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

[Vegstar]

Why can't we just switch back to Active minutes? Zone minutes are completely demoralizing. I'm checking my FitBit mainly to see what time it is now – not like before, walking extra laps to secure the 10 min. Active minutes mark.

However, I was positive when I first read about "Active Zone minutes", thinking that every "Active" (= walking/activity/not idle minute) would count. But that's not the case.

You've set the bar way too high for what sort of activity qualifies as "active", leaving lazy people trying to get moving a bit more often, like myself, feeling absolutely demoralised.

Please, please, please change it back now, or at least let each user adjust what heart rate or per cent above "idle heart rate" constitutes "active" for them....

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[MNorman87]

You guys really need to fix this. Some us have been planning our daily activity around the Activity Minutes metric for years, and this is totally disruptive to our health and fitness habits.

My wife is pregnant and we both have FitBits. To keep her exercise habits up, we’ve been trying to get out for 60 minute walks every day per her physician’s orders. This change makes it more difficult for us to track her activity and keep her healthy. She’s moving at a slower pace than normal so it’s more difficult to get into that zone where her watch is giving her credit for her activity. I use my watch for other things but this basically renders hers useless. 

It’s one thing to ADD a new feature and allow users to choose whether they want to try it out. That’s a non-intrusive action. It’s another thing to REPLACE a cornerstone feature with a new ambiguous feature that disrupts healthy habits. You don’t need to get rid of AZM, but you definitely need to reintroduce AM as an available metric. Please!

[hmwolfie]

I completely agree.  I am having an issue understanding how to properly wear my new Versa 2 to get accurate heart rate data, and spending two hours at the gym sweating and panting, and then hours walking around town with zero zone minutes is very disheartening.  I want to know how long I have been active throughout the day.  At least let us choose rather than replacing the metric.  

[pohlcat01]

Walk/ jog for 28 minutes, but it registered 51. I wasn't doing anything that long. 

A minute is a minute. You can't magically make more of them no matter how hard you work out. 

Also every time I'm active I'm not necessarily trying to raise my heart rate at all. Like when I'm stretching I'm trying to keep it low but still active. or just going for an easy stroll to be outside and enjoy some fresh air. 

[iHiker]

I have already posted a about my displeasure how our Active Minutes have been replaced with Zone Minutes. I have been using a Versa and my wife has a Versa 2. Last night, around midnight, her Versa 2 woke her with a message she had reached her Zone Minutes goal for the week. I had already ordered for myself the new Apple Watch 6. Per my wife's request, I have now ordered hers. Bye, Fitbit!

[nightowl.]

I purchased my Fitbit in July with the SPECIFIC goal of tracking active minutes, as it has worked so well before. Super disappointed that you have changed this to active zone minutes. My minutes changed from 64 to zero as soon as the update was made. This is not motivating and maybe it’s ridiculous but I felt like I wasn’t doing good enough.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @nightowl., thanks for taking the time to share this suggestion about being able to track Active Minutes with us. This idea was already requested in the Feature Suggestions board, so I’ve moved your post here. This will help us to keep the forums organized and make sure the suggestions don't get confused, or split a popular vote. Click on the thumbs-up to show your support and keep adding your suggestions.

[nightowl.]

i want to add that this issue is not solved, you seriously need to allow us to change heart rate zones. You have from what the forums show alone, a lot of customers with disability and or other health issues that don’t have the capability of reaching the active zone minutes that you have set. It’s beyond ridiculous it’s not in the feature that the zones can be adjusted.

You do not promote health with this new feature, you only encourage athletes. I do not wish to be an athlete, I do wish to use this device to encourage myself to move more after the capability I have.

The whole feature screams “you’re not doing good enough” and it’s very strange to me that that’s how a fitness company want to promote themselves.

It’s also strange that the only reply customers get in the forums is that it might be taken up internationally if the post get enough upvotes.

Customers are complaining and feel discouraged by your product, isn’t that enough? Take it up now, instead of waiting for even more displeased customers. 

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[Vegstar]

Completely agree with this. It's time to take your customers seriously.

[Littlechick]

I agree with other comments here. Please bring back proper real active minutes, the active zone minutes are not great and very disappointed that you have removed the active minutes metric. 

[nightowl.]

Hi. As someone else posted here, there is a way to choose you Max heart rate and adjust heart rate (I don’t remember where, I apologize!). Anyway I did this, and I now got 56 active zone minutes for a 40 minute walk. When I opened the Fitbit app to check the heart rate I had adjusted, that information was gone though so not sure what happened there. Fitbit, what is happening? 

[nightowl.]

Hi! I’m looking for a brand of watches that has a similar feature as “active minutes” like Fitbit has before they changed to active zone minutes. Apple Watch? Or maybe Garmin?

