Allow us to choose between "Active minutes" or "Active zone minutes"

[ophelialnc]

Please include a data field for real time active minutes, an essential metric you took away to replace with Active Zone Minutes or be able to choose which I want to see. I had to return my Charge 4 because it was missing this info. I just need a field that tells me how many total real minutes in a day I spent in active heart range. I cannot use active zone minutes in the same way.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Vashock]

I also would like "active minutes" back.  My corporation gives us rewards for tracking active minutes on a daily basis when Fitbit is synced to another app.  I now have to track how long my workouts are manually.  I have been considering switching to a different tracker, but I really do love the fitbits.  Please bring it back.

[Marprelate]

Well said. Clearly, active minutes serve different purposes for different users. If you have a good tracker, you should not have to time your periods of activity manually. For myself, I get a lot of my steps moving around the house doing chores that Fitbit does not recognize (I don't expect it to), but I like to make sure that I am continuously active, in the sense that Fitbit used to recognize, for at least an hour a day.

[Babysittingjake]

Very well said. Please be sure to vote. The more votes we have the more
likely Fitbit is to add the suggestion.

[Babysittingjake]

Honestly, both features should be available and should show on every single
Fitbit device and Fitbit dashboard, including anything Fitbit related.
Fitbit is not cheaply made. Having the best devices, app and community out
there. Just need to continue to get votes, so Fitbit sees this is "Needed"
and a "Necessary" feature for us other users. Thanks for your contribution
to the discussion. Every vote matters 🙂

[SunsetRunner]

I started using a Fitbit Versa 2 last August. I was thrilled and, at first, liked the various options available with the app and the watch. Then the change to the minutes happened without notice, and other minor glitches that I'd accepted were less acceptable. My kids finally got me an Appel watch for Christmas and I kept an eye on this "minutes" issue here in the community, and nothing has changed, at all. So we're eight months down the road, there are almost 200 comments here from users who are dissatisfied with this issue and many, like myself, have moved on to another watch. I suspect many haven't also moved on without commenting here.
I am now signing off for the last time, getting rid of my Versa 2 and saying so long to Fitbit, disappointed with a company that has a lot going for it yet unable to change one of the most basic applications for its watches. Have I said I'm disappointed?! Good luck to those who decide to stick with it.

[Babysittingjake]

I am sorry to see you go. I understand completely and feel I may have to
follow suit soon as well. My Versa (version 1) has been starting to act up
and feel I may need to replace her soon. Although I have my back up Fitbits
(Alta, Alta HR, Charge and 2 Zips) I may be moving along too. Hopefully our
voices are heard before that.

[GarryP]

We really need to be able to choose between Active Minutes and Zone Minutes. Zone Minutes are really a bit of a joke, I did a two hour drive the other day and got no Zone Minutes but my partner sitting in the passenger seat (of the car) and reading while I drove got allocated 88 Zone Minutes and yet when we go fro a brisk 30 minute+ walk and our heart rate is up we get no minutes. It would appear who ever did the programing for Zone Minutes got something horribly wrong as we should not be able to get Zone minutes while sitting reading and yet get none while exercising.

[hazelvodd]

So many people have requested that active minutes be restored and rightly so! Come on Fitbit, at least acknowledge the issue people are raising and let us know if you are even considering this. What is the point of these forums if you take no notice and do not respond. It is bad enough to have an important feature removed without your consent but then when you complain about it and you are just totally ignored that compounds the problem. We are sick of going on about this and want to know NOW when or if Fitbit intend to listen to their very unsatisfied customers. 

[hill_runner]

Active Zone Minutes are absolutely ridiculous. Yesterday, I went for an hour-long 6km walk with my toddler in the hiking carrier, so not exactly easy - I got a whole 3 zone minutes. Last week, I was ill and had a dizzy spell while holding my toddler - somehow got me 4 zone minutes. Neither of these are representative in any way of my actual activity levels, so I still have to look at other metrics, like step count distribution etc to get the information that I used to be able to get in one easy number via active minutes.

Plus, as a volunteer triathlon and athletics coach, the whole concept of the "fat-burning zone" as used by Fitbit active zone minutes infuriates me. It's complete nonsense! Our bodies prefer to use the glycogen stored in our muscles before they turn to other energy sources. It takes about 20-60 minutes of aerobic exercise depending on fitness levels before fat becomes the primary energy source. Fitbit's use of a "fat-burning zone" is going to mislead people into thinking they are burning fat if they get their heart rate into that zone for just a few minutes. This completely defeats the purpose of an activity tracker that's supposed to help people improve their health and fitness.

