Bring back support for Windows 8.1

[justme1947]

I was upset to find out that you had discontinued support for the fitbit app on Windows 8.1. That OS is still quite common and supported by Microsoft at this time. I can understand that you're not able to go back to previous OS versions but you stopped support on a system that many of us use and would like to use the app features on our computers. Also, many people want challenges available on their computers. Support your users a little better please!

[TaZmAnUK]

The Charge 2 is meant to be compatible with Windows phones and is being sold as such, but is shockingly not even compatible with Windows phones running Windows 8.1

Currently if you own any Windows 8.1 Smartphone, the Charge 2 shockingly cannot be used with it, despite other fitbit trackers in the range being fully supported on the same phone using the same offical Fitbit app. My Windows 8.1 phone is more than capable of working with a Charge 2 tracker and also has built-in GPS, bluetooth etc. but the Charge 2 is not shown as an option on the Fitbit Windows 8.1 mobile app as Fitbit have amazingly chosen not to support any Windows 8.1 phones for owners of the Charge 2.

I have read online that Fitbit apparently assumed that all 8.1 Windows phones would be updated to run Windows 10 by Microsoft so that's why this decision was taken, but this is absolutely not the case. Many Windows phones have not been updated to run Windows 10 and many can't run Windows 10 as they were not technically designed to run it.

If you own a Windows 8.1 phone and purchased a Charge 2 to use with it (like myself), you cannot use it at all. You are unable to install the Charge 2, you cannot use the phone's GPS and you also cannot sync the Charge 2 with any Windows 8.1 phone. The Charge 2 is currently totally useless if you own a Windows 8.1 phone.

Looking online, I have found that people have been complaining about this for months and amazingly nothing has been done about it.

Moderator Edit: Added Labels/Title for Clarity

[Nuneatonmark]

Completely agree with this post, my Fitbit Charge 2 is going back if this isn't rectified ASAP. It's completel ridiculous that the Charge 2 does not support Windows 8.1.

[tomrabbit]

Totally agree.  I chose the fitbit Charge 2 BECAUSE it was meant to work with Windows phone.  I'm fully aware that Windows phones are less popular, but as I have no interest in any other apps, I have no inclination to change it.  I bought  my phone for its excellent camera, and until I see a better one at a reasonable price, I will be sticking with it.

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[hotshot55]

The idea that Fitbit chooses to show the device as Windows compatable is false advertising. This should be fixed immediately.

[Dave1596]

It's not false advertisement, it says along the site to check if your device is compatible. fitbit.com/devices. That makes it official.

[hotshot55]

Dave1596

I bought the charge 2 for my wife for Christmas. I was not on the website, I was in a Best Buy store. Let me quote to you what it says on the box. "Works with ios, Android, & Windows devices, Mac & PC".  No where on the box does it state to check and see if your device is compatible. No where on the box does it state works only with Windows 10 devices. You may not consider this as false advertising but it is at the least misleading. The fact is a lot of people bought this device thinking that it would work with their phone because the box said it would.

[SunsetRunner]

I have just upgraded to the Charge 2 and have been to pair it on my kindle, but not my windows phone which is a Lumia 535, runnng 8.1. don't see why we should have to update our phones as well. The app needs to be compatible with all systems and with all fitbit items.

[My3rdfity]

The charge 2 is my 3rd fitbit. Been very happy so far, but I desperately need to sync it with my Windows phone.

[Loyou]

Please fit this!!!!!!!  I too am not giving up my windows phone, it has an exceptional camera, the whole reason I bought it.  It said on the fit bit box it was compatible with windows phones, no exceptions, so why isn't it?  Kinda crappy. 😞

[rossmick]

I can only agree 100% that not supporting Win mobile 8.1 software is a very serious error. I have the Lumia 928 and it has worked flawlessly, while my friends ipads, and others are constantly in some state of not working correctly. As a software developer I don't see the real expense in upgrading the existing code to handle the Charge 2. I really don't want to take this unit back as I evaluated it against many others and felt it was the best for me. I respectfully ask that Fitbit spend the time and money to do this simple fix. If they don't want to send me the code and requirements and I'll be happy to update the code for them.

FITBIT get this DONE ASAP

[Windows8user]

Dave1596. I have a Lumia 640. Fitbit website states Charge 2 is compatible with Lumia 640. Indeed, the phone connects by Bluetooth to my Charge 2. It's the APP which then won't work. I can't even set the thing up because you need to do that via the app. Hopefully Amazon will take the thing back, and I won't bother with another Fitbit product.

[yozzer123]

I am another user who has just wasted £130.00 on a Charge 2 to find it is not compatible with my Win 8.1 phone. Connects via Bluetooth, but as has been stated above, I can't get any further. My mobile is a business one, so upgrading to Win 10 isn't an option. As above, I need to look at returning the Tracker and re-loading my old Charge HR - if the app will still let me, which I suspect it won't. What a shambles!

[tomatts]

One more user who have just wasted near € 150 on a useless device.  I checked all info I could find and it says Charger 2 is compatible with windows phone 8.1.  I have a Lumia 530. Not possible to upgrade to W10. BT can see and connect the Charger 2, but the app doesn't list it.  It's really bad service not to clearly inform what's supported or not!  NO MORE  Fitbits ever for me!!! 

[SovietVodka901]

I agree with you completely.

I was so angry when i spent what is too me quite a lot of money only to find that i couldn't use the thing cuz it wasn't supported on any of my devices. They are just excluding a large number people from their products and its down right rude. I will be returning my fitbit to the store if i can't get it to work on my Blackberry. VERY UPSET. I HAVEN'T GOT THE MONEY FOR THIS.