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @nightowl., thanks for explaining why you would like to have the option again. We really appreciate your feedback. Sorry we don't have any quick response. I've moved it into a similar request.  A lot of users are asking for this option, I hope we receive updates soon.

[OldPapaMike]

Thanks YojanaFitbit, I'm glad to see the moderators are watching this subject. The AZM seem to be very strange, last night I got up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and got 6 AZM, there was nothing strenuous in that activity.

[harshani]

There are more problems with this for Fitbit than they can admit. Please READ ALL AND PLEASE DO SOME MORE RESEARCH ON THE WEB AND ADD MORE FACTS to prove the points!!

1. GENDER - bpm changes with gender. how exactly the bpm change with gender is not 100% validated. Some studies have given some ideas about this but not full proof. I looked for medical journals in PubMed and nothing is 100% clarified. Because bpm changes so much even within the same gender at the same age range with the same weight.

Not only that a woman bpm changes within a 26-28 day cycle. menstruation days would increase it. Have you factored this Fitbit?

1. AGE -- With gender disparities in bpm comes the factor of age. how exactly gender and age factor into bpm is not 100% provided. Once again a huge grey area. Do an Asian woman and an African woman and a Caucasian woman at the age of 40-50 range have the same bpm? Age is also a grey area. Some women and men who are 50 years old could have better health status than a 20-30-year-old. In that case, how does age fit into bpm at all? Have you factored this Fitbit?
2. ETHNIC differences - Also to factor are racial and ethnic differences. How exactly does age, gender factor in with race has not been defined. For example, Asian men and caucasian men can have different bpm at the same age and weight. this can be a factor of genetic differences, environment, food consumed, etc. Most of the data that Fitbit is showing for bpm is based on western culture (mostly caucasian men and some women). Have you factored this Fitbit?
3. FOOD type, and salt and water intake - what type of food you consume and your water and salt content will factor in too. You can do a simple experiment at home. Change your diet from high carbs and low fat to high fat and low carn (keto) for a week and see how without changing weight the bpm changes. or you can do it vise versa. Same with water or salt.  Have you factored this Fitbit?
4. ENVIRONMENT   - How the environment based on where you live (cold, warm, hot, height), etc also factor into bpm. None of that has been resolved yet in any medical journal. Have you factored this Fitbit?

There are many more factors. I am only noting a few. You all are intelligent people ... read and be critical … don’t fall into marketing strategies that mean nothing. Especially where your health is concerned it is our right to know facts from fiction.

If Fitbit states that they have done all this research and have relevant data ... this is noble prize deserving data. They should publish in Nature medicine and someone should seriously nominate Fitbit for a noble prize.

These are simple things that take so much time for scientists (been a scientist myself working on metabolism and BMR) to figure out. Because there are too many factors to think about. People are so different and many things play key roles.  

for example, I once had 5 male C576BL6 strain mice from the same mouse mother, living in the same cage and I monitored their bpm over some time. Each mouse varied. This shows that even genetically identical mice have different bpm. Same with human.

If all of this is true (which medically and scientifically is true and you all should look at it further online)  .. Fitbit that seems to cater to people around the world regardless of gender, race, ethnic identity, food choices, environment, weather ... is discriminating by their usage of active zone minutes?

 I have been reading other comments on this thread … Various medical issues and medicines seem to play a huge role as well. I did not even think about this. Fitbit is trying to cater to people who want to be healthy by not factoring their medical conditions?

this also now takes us to a very grey area that Fitbit might be not willing to address. the bpm is not only important for active zone minutes, but for Fitbit asessment of cardio fitness, calories lost, sleep?, and many more. So essentially ... does this mean you cannot trust Fitbit for any of these? And these measurements cater to few people and not in general?

This is a problem ... if I was Fitbit management I would fire the medical professional or scientist who started the active zones without really understanding any of the above factors. I understand that the customer care people might not understand any of the above because they are not medical professionals. They only repeat back what is given to them in their briefings. But there has to be a medical professional involved with this process somewhere. I am utterly amazed that they came up with active zones without considering the 1001 factors that affect bpm.

The final conclusion for me is ... Fitbit is only good to count

1. steps
2. miles
3. floors
4. active minutes (and they took away the one reliable measurement every person using fibit could rely on .. active minutes. )
5. The games on the app are a bonus (BUT ….sad that I cannot play BINGO much anymore. It is asking for 20-30 zone minutes per tile and I cannot even do 2 zone minutes. I do on average 25000 – 30000 steps a day and mostly brisk walking to running and I cannot hit more than 2-5 zone minutes for the 5-6 hous I exercise)

Using fancy things to market Fitbit above other fitness watches and giving people targets they cannot accomplish based on age, gender, race, weight, environment, medical conditions, food choices, etc ... really does not make sense. It is wrong!!

