally no reason. Literally, not one.

[Rich_Laue]

This thread,  that happens to be in the community hardware help board, seems to be active,  and full of complaints when a fellow community member suggests a work around. 

Now if you want to add your vote on the suggestion of allowing 2 of the same tracker, you may want to go to the feature suggestion board.  After all as fitbit users we'd are unable to implement your request. 

Two of the same model tracker I notice that in 4 years we only have 500 votes, this is hardly enough votes to badger fitbit. 

[PrincessRamart]

I totally agree. I have 2 so if one charging so I can use the one but it won't let me add it. I was looking for solutions and I ran across ur comments. I definitely hope they fix and change that soon too. 

[PrincessRamart]

That was in 2017 and it's now 2019.. They need to fix that asap