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by TravisPflanz 26m ago OPTIONS FYI - Chalenges are on the desktop app. Just plug in your dongle and install the desktop app. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Can you elaborate please? Is the "desktop app" different from the desktop dashboard? Where are you suggesting to plug in the dongle? Mine stays plugged into my laptop all the time so that my tracker syncs automatically.
When a feature request has nearly 300 comments and was suggested some 675 days ago, it should not be "under consideration", but it should be "implemented" and available to the users for quite some time already!!!!
That's fair, but when you consider that 91%+ of PC's you can buy today (by virtue of Mac only having around 8% marketshare) can run the Fitbit App on Windows 10 and that this feature request predates the release of Windows 10...
There's every reason to believe many of these folks who had voted for this feature request are no longer affected and are happily participating in challenges.
I'm simply pointing out that neither the date of the feature request nor the number of votes is necessarily compelling since many of these folks can now participate in challenges (on the Windows 10 Fitbit App).
Are you suggesting that Macs and pre-10 Windows machines can use the "Windows 10 Fitbit App"? It certainly doesn't seem to be available to me.
I think that, as long as people with Windows 10 are aware they can use this app, then you might consider that all the complaints people are registering now, on this and the several other threads devoted to this topic, are from people who don't have that option. Even if it's not every commenter in these threads, it's still a lot of people who would like to participate in challenges but aren't able to until Fitbit changes things.
Why is there such dismissal of this idea (scoffing at the number of people affected, etc) instead of just ADDING THE OPTION or, at a minimum, telling us definitively that it can't/won't happen for X reason?
Fitbit is getting far worse PR from failing to respond substantively to requests/comments for YEARS than they would from just being up front about whether this option is ever going to be made available for non-Windows 10 computer users...
That is great for all Windows 10 users, but I hope all Mac users will speak up. Fitbit says there are 9.5 million paid active users as of April. That would be approximately 760,000 users on a Mac. I hope Fitbit will consider accomodating their Mac clients also. We would love to be able to participate in the challenges.
As a systems administrator with access to many access logs, I can tell you that less than 30% of the user sessions are initiated by the Win10 operating system. I know this is anecdotal and not a huge sample size, but it goes to show that challenges on the desktop are still needed
I have a Mac and won't go back to PC for a lot of reasons. And don't tell me about the ways of putting windows on my Mac cause been there done that and don't like it. I switched to Mac because of all the problems with Windows and plus their prices are outrageous.
Here's an idea, just put the option on the desktop and not through another app.
I have been a customer of Fitbit for almost 4 years and I tell people all the time about Fitbit (and actually bought about 6 for friends and family) and how much I love my One. Since I started with Fitbit they have come a long way to please people but this is one way they have dropped the ball. This should be all inclusive.
To answer your question. Yes, I still think that this thread would be noisy even for people who are running Windows 10. This is why:
First, Windows 10 was released on July 2015; this feature request was submitted eight months before Windows 10 was available (November 2014). So many of the people who wanted (but were unable) to participate on challenges when this was submitted (and voted for this feature request) are now able to participate in challenges. So how many of the folks who voted for this feature no longer really need it? I don't know, but I know it's not zero.
Second, since Windows 10 was a free upgrade from Windows 7 (and 8 and 8.1), many people simply upgraded their computers. If you upgraded, chances are that you're continuing to use and sync your Fitbit with just Fitbit Connect; it works just fine. Most folks wouldn't think to go to the setup page and download the Fitbit App for Windows 10 if everything works they way it did.
Do I think that there are still people affected who are not able to participate in challenges?Absolutely.
Do I minimize that? No.
However, I don't believe that either the number of votes nor the time this feature was submitted is an accurate reflection of the priority of this feature. In other words, to describe this as an 18-month old, 600+ vote feature request (compared to other feature requests) isn't really honest. Many of those folks are no longer affected; realistically this feature request is (though not by the letter, by the spirit of the request) partially implemented.
Do I think that challenges should be accessible from the web dashboard? Yes.
I don't work for Fitbit nor do I have any insight into how they plan their features. I was just hoping to help at least some of the folks who are running Windows 10 and can participate in challenges who were not aware.
I do understand that you want to make sure that any folks who CAN use this Windows 10 App become aware of it. Nuthin' wrong with that.
But this thread HAS been going on for a year and a half and certainly SOME of those early commenters were Mac users or folks using (and sticking with) earlier Windows machines. Some may have had their problem solved by buying a Windows 10 machine but plenty of us have not. So even if you leave out the folks who no longer have a problem, there are still plenty of people asking for what seems like a simple functionality and for some reason in 18 months it hasn't been made available nor has the company given any explanation or expected timeline. It just feels nonresponsive and dismissive.
I appreciate that you don't work for Fitbit and I wish someone who DOES work for them would come to the thread and give some sort of explanation and/or timeline for this "consideration". Even though there is nothing wrong with your reminding people of the Windows 10 App, it's hugely frustrating when that is the ONLY response we are getting and it's one that doesn't help many of us.
It would be great if Fitbit could make a Challenge Page on our Profile Page that will link to the challenges. For people such as myself that does not have a smartphone.
I was looking forward to Fitbit's Challenge Day. I went out and participated, just to find out the next day unless I had a smartphone I could not participate in the event.
I'm enjoying using the challenge feature with a colleague who recently purchased a fit bit and a long time friend who, up until now, we would basically compare our 7 day step status. I have an Android Phone but I am unable to go back to previous weeks so I figured it would be easy to check on the computer Dashboard only to discover there is not such feature! It makes sense to add it, but also to keep a history.
The reason for the latter is, if one person just walks a lot more regularly and the other always loses, if you could see what your previous week was and compared how much more you each did the following week, there could be an informal challenge based on how much more each of us did - a contest that either could win (and keep interest in the challenge).
One of the reasons I got a fitbit was to compete in challenges with friends all over country. Now I find out I cannot accept challenges from my Mac desktop. Now that stinks. I do not have a smartphone and do not plan to get one. So guess I'm stuck until fitbit upgrades the software for us Mac desktop users.
As to those suggesting the desktop app, that doesn't fly. I have many devices - work computer, home computer, tablet, phone, etc. I can't/don't want to install the app on every device - just want to be able to view the challenge status on the web site dashboard. Should be a simple add.
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