Get back step charts for friends in dashboard

[Twoshedsone]

Who's bright idea was it to remove the friends step graph? Get Step Charts back for friends like it used to be! This is a deal breaker for me. I wont be getting another fitbit when this one breaks without friend's step chart back in the mix its just not competitive anymore!

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Twoshedsone, thanks for sharing your Feature Suggestion with the Fitbit Community. We aren't sure what you mean by friends step graph and we'd like to understand your idea better. Please reply with more detail or specifics on how your idea would work. You can even attach a screenshot in your reply. See you around.

[NancyBethLight]

I think I  know exactly what she means. We used to be able to see our friends daily steps, not just the 7 day total. Now we get our friends badges, which is not as useful. This change was a few weeks ago.

[scadivey]

I agree. I don't want to see my friend's total steps for a given period. Show me their steps for that day