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@katidid700, well to put it bluntly because there is no software that runs on the Mac that Windows users have a need for. This very thread is a prime example that apparently there are folks who want to run some Windows programs on the Mac; this is the reason why Apple created Boot Camp.
And really at the end of the day, if the Mac allowed their users to run the Fitbit iPad app on the Mac then this wouldn't be an issue.
Look, I don't work for Fitbit (otherwise 'Fitbit' would be part of my forum id). I can't implement the feature. I'm just suggesting viable solutions for you folks to participate in challenges. At the end of the day getting a cheap unlocked Android or Windows Phone (you can get them for $30 if you shop around) is probably the path of least resistance.
Yes, I agree, and I can hear it now... "I shouldn't have to..." Look folks, I'm just trying to get you unblocked.
And contrary to what many folks will claim, there's not "bait and switch". I believe that nowhere in the packaging for any of the trackers do they mention "Challenge Friends & Family". Look at the features for the Alta, it's not listed there. You wouldn't have found out about this feature until after you had gotten the tracker and presumably it wouldn't have contributed to your decision to buy the tracker.
@katidid700 Don't mind @PureEvil he's just winding you up. No one is seriously going to pay good money to install Windows 10 on a Mac just so they can run the fitbit app
No, after many, many years on pcs, there isn't anything I need enough to somehow put Windows ANYTHING on my MacBook. Nuh uh - then there goes the neighborhood....
Nor workarounds, I'd like the feature, but doing that just annoys me, so to hell with it, seriously.
@PureEvil, people are misled about the challenges if they review fitbit products online before purchasing, which many people do. ( https://www.fitbit.com/flex ) If you scroll down you will see where fitbit talks about competing in challenges. It was my understanding that I would be able to compete in challenges on my fitbit since fitbit advertises it works with Mac OS X 10.6 and up. This is very misleading and very disappointing. And I agree with others, I would never install Windows on my Mac.
All of them are accessible from the online dashboard and none of these imply challenges (like the workweek hustle, goal day, etc). Honestly, I don't have all the products, so I can't really cross-reference all the packaging, but the times I have looked at it, they don't actually mention participating in challenges (yes, I was surprised). In the interest of full disclosure, I can look at the packaging for the products that I have at home and can report back one way or the other, just let me know.
Allow me to frame it differently... I use a Lumia 950 a smartphone that was released less than a year ago. If you look at the (actually listed) features for the Surge and the Blaze, it lists call and text notifications. I have both the Surge and Blaze, and I don't get call nor text notifications. It's not supported on my platform. Hey I understand, it's low marketshare, so it's lower priority for them and I understand that I could switch platforms to get that feature, but elect not to. I was my choice to pick a platform that I prefer and I made my peace with some features not being available due to that choice.
Now you folks using a Mac are among a group of PC users whose population are < 10%... and among that < 10% the population is even smaller when you consider Mac users who do not have smartphones. I'm not saying this to upset you, but I'm just stating the numerical facts; remember, I too am a victim of marketshare.
I know that it seems to some of you that Fitbit is giving Windows preferential treatment. It's not. Allow me to explain...
Fitbit already developed the tablet version of the app for Apple devices (iPad). It allows you to participate in challenges. Apple does not enable you to run tablet apps (iPad) on the Mac.
Fitbit also developed the tablet version of the app for Windows tablets. It allows you to participate in challenges. It just so happens that Windows allows you to run the tablet app on desktops and laptops. That's the real reason why you can participate in challenges from Windows 10.
@PureEvil you misrepresent many of us. We are not whining. We are not complaining that fitbit won't accommodate our platform of choice. We are complaining that fitbit WON'T RESPOND to what is by all accounts a quite reasonable request.
If Fitbit said "sorry Mac-users, dashboard challenges not gonna happen" or "it'll be years before we get to that" we would indeed make our peace with it as you say. Some of us might switch trackers, some of us might add a Windows device or bootcamp, some of us would just accept it and keep on keeping on.
But to drag things on for years without giving more than a "we're looking into it" is simply poor customer service. That is the part I object to.
However, Fitbit doesn't normally announce if or when they'll implement a feature. They'll just announce it once they've done it. I'm guessing that this particular feature is not going to be much different. I was diligently waiting for a feature for 18 months and then suddenly it appears one day... It didn't prevent me from using the device, it just meant that during that time, I worked around the lack of that feature.
Agreed @PureEvil, and I think it's a safe assumption that none of us is prevented from using our device while awaiting this particular feature. But we're also not prevented from coming on this forum and expressing our frustration with fitbit for taking so long, especially when programmer-types are asserting with confidence that this would not be a complex problem to solve, technically speaking.
It's kind of like my frustration that the notification list switched recently from newest-on-top to newest-on-bottom. In the grand scheme of things of course this is a very minor issue. But with the perception that this should be a very easy fix, especially since it was one way and then suddenly one day switched, which makes it seem like it should be extra-easy to just "put it back the way it was".
Your point about Fitbit not normally announcing changes is fair. I guess the existence of this forum makes it feel a bit like we are interacting directly with the company, when we're really not, and that makes it all the more frustrating when the company doesn't respond.
This is rediculous. We put a man on the moon FOURTY SEVEN years ago but we can't see challenges on a non-app website? It's all the same database people!
"You wouldn't have found out about this feature until after you had gotten the tracker and presumably it wouldn't have contributed to your decision to buy the tracker."
Many of us got them because our friends wanted us to join them in the challenges or gave them to us so that we could join in the challenges. If we don't have smart phones, we are out of luck! As per an earlier suggestion of yours, I did update to windows 10 so that I could download the app. When I tried to do so, I was told that it "is not compatible with your device." I got a new tablet so that I could download the app. Same results. The only thing that I got from this was non-working touchpad and speakers when I upgraded to windows 10 and a more expensive tablet that still won't work with the challenges.
For us, it is not a "bait and switch," as you said. It is, however, part of the reason that we have the fitbit in the first place. AND the back door patchworks that are supposed to help us to participate in the challenges do NOT work for all of us!
Time to get it off the "under consideration" status. Challenges are what keep people going and talking...and spreading the sales... You want them checking their status constantly and from everywhere!
The phone app isnt available for all phones so it'd be It would be really useful to have this feauture added to the web dashboard. Seems strange to me to limit the web app.
C'mon Fitbit. Really? Its been two years and 15 pages of comments here since users have been requesting that the challenges be available on the web dashboard. Why are you not listening to your users? Its so frustrating. If its really such a problem, please respond and/or contact me as I have many web devoloper friends that can implent this feature in less than a month. This is ridiculous!
I wish I could follow the challenge chats on my PC. I don't understand why this is a phone-only feature. Why is FitBit so scattered around? Some things you can only do on the app, other things you can only do on the website. Really unintuitive and feels like a broken design. Imagine if you could only read your email on the computer and had to respond back using your phone.
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