[Ole805SB]

@Vashock Your device IS TRACKING Active Minutes, it's just not displaying them on the watch or in the app. The Active Minutes do show up on the website and should be synced with the other app if it's synced via the website.

[zirc21]

@Ole805SB  you say that like it's some kind of solution. If it's missing from the watch and missing from the app, then it's effectively missing completely for 99% of users.

And since fitbit has removed active minutes from the watch and from the app, I expect them to eventually remove it from the website also. They have said that zone minutes are replacing activity minutes.

[Vashock]

Yes, I am aware of that. I can also see it in the app by drilling down on
the individual activity (once it is finished). My point was that I should
not have to while I am on an activity/workout, and I definitely do not want
to have to log into a website. It was perfect when it was just on the app
home screen and all I had to do was refresh it.

[Ole805SB]

@zirc21 Using the website (on computer or phone) or another app to see your active minutes is not a solution, it's a workaround, and hopefully a temporary one. (I'm not holding my breath.)

I can't see Fitbit removing Active Minutes completely because all or most of the other device makers, and apps, support it.

[NJ1]

Thank you for this great suggestion, I bought a new Inspire 2 today and to my horror discovered "active zone minutes" instead of my normal active minutes. I sincerely hope Fitbit support takes this suggestion under advisement asap for the benefit of all users of Fitbit products, thank you!!!

[Babysittingjake]

Hopefully Fitbit will hear our cries.

[BillBak]

Adding my vote to the many.  Bought an Inspire 2 to replace my flakey Zip.  I don't need another watch and you get no minutes of any sort if you wear the Inspire 2 on your hip (with a holder) or in your pocket.  Although, oddly, I get 1X minutes sometimes.  A few here and there when doing simple things like taking out the recycling. But none when actually moving briskly and raising my heart rate (, because I don't wear it on my wrist.). Time to see if I can make that Zip work again and return the Inspire 2.

[Babysittingjake]

Every Vote counts. Please keep the comments and suggestions coming. Fitbit needs to hear us. 

[NickyN]

Fitbit make it as hard as possible to reply to issues such as these. So they will deter many people, who agree with us, from registering our dissatisfaction with their product. They are totally in the wrong by REMOVING a health metric that we used to have and replacing it with an active heart zone metric that (according to the World Health Organisation) does not currently apply to any adult with a physical or medical problem that affects their mobility! They should be ashamed at treating their customers this way. 

[Marprelate]

That is true, NickyN. When I contacted Fitbit Support, I was directed to these forums, and went through the hassle of registering so I could comment, but I don't feel like anyone is listening.  If you have a complaint about a product, in most instances you can contact customer service and get an acknowledgement and a reply--not always satisfactory, but at least you feel you have been heard. This modus operandi suggests, rightly or wrongly, that the company doesn't care very much what its customers think. Even if "only" 199 people have voted in favour, we are talking about the restoration to the watch and the phone app of data that the watch is already collecting but is not displaying. How hard can it be to please us couple of hundred users--plus those who just put up with changes they don't like without complaining, and less, of course, those already so annoyed that they are lost to Fitbit for ever--who have asked for the restoration of active minutes on the equipment they have with them while exercising? I used to teach customer service, and I can tell you that one person who actually takes the time to complain is just the tip of the iceberg of those who are dissatisfied.

[LindaY]

Please bring back Active Minutes! I don't like the zone thing at all. I keep track of my Active Minutes in my journal and make sure I do more than 30 minutes a day. I can't tell now.

[Ole805SB]

@LindaY There are workarounds mentioned above for finding your Active Minutes. Go to your dashboard at fitbit.com is one workaround.

[LindaY]

Ole, I did find that and bookmarked the page on my phone so I can find it easily to enter into my journal.

[Ole805SB]

One advantage of the smart watches as opposed to the no-display trackers is there is no need to lug one's phone to see the progress. 

That's one reason why I got the Charge 4 to replace the Flex 2. But with Active Minutes missing from the watch, I still have to lug my phone around to see my Active Minutes progress.

[JoB28]

Please give us back active min instead of zone min. I want to see the ACTUAL time I have spent exercising. It is nice to see a chart of how much of that time was in cardio etc. But this could still be done to include all activity. A gentle walk is better than no activity and for people unable to do cardio fitbit is no longer for them.

[Rich_Laue]

@JoB28 you may want to add your vote to the existing suggestion. 

Allow us to choose between "Active minutes" or "Ac...