 I took a video of me walking at 4mph for an hour and I hit one active zone minute based on Fitbit classifications. how is that possible Fitbit?

I have lost my faith In Fitbit over the past few months since they started this active zone. I started reading more and more about the changes with bpm and started to realize there is nothing to Fitbit. You can accomplish all of this with a $20 fitness watch that you can buy as well (I bought an ionic in May 2020 for a lot more). The same steps, miles, floors, and active minutes can be counted by those watches too.

I had a Fitbit membership and I canceled it. I don’t think I need it.

My next will be a new apple watch. I already have an apple watch but planning on upgrading it soon. I only use Fitbit for games for now and I met some nice people through this app. I will not be buying a new Fitbit after this one breaks.

[pohlcat01]

@OldPapaMike you must of been having one heck of a dream before that! haha

[pohlcat01]

@YojanaFitbit 
thanks for checking in. I think zone points (lets be honest, they arent minutes if you magically make more of them) are important to some, but a lot of people just want a record of when they are active, not in a heart rate zone. 2 very different things. 
Also, upsetting to just delete all that data when I have been tracking it for a long time. More than steps since I dont get a lot of step, i always try to be more active. 

[hmwolfie]

That’s a good point! I completely agree. Active zone minutes only keeps
track of times that are high stress or strenuous exercise. I was nervous
for a meeting today and paced around the house and got 1 active zone
minute. I want to keep track of the time that I walk, do yoga, run, AND
stretch compared to my 8 hour per day sedentary job. It’s not like people
are asking for a new feature. Active minutes was a beloved feature that was
confusingly removed. I also think “active zone minutes” should be renamed
as active zone points because minutes is not an accurate metric for the
units.

[nightowl.]

@YojanaFitbit thank you for answering! 
I really hope Fitbit listens and makes it a choice for customers to go back to active minutes. Several good points are made in this thread! 

Didn’t Amazon have to turn off reviews for Fitbit versa 2 or something because people were so pissed? I think I read that somewhere.

im really happy moderators are checking in and monitoring but kind of wondering where people in charge who can actually move this forward are? They should at least provide an answer as to where this is going. 

[Jellybeanqueen7]

I use two Fitbit’s.   One is my old charge 2 that I use during taekwondo, and the other was a charge 3.  I could see my active minutes without any issues.  My charge 3 had pixel death on the screen so it was upgraded to a charge 4. 
Since I activated my charge 4 I cannot access active minutes from my charge 2.  Also, as I’m using my charge 2 when I am at taekwondo training I also don’t accumulate active minutes.  So now I have an expensive watch, because I can’t see my active minutes, and the new feature is useless to me as it doesn’t include active minutes from taekwondo.

I honestly don’t use the stair feature, I clock up stairs driving to the supermarket 🙄 and the idea of a ladies feature is a no go either.  But, I’m sure others enjoy these features.

I really enjoyed the active minutes feature, bring it back, it made  a great goal feature to see if you were getting in enough activity for the week.  It was the one feature I use the most.

I am considering taking my charge 4 back for a refund, which would be under the not fit for purpose.  Particularly as the app is supposed is able to track multiple Fitbit devices. 

[NatashaAlta]

I would like to see the (total) Active Minutes (instead of Active Zone Minutes) feature included again. I enjoy knowing that I completed 60 minutes of total active time rather than my cardio and fat burn active time. It confuses me and makes me feel less interested in FitBit products.

[kmstubbs]

I am joining in on the displeasure with losing my active minutes. As someone who has serious health issues (cancer) and had had multiple surgeries, I just want to track my exercise per doctors orders and live a healthy lifestyle. My heart rate should be my heart rate, and my exercise minutes are my exercise minutes. I’m not sure where you’re getting your metrics but this is disheartening. I can walk for an hour and only get 2 zone minutes? It’s so frustrating, I just upgraded my iphone, and like others am contemplating the upgrading to a different watch. There absolutely needs to be a fix to this l.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @kmstubbs, thanks for explaining why you would like to have the option to choose between "Active minutes" or "Active zone minutes". Thanks for sharing your feedback. I've moved it into a similar request.  A lot of users are asking for this option, I hope we receive updates soon.

[Laura441986]

I'm wondering if there is someone at Fitbit who read all these comments and is passing the feedback to the developers or if we are just wasting our time here complaining instead of buying an Apple Watch or literally any other smartwatch that counts active minutes. I will be waiting another week to see if Fitbit is taking us into consideration before switching to another brand. 

If they are not taking into consideration this thread, probably they will take into consideration bad reviews we can leave on the app store, on google, etc. I'd invite you to do so as I will. 

[Michellelaroche]

That's an excellent point and I will be doing the same!