Versa 2 and Active Zone Minutes

[Lovestofly]

My versa 2 just updated, I wish I had paid more attention, because now I have active zone minutes instead of active minutes. Seven years of history, gone. I’m not training to be an elite athlete. For many years I have use my Fitbit to track how long I am active in my day, and that’s the way I like it. I’m not really even into heart rate monitoring I prefer perceived exertion… Which has worked for me because I have lost over 60 pounds in the last 10 years, and ran several half marathons!

I would love if fitbit would offer users a choice if they want regular active minutes or active zone minutes. Losing active minutes is a dealbreaker for me, and I just got my versa last week. Super annoyed. 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarkMM]

@Lovestofly What are you talking about, 7 years lost? After reading your post, it took me less than one minute to go in the app and find August 25th is when I did the update. Everything prior to August 25th is active minutes. It's all there. All the way back to when I joined in March 2016. Nothing lost. Let me know if you want screen shots. 

[Lovestofly]

When I scroll through my history, almost every day shows zero active zone minutes. Before it switched over to active zone when it was active minutes, I had at least 30 every single day except when I was sick! Most days between 60 and 90. 

[MarkMM]

@Lovestofly On the app dashboard, click on zone minutes. At the top there should be day/week. If you click on week, you should be able to scroll through past weeks active minutes.

[Lovestofly]

Thank you, I was able to find my history that way! If I just scroll through the days, it shows zero. I still don’t like the change, I would prefer active minutes… But at least I haven’t lost my history!

[MarkMM]

You're welcome, 🙂

[SpookyMom]

Yes, the swap from Active Minutes to Zone Minutes has been super frustrating!  If you log in to Fitbit and go to your Dashboard via your browser (not the phone app), it continues to show Active Minutes instead of the new Zone Minutes.  Also, there are several free clock faces that still display Active Minutes - right now I'm using Fluid Arcs by Dan Guerin and it's great.  I have no idea how long it'll be before Fitbit completely does away with them, but at least for now they're still there.  Hope this helps!

[Lovestofly]

Thanks so much! That’s very helpful! 

[SpookyMom]

You're welcome!  There's one other workaround I meant to mention, which is to change your Heart Rate Zones.  From the Fitbit app, click on your profile icon at the top left, then Activity & Wellness -> Heart Rate Zones.  You can choose a Custom Max Heart Rate, and the lower you set it, the lower the threshold is for auto-detecting your activity.  I read on some other posts that folks were having good luck setting their max to 140bpm, since the default is way more geared toward athletes vs those of us who just want to stay active.

[Lovestofly]

So somehow I currently got 60 active zone minutes today, even though I have done nothing active!

Really don’t understand this update at all. I’ve got over 100 active zone minutes today, and I’ve literally done nothing but a 20 minute walk in the mall. On the app on the website it shows that I’ve got 100 active minutes, not active zone, but I don’t have that either and I have no idea why it is showing that. I am so frustrated! One of the things I love most about my Fitbit, for all these years, was it told me how much time I had spent being active without having to start and stop timers, etc. This is basically a dealbreaker for me. 

Moderator edit: merged reply

[SpookyMom]

Wish I could help, but sadly I'm in the same boat as you.  Active Minutes do not seem to be as accurate as they were pre-update.  Fitbit might be slowly updating and removing the background metrics necessary for Active Minutes to function as they fully move to Zone Minutes, and that might be why they're going haywire.  That's just my best guess as a mere consumer.  The most frustrating part?  Google did the exact same thing with their Fit app: Took a perfectly functional fitness app, and completely gutted the app, leaving only - you guessed it - the Active Zone Minute point system.  My 'fitness tracker' doesn't actually track my fitness anymore, just my heart, which is not why I bought it.  It's ridiculous.  If I weren't so far outside the return window, I'd return it in a heartbeat.

Edit: Thanks Mark MM for correcting me on Google's acquisition of Fitbit - I'd seen an article last November saying "Google paid 2.1 million for Fitbit" and assumed that's why we were seeing Active Zone Minutes, like the Google Fit app.  I didn't realize the merger was still ongoing!

[MarkMM]

@Lovestofly Sorry, can't help you with the tracking. I either lift weights, bike, walk, or all three nearly every day. I don't really have an issue with Zone minutes. Before the weather turned here, I had over 2000 zone minutes weekly. Now I'm still hitting 1900.

@SpookyMom Google never bought Fitbit. There are antitrust issues going on. They might own Fitbit eventually, but as of yet, they are not in control. 

Moderator edit: merged reply

[Lovestofly]

I'm glad they are working for you, I prefer to know how many actual minutes i am active. I got zone minutes today for being a passenger with my new-driver daughter!

I think I may need to look into returning mine. As you said, it no longer tracks fitness. If I wanted a heart-rate monitor, I'd get one. It is a nice bonus I guess (I prefer to use perceived exertion), but I don't want everything based on it...especially since I have a naturally high heart rate (always have!) and am anxiety prone which makes my heart race!

Moderator edit: merged reply

[MarkMM]

Your heart rate was up? 😂

[MarkMM]

@MrMarv I think figured out ways to edit your heart rate to help. Maybe he can reply here or direct you to his posts about it.

[Lovestofly]

Cool, I've looked at it but can't quite figure out what I need! This is so new to me. 

[SpookyMom]

@MarkMM Thanks for correcting me, I fixed my post accordingly.  I'd seen an article last November saying "Google paid 2.1 million for Fitbit" and assumed that's why we were seeing Active Zone Minutes, especially since it's nearly identical to what happened to the Google Fit app.  I didn't realize the merger was still ongoing!

[SpookyMom]

@Lovestofly I hope it works out for you!  I'm by no means an expert, but maybe it's defective as well?  It's a shame, until the update, I loved the Fitbit app and my Versa 2!  Even now, it's still great for some things, like the push notifications and mapping out my bike rides.  However, their decision to replace Active Minutes is just baffling.  I can take a 4-mile walk with steep inclines, and if my heart rate doesn't increase, it doesn't count toward my daily goal.  It's super demotivating.  I'm hoping they get some pushback from consumers and release a better update further down the road.  It was great before they decided to fix something that wasn't broken!

[Lovestofly]

I feel the same way, I just got it to replace my inspire, although it had a couple little glitch as I was trying to figure out, I was so happy with it! 

[MrMarv]

@Lovestofly -

What @MarkMM is referring to is the ability to change the default Max HR from the Traditional value of 220 - age to a custom value.

For me, that was to reduce my Max HR by 20% due to my taking Beta Blockers which throttles my heart rate even during exercise.

The ability to do so in the iOS is currently broken, and I believe isn't available in the Android app (though I could be wrong). 

You need to change it in the Settings page in the Web Dashboard, save the change and sync your device. Of about a dozen people that have tried that when I recommended it, only one individual could not get it to take. Once person had to log out of the app and back in for it to take.

Be sure to stay on top of it by checking the app on a regular basis - - - Account - Activity & Wellness - Heart Health. On the Heart Health page you will see your Max Heart rate in the Custom Max Heart Rate section and your zones at the top of the page. CAREFULL, trying to change the max in the app will set your custom max to zero and place you back in the 220 - age value.

Good luck.