Display date and time of last sync

[ianbhenderson73]

In general, I'm really happy with the look and feel of the FitBit dashboard - because my FitBit is usually plugged into my work's PC I tend to sit with the Dashboard open on my machine all day.

I would only make one tiny suggestion about the Dashboard: instead of having the page telling me how many minutes it's been since the last sync (which doesn't automatically update unless I refresh the page), would it not be better if it told me the date and time at which it was last synchronised?

Moderator Edit: Labels 

[CarolynN]

On the dashboard, it would be great if the time-last-synched actually showed as a real time, so you knew exactly how many minutes ago it synched. '5 minutes ago' isn't helpful, because it doesn't change often enough. 

[date-and-time]

dashboard last update should show date and time not how long ago since the page has been updated

[date-and-time]

Was for force but that wasn't an option on the page they gave me....

[date-and-time]

"Last Sync: 13 mins ago", 13 mins from when?  Did it update 13 mins ago when page was refreshed or 13 mins ago 10 mins ago?  Maybe didn't sync, who knows?

[23skidoo]

Lol , glad I am not the only one who though this was a little dumb and really quite careless to have considered this the correct option here.

[AmritaFitbit]

Thanks for your feedback about display date and time of last sync on the Fitbit dashboard! We'll be sure to look into this and pass along your thoughts to the rest of the team. 

[russmbrown]

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@ianbhenderson73 wrote:

I would only make one tiny suggestion about the Dashboard: instead of having the page telling me how many minutes it's been since the last sync (which doesn't automatically update unless I refresh the page), would it not be better if it told me the date and time at which it was last synchronised?

I would strongly agree with this change to the dashboard.  Please, FitBit, "Make it so" !!

Also add a button on the dashboard to synch my Surge, instead of having to open another app to do this?

Thanks!

[russmbrown]

I have the Surge HR, and I completely agree!  

Time last synched as currently shown is meaningless. "Two minutes ago" - from when exactly????

[EricJRW]

Seeing the X minutes ago is kinda pointless, until you refresh the page.

If the time of the last sync was displayed, one would not need to refresh to obtain the information.

Just my two cents.

Regards, Eric

[Cjams2000]

I agree.

[woodypang]

Me too... I agree.

A time stamp would be more useful.  "... minutes ago" is meaningful only if it is dynamically updated.

[MySandyGirl]

I fully agree as well. I've only had my Fitbit HR for 6 days and am continually frustrated with not knowing specifically WHEN (i.e. the exact time) the Last Sync occurred.

[Aerostation]

I would like to add my own vote to fix the "Last Sync" message.  It makes absolutely no sense to use a message like "5 minutes ago" on a static screen that never auto updates.

The message should either change to the actual date/time of the last sync so it is statically correct, or be coded to automatically refresh every minute or so like other web sites do.

[JeffInTampa]

I posted the same issue in the community "Dashboard" forum last year but not in this forum. Here it is, though it is pretty much the same as everyone else's comments.

Please consider placing an actual time stamp here instead of "Just now" or "15 minutes ago" - those messages look the same hours (or days) later until you re-sync or refresh the page.

I have to wonder - has anyone ever commented that they prefer less (or less accurate) information?

Finally, from a programming perspective it would be simpler to just format the time of the last sync in the format appropriate for the user's locale. As it is, you have to calculate the relative time, then decide whether the units to be displayed should be seconds, minutes, hours, days, etc., then render the resulting text in the user's language. That's alot more code, and more opportunities for bugs to creep in.

[jimojimo]

Just voting my agreement with most of what's already been well said here.

The "Just Now" and other relative terms are never, ever, ever useful.  Ever. 

Really, we're quite capable of seeing a timestamp as the Last Sync, doing some math, and figuring out if it really was "Just Now", "5 minutes ago", or "A really, really long time ago".

Good UX designers know using relative "times" is a rookie mistake.

[JeffInTampa]

Here's what I posted in the forums (wrong place) when I got my first tracker. I see I'm not alone. Are they listening?

"Please consider placing an actual time stamp here instead of "Just now" or "15 minutes ago" - those messages look the same hours (or days) later until you re-sync or refresh the page."

[RedDodgerAZ]

Vote for new change!

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi everyone, and thanks for sharing this suggestion. We’re very happy to let you know that this has been released on Website Dashboard. You can find more details here: How do Fitbit devices sync their data?

@ianbhenderson73, in recognition of your excellent suggestion, each of your votes will now count as 5 votes – you have the power! Thank you for sharing this idea, and thanks to everyone who voted and commented for your enthusiasm which has now materialized for everyone’s benefit. We hope you all enjoy this new addition to the Fitbit product or service!