I wish Versa could hold audiobooks

[Nickessex]

I was really excited when I saw the email announcing this. I am on my fourth Fitbit and really was hoping for a fitbit watch that I could use for my audiobooks. Not really interested in music. Would have put an order in straight away till I saw that it is only compatible with some music service that I had never even heard of.  Oh well, perhaps next generation will give me something I can put a couple of audio books on. 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[SteveH]

I can see your point but my take is that fitbits are first and foremost fitness trackers. The bells and whistles like music are nice to have but not that important to me.

I don't see the Versa as a big disappointment because it lacks a minor (to me) secondary function.

[tomylee]

It has no GPS on board, that's a big disappointment. Could have been interesting for my wife but now, no point there.

[seanaodh]

You can put standard mp3s onto the device if you don't use the two music services that it supports. 

[Sharond_Mandy]

What does Connected GPS mean?

[SteveH]

"Versa doesn't have built-in GPS. Its connected GPS feature works with the GPS sensors on your nearby phone to give you real-time pace and distance information, as well as a map of your route. Turning on connected GPS enables more precise tracking of your exercise stats."

taken from: https://staticcs.fitbit.com/content/assets/help/manuals/manual_versa_en_US.pdf

[seanaodh]

It means that the Versa will use your phones GPS to track runs, so if you want GPS data while running you need to have your phone with you.

This is the same as a lot of Fitbits, like the Charge 2, Alta etc.

[Aeneades]

I prefer connected GPS with Firbit to be honest as I find the built in GPS to be very inaccurate compared to the phone GPS, this is why I avoided the Surge and Ionic.  I know some people have good experiences with the built in GPS the pretty bad discrepancies I see reported in the forum are enough to put me off which is why I am actually tempted by the Versa.

(Not certain there is much point in having music storage in a watch that doesn't have GPS though as you will most likely have your phone with you anyway).

[N8teGee]

I can never understand why they don't allow users of the Ionic to switch between onboard and connected GPS. It would be simple to implement as the code is already written for the Versa and as far as interface, would only require an extra option in the GPS settings (On - off - connected GPS).  

[SteveH]

@N8teGee given that the versa comes with OS 2.0 and the ionic is going to be upgraded to that firmware, perhaps that option will be there.

[SunsetRunner]

Hi @Nickessex. I’m also an audible fan and listen to audio books when I exercise. When the Ionic came out, I was at first disappointed that I could download music but not my audiobooks. But then I got to thinking ... I carry my phone with me everywhere, even when I exercise. This is mainly for medical safety reasons but also because I never want to miss a text from my grandkids. 😉 So it was not critical for me to have books on my Fitbit.

That said, I love, love, love my Flyer headphones for audiobooks. I connect them to my phone. The Ionic takes care of the exercise details while the flyer plays my books, allowing me take advantage of all the features in the audio book app. They have great sound and volume controls. They pause the book if a call comes in. I never lose my place. I can even answer the call and talk with the press of a button, then easily switch back to my book. All without skipping a beat while I walk, use my CrossFit, etc.

For me, it is the perfect marriage of convenience. 

[tomylee]

That can't be an argument to have not GPS on board. Fitbit should optimize the device.

I do have no problems with the Ionic GPS. It's mostly a bit shorter as my phone (~200m at a 10k run) but who says that my phone is correct. I have seen differences between phones of 500+ m at a 10k run.

[Aeneades]

I think the main argument for not having GPS on board is the GPS system is relatively bulky, drains battery and is expensive so if they added to Versa it wouldn't be as light, no longer slim design or cheaper than Ion.  Adding GPS would just make this an Ion version 2 rather than a separate product that fits between Blaze and Ion.

[Nickessex]

Thanks for the reply Carol. Unfortunately, my smartphone is rather old and only has about two hour battery life (on a good day). As a pensioner I may need it to make an emergency call - don't really want to use it just for an hours listening. The headset looks good,  would like something similar at some point but it will have to be a headband one - the earplug type give me ear problems.

[Julia_G]

@Nickessex, I am pretty sure that you can put audio books on the Versa (and on the Ionic), as long as you "own" the audio file.

Besides supporting the music streaming service (Pandora and Deezer, which I have never heard of either...), Ionic and Versa also support using audio files downloaded from your computer (I think you will need Windows 10 on your computer or laptop for this feature ) .  An audio book is really no different from a music file -- the program definitely does not know the difference and it will download an audio book file in EXACTLY the same way it will download a music file. The important thing will be either to load it chapter by chapter, or make sure that there is not an auto "shuffle" function -- because you really do care what order your chapters are heard in!

So, you can DEFINITELY do this one chapter at a time, at the very least.  I have not yet confirmed whether it is possible to to be sure that the chapters come in the right order if you download multiple chapters, but I have been intending to test this on my Ionic...  

If you test this out before I do, please let us know.

I hope this helps!

[Nickessex]

LOL.   Not going to buy one just to test if I can. Will monitor the forums. Thanks for the reply tho.

[Julia_G]

@Nickessex, obviously I didn't suggest you should buy just to test!   I am saying that I know FOR SURE that you can download audio books chapter by chapter, so you can DEFINITELY use audio books (which was your basic question).  What I don't know is what happens if you download more than one chapter at a time...

[SunsetRunner]

@Julia_G, I’m curious where you are getting the audio books that can be downloaded chapter by chapter. That has not been my experience but I’ve mainly dealt with books from Audible.com where you download the entire book to the audible app. In my case, it’s on my phone. @Nickessex, where do you get your audio files?

[Nickessex]

I get mine from Audible as well. Usually in one to three parts. Never come across a single chapter download.

[Julia_G]

Yes, I believe you do need to have a way of manipulating the files (chopping) into chapters.  I guess it may be more trouble than it is worth.