Feedback on automatic updates Versa Lite

[EllenKuyv]

Hi fitbit, wanted to provide some feedback about the process of automatically rolling out an update to devices over a several month period. I think it might serve your customers better if the option to update the device was optional and could be the choice of the consumer. Especially if the update is known to be causing devices to malfunction.

As someone who had their device automatically updated outside their warranty period, and had an issue with the update that caused my fitbit screen to say "Data not cleared sync and try again" but then not being able to sync the device, and eventually being told the device was beyond repair and that i would need a replacement, it seems a bit unethical of fitbit to just force everyone to get these updates...especially if i'm out of the warranty period when my device is selected to be updated. 

A couple suggestions i have for the company in the future, are 1) Make the device updates optional, especially if the updates have been known to cause issues. 2) If the device updates cannot be optional, I would recommend rolling the updates out to people within their device warranty periods. I have come across multiple people like myself who had their device break as a result of the update, and then were not eligible for a free replacement device, despite it not being the fault of the user that the device broke.  3) I would recommend not rolling out an update that has been known to cause devices to break. And if an update that fitbit rolls out causes perfectly good devices to malfunction, I would probably replace those devices free of charge. Otherwise it seems really sketchy that fitbit can essentially choose at any time when it wants a device to break. 

Just some food for thought that i would appreciate if they were passed on to the company. I know fitbit has transitioned to different ownership in the past year, and i've personally seen a significant decline in customer service during that time.  I've been with fitbit for 5 years, and the fitbit of the past would NEVER do something like this where devices break as a result of a non-optional update. In the past, i've had devices break, but it was normally related to wear and tear on the device (wriststraps cracking etc.), not due to an issue that Fitbit is responsible for. 

[JohnnyRow]

Firmware updates never happen automatically;  when they are ready for you, you get a notice in your phone app; nothing happens until you act on that notification and tell it to do the update.

[EllenKuyv]

Hmm, interesting. I don't ever remember pushing a button/notice on my app. When i called customer support for the first time about my device being pixelated and slow to respond, the customer support rep told me the reason my device was acting weird was because i had a partially completed update that automatically started a week prior... So maybe the rep was confused if that doesn't actually happen? 

I don't recall receiving an update for my device, but I suppose it's possible? Though I know i never intentionally started an update and didn't complete it, so that's kinda why I didn't doubt what the Fitbit customer support rep told me about the update being automatic. 

[JohnnyRow]

Now you're talking about updates to app rather than device.  There are 2 types of updates; firmware updates to the device which I spoke of before; and software updates to the app, usually on phone.

App updates are much more frequent; firmware device updates are relatively infrequent.

For app updates, at least for me on Android phone, they come through the Google Play Store.  Within Play Store, you can set whether apps are updated automatically or not.  I have all my other apps update automatically, except fort Fitbit.

I check the Store almost daily to see what apps are available for update.  When I see the Fitbit app listed there, I tell it to update.  I don't have it set to auto-update because I like to be aware when updates come to see if I notice any differences, as I spend more time on Fitbit than on any other phone app.

I expect the Apple store has some similar arrangement.

[EllenKuyv]

Hey, no i think we're having a bit of a disconnect. Didn't mean to say it was an uncompleted app update. My apps don't update automatically either for the same reason as you, i like to know when apps are being updated. Anyway, the issue at hand is definitely a firmware update. i meant to say i do not recall ever pushing a banner/button saying to start the firmware update while using the fitbit app. Usually that's what happens when i have an update to the device itself, i'll get a little banner while using the app that says i have an available device update, and then i typically push the banner and it updates. 

I'm trying to say i don't recall getting one of those banners in the past month or so, because usually i just let the device update and it's good to go. It just doesn't seem like me to start a firmware/device update and then not complete it... which is what the customer support rep told me the issue was when we were troubleshooting together and he was logged into my account and looking at my device data.

If what you're saying is true, which i suspect it is because you are clearly more of an expert than I am, it must be that i started the update. I was simply repeating what the customer support rep told me, which was that the firmware update was rolled out to devices over the last several months and that they sometimes go automatically if you don't push the banner for a long time. I don't remember ever getting a banner, and i have never intentionally only updated a device partially, so i assumed this started automatically, but if that never happens then I must've pushed the banner at some point i suppose. 

[JohnnyRow]

Sorry, I was in a hurry and misread part of your post.