[Avempace]

I bought on Fitbit Charge 2 for my dad but I will have to ask him to return it since it is not working.

[MarkF2748]

I am a new owner of FitBit Charge 2 and greatly disappointed it does not work with my Windows Phone (Lumia 635).  BlueTooth connects but app does not recognize the device.  While Windows phones are a small percentage of the market, they still represent a very large number of real disappointed people.  Please fix!

[BDH48]

Totally agree. What is so difficult for Fitbit to resolve this problem by launching a windows 8.1 App. If they are not going to do that they need to remove Win81 phones from the compatibility list.

[HKHailey]

I'm getting a little perturbed about this. My Windowsphone has better specs than many laptops and even more tablets. It has great battery life, great features, gps and other bells and whistles. I don't desire to downgrade my phone in order to have a toy work with it just because Microsoft will no longer upgrade my model to Windows 10  mobile. (I wasn't even aware of the upgrade until it was too late.)

But the Fitbit Charge HR works great with it. I got my wife a Charge 2 as a gift and She loves it (She does have Windows 10 mobile on her phone). Helping her learn to use it, I was impressed with the sleep tracking, which helps when you have PTSD. I also use the connected GPS with the Charge HR. So I decided to "Upgrade" to a Charge 2 myself.

My phone (HTC One M8) pairs with it right off the bat with no hassle, but the app doesn't even show the Charge 2 to install???? What's up with that?

So, essentially I upgraded hardware and got a downgrade on the software. And in order to get the app to work, I need to get another Phone? Really? When this phone blows my son-in laws' iPhone away for speed,stability and usability? He's now looking into Windows phone.  I don't think that he will go back. I know that I won't as long as I can help it. (I believe  that MS made a mistake by quitting before enough people got a chance to actually USE a Windowsphone.)

I do hope that y'all rethink not supporting WP8.1 for the Charge 2 and other devices. It will probably determine whether my family stays with Fitbit or we return these Charge 2's and go another route and become someone else's customers.

It's a shame, too. Because the app, the web interface and everything works exceptionally well together. But, So does Windowsphone.

Just because MS got out of the phone business doesn't mean that their phones, or fans, are gone.

Thanks for listening,

H.K. Hailey

[BDH48]

The only way around this at the moment is to pair your Fitbit with a windows 10 computer or an Android device. You can then use the Fitbit App om your phone to display data and input things like food and drink but you get no linkage directly with Your windows 8.1 Phone and the Charge 2. I agree with you MS pulled out of the phone market prematurely but to be fair Android have about 85% of the World market share, Apple has 14% and Windows had about 0.5 % before they pulled out. ( North America is only a small slice of the World market of course)

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[HKHailey]

But you are missing the point. When I'm out, I don't have access to all of those workarounds. All of that is at the house.

When I'm out, all I need and use, device-wise, is the Windowsphone. I don't need all the extra baggage, cables, weight, etc.

I got the fitbit in the first place for the connected GPS features which led to the purchase of the Charge 2. I can "work around" darn near any problem in the technology world and have been doing since I was in the USAF in 1984.

Since Windowsphone 8 came out, I no longer have to carry all of the extra crap needed before in order to provide system support.

I really don't "Need" the Charge 2. But it was advertised as working with Windowsphone, so I decided to add it to my "Tool Box" and give my Charge HR to my nephew. I can't do that now, because I have to swap back and forth now, with no way to sync the Charge 2 until I get home, which sometimes can be a week or so. Unless I add more baggage, which probably isn't going to happen.

Well. That's my view point. Sure, it sounds silly, maybe. But so does dropping support for a platform that will " eventually" go to Windows 10 mobile. It's more cost effective to give up and return the toy than screw up the tools and system.

Thanks for your response.

HK Hailey


Sent from my Windows Phone

[AlexandraFitbit]

Hi @justme1947, thanks for sharing this suggestion.

We're always striving to enhance Fitbit products and services, and we appreciate all of the input we receive from our customers. We do not currently have plans to release this feature. You can learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQs.

As a workaround we can suggest you to download Fitbit Connect by selecting the PC option. You won't be able to sync new products but some of the features may work if you set up on an alternative device. You can also check this article About the Fitbit app for more information. For now, we will leave this suggestion open for votes (and closed to comments) so that we can continue to track community demand over time.

Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us and we will let you know if anything changes.

[AlexandraFitbit]

Hi @TaZmAnUK, thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us -this feature suggestion already exists so I’ve moved your post here a s it is not currently planned.

[RBDK97]

If you can download the Fitbit application with an .exe file, it will be better for accessing more easily the app. .exe file are the Windows program script runner. If you have the application on the Microsoft store, you can easily access to the original .exe file. (The Fitbit app is available on the Microsoft store)

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @RBDK97, thanks for explaining why you would like to have the option to download the Fitbit application with an .exe file on Windows. This feature suggestion already exists, so I’ve moved your post here. While we don’t currently have plans to release this feature, we always appreciate the passion and creativity that comes out of this Community. Since we know this idea is important to many of you, we have left voting open to continue tracking interest and will post another update if anything changes. To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs.

You can also vote for this other suggestions: Support Linux.

I hope to see you around.

[tomatts]

I'm still offended by the terrible bad service and misinformation I got when I bought my fitbit wearable.  I'd checked that it should work with my phone, but it was wrong information, so it became useless.  Not even phone support person had correct information.  I put my fitbit activity band to trashbin and I'll never buy a fitbit product ever again!!!