Able to return to previous Fitbit app version

[Dsarazin]

Woke up this morning to your new app. To say the least I am not impressed. It lacks color and is boring and adds nothing new to what was there before. I absolutely hate it. I am a longtime Fitbit user but this might actually change that on next purchase.

Moderator edit: Clarified subject

[ThunderKat1]

My family and I did the same. I already have an Apple Watch so I’m going to it for now. I once loved my Fitbit. I’ve had 4 fitbits over the years.

Sent from my iPhone

[Abster37]

So, I did manage to revert back to the old app which worked for a day, but the exercise stats page, which initially worked, stopped working.

Seems fitbit/Google are intentionally ensuring the old version doesn't work. So I rang and complained again as I had not received a call within 48 hours as promised. (It had been a week).

I was the asked for a screenshot of my phones version. I point blank advised there is nothing wrong with my phone, the previous app worked fine. I could tell they are gearing up to tell me its my phone which is why my stats aren't loading and that's why I'm forced out the app (Samsung android). So here was my email they requesred.....

Good morning Sebastian, 

Please see attached screenshots. I have also included the notification I get when the fitbit app force closes when I try to access my runs since the app updated.

As discussed, I can access runs I did previously to the update, but the new interface is shockingly poor. The issues I have noticed are:

Splits not shown on the map. This is important to me as I can plan my runs to the distance I want to do. 

Map does not show street names. This is important to me if I want to run the same route or add in another road for distance. 

No impact, fat burn, cardio and high intensity not shown. This has been replaced with heart rate zones light, moderate, and peak. This is important to me as a runner who is trying to lose weight I can try to run or walk at a pace to burn fat. 

Unable to I scroll through previous exercises over several weeks. You can only see a week at a time. This is important as I like to compare my runs and my pace. It also shows far less information. 

The interface itself is boring and is nowhere near as good as the previous. My photo has disappeared and it's much less personal and not motivating. 

The battery percentage of my watch has disappeared. This was important as it was a reminder to charge my watch. I don't always see my email notification to charge my watch and don't always notice my battery percentage on my watch. As I use the app several times a day, I used the app for battery percentage. 

My live tracking heart rate seems to have disappeared. This was important to me as I liked to look at this in the app to check my resting heartrate. 

There are many more features that have disappeared, and these are just some of them. I also have the Aria scales which are completely inaccurate, and I have tried to calibrate these several times. 

I'm so disappointed. Fitbit was a fantastic product, which Google are now attempting to sabotage. It's not going to make me buy a Google watch. 

As discussed on the phone, I would like a full refund of my sense watch. This is not the product I bought. The service has changed which has made this unusable for me a runner.

I would be grateful if you could confirm receipt of my email so that I know it has been received. 

Kind regards 

I sent this message email Wednesday and I have not had confirmation of receipt! 

Sent from Outlook for Android

[MarkIndia]

See if the link given below works, makes sense or is jsut a PR exercise

https://www.androidpolice.com/fitbit-generative-ai-features-b/

[Homebody14489]

@ayala5322 

I had the same problem..Very frustrating not being able to receive texts, especially when so many apps require 2nd level security and text a code that needs to be input before accessing. 

I was finally able to get the notifications working again by going through about 8 steps advised in an email from Fitbit - which included unpairing and deleting every other Bluetooth device on my phone. 

Though now the messages are coming through again, I had to leave my watch in the house before I could get my phone to re-pair with my car.... And I've not had time to go back and try to add back the rest (earbuds, smart TVs, etc).

Frustrated doesn't cover it

But at least I'm getting my text messages on the watch again. 🙄

[MarkIndia]

If return to the older app or a credible improvement is not on the cards, it would be appreciated if Fitbit presented a well made video on the functions and  use of this new app. Some of us are getting older and not very tech savvy.

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[Homebody14489]

@waynecz 

Do the folks at Google care? If they don't right now I'm betting they will next year, after the Christmas quarter sales figures come out. 

I think anyone who owns a Fitbit understands that Google bought Fitbit. They also understand that Pixels are a Google product. 

If I could, I'd be shorting Google and maybe buying Garmin and/or Samsung and Apple. 

[Janfan]

I am very disappointed with this new app and agree with the comments. I don’t like  the format or the lack of color.  I want to be able to arrange what is important to me. I liked drilling down into the health metrics. I don’t like having to look for my number of steps. It has really ruined the whole Fitbit experience for me. Please revise this app asap.

[Homebody14489]

@SunsetRunner - 

There are a few things you can do to edit what appears and in what order. If you open the Fitbit app and touch the thing that looks like a bit a pencil to the right of the huge TODAY, On-Off 'switches' will show next to each section. Green is "on", gray us "off." Everything seems to be "ON" by default.

If you don't want a particular section, touch the switch to turn it off. 

[mdebak]

I owned a Fitbit because a friend purchased one for me during an isolating health crisis. I was instantly hooked on my daily step streak. It was fun getting fireworks once I hit my step goal, and the very creative badges were always a delightful surprise. Getting fit was actually getting fun. Then another friend invited me to join three others in a Workweek Hustle challenge. We competed for years. Partly because lives are busy and it was a nice way to keep in touch. A uniquely quiet way for friends to communicate without the noise of social media. As everyone at the gym got Apple Watches, I stayed with Fitbit for this group. 

Fitbit was never the most accurate at anything but steps. Apple is more accurate for the heart. There’s a ring that’s not only more accurate for sleep, but probably a lot more comfortable too. Heart and sleep are my main focus whilst aging. Fitbit was never the best, but it was the most fun, best deal. With 40% all theirs, Fitbit dominated the international market of wearables. Then Google bought them out. Game changer for the worse in terms of privacy, location, etc. 

I owned a Fitbit for the fun, easy software and for the connection to that one circle of friends. Truth is that for years now ALL of my other fit friends, including everyone at the gym, have Apple Watches. Friends plus heart accuracy makes the Apple Watch the obvious next choice. It was really great while it lasted, Fitbit.

[OldWreck]

That's not what most people are complaining about.

The problem is that previously we could add, remove, and position at the individual item level, not at the section level.

This is far too blunt an instrument and does not give people sufficient control over their own priorities.

[Jesse2017]

I want my old fitbit app Back !Can You Please Send Me a Link?

[Bradcore]

Nymdok is right on the money. The new app is unnecessarily cumbersome. Everything is big, bulky, and requires a lot of scrolling to do anything. I've actually stopped using the app for the most part because it's so awful to use. It's generally not the best idea to make your product more difficult. 

[syettip]

I hate it! Too many unnecessary things to avoid to record what I want to,

[SunsetRunner]

As I already noted, the new user dashboard is horrible. Oddly, I can see bits and pieces of the old one when I go to my account online. Since Google purchased Fitbit, they obviously wanted the market share, but the product line would likely be merged. That means the software development (programmers, testers, managers, equipment, language) also needs to merge. I doubt they would maintain two distinct products that compete with each other.

The new user interface is very rudimentary. I speculate that in order to get the Fitbit application over into the same language that Google uses, they needed to start over on the interface/dashboard. At a minimum, maybe they would develop (it is Google, after all) a bridge or means of transferring the Fitbit dashboard. 

I struggled to get my Fitbit to sync on my phone since May or June. Now it sync right away after the release. I also speculate that maybe some of the features or graphics they removed were causing sync issues, so they ditched the features/graphics. I could be wrong. 

If this is Google's way of getting their Fitbit product programming over into Google's world, they could have told us. It would explain their staunch position that they cannot go back to a prior build because they abandoned it to merge. From a software development point of view, that makes sense. It is just poorly done on their part. 

[Abby232]

I have not used Chrome search engine for years - switched to DuckDuckGo - perhaps others in this forum should consider doing the same so Google can't data mine on you...

[IsleShire]

The latest update user interface is not a big deal to me but the complete loss of the sleep record function is. I have three years of saved sleep data for just about every single day and now I have gone two days in a row with the sleep function totally failing.  Please don't try to tell me I am not wearing my Charge 2 properly. The last update did something to the sleep record that has screwed it up. Let me know when you get it fixed. 

Curtiss

[MarkIndia]

You are right Fitbit is not the most accurate on heart data especially for
the Versa 2 which I own. This is a concern since all other metrics and
algorithms depend on heart data. Not sure how inaccurate it is though -
maybe a 5 to 10% variation is OK??

[Catman81]

The new update has not affected my Sleep function, in fact if I open the Sleep function it appears that this part of the app has not been updated. I see all the graphs and colors just like always. I can see every time I wake up for the restroom, etc. It looks like a lot of the health and wellness functions (sleep, heart rate, water, and health metrics) are not updated. Most of the updates I see are in fitness, exercise, and activity related functions.

I have noted that what is displayed on the app's dashboard (home screen?) is not always correct. People who say it is not properly logging all their steps and other exercise probably are having sync problems. It is looking like this new app has changed how and where the data is synced and data is being lost in the process.

[Catman81]

Wednesday evening when FitBit was having problems I was adding to my Water log. The app lost 16 oz of my total. If I open the Water function it shows the correct total, BUT on the app dashboard (and also on the web dashboard) the total is 16 oz less. Does this indicate data is stored in two different places?

If the data collected is incorrect, the app has a serious flaw. A fitness tracker is all about the data, the numbers, and how it is presented to the user. This should be your priority in your new app. It's not about a new style which a lot of people don't like. It's not about creating a new layout which no one likes. It's about numbers and data and their accuracy.

 It looks like a lot of the health and wellness functions (sleep, heart rate, water, and health metrics) are not updated and still work great. You would be wise to keep it like that. Most of the updates I see are in fitness, exercise, and activity related functions, and this is the source of a lot of the complaints.

People who say it is not properly logging all their steps and other exercise probably are having sync problems. It is looking like this new app has changed how and where the data is synced and data is being lost in the process.

Google, you may be into a great and worthwhile project with this new app, but why did you have to turn all of your users into beta testers? You have alienated a large portion of your user base by changing the style and functions as much as you did all at once. You may be a great technology company, but you lack a lot in customer relations. You need to start doing a lot of PR work and try to make amends with your customers.

[Lilybet]

@Catman81 well said. We never asked to be their Beta Testers. Never gave Consent either.

They didn't send out anything about the 'update' prior to it.

It's an 'update' noone asked for or wanted. To what was, a very versatile well rounded app.

[Gregg74]

Heads up to all who have reverted back to the 3.88 version.  I went back to the old version several days ago.  This morning after my workout, I went to the app and google has re-installed the new version.  Not sure if the previous steps can be taken or not.

[sjhowe]

@Gregg74 I have version 3.88 and it hasn't updated. You need to make sure that you turn off auto-update in your app store.

[Gregg74]

It is turned off.  Not sure if this is a new enforcement or not. 

[StanReardon]

Yup, the way they have messed up the battery level is atrocious. It's a
terrible app.

[gerry_attric]

I am so disgusted with the new app I have stopped using it altogether. Until the app is rolled back to the previous version my Versa4 will sit and collect nothing but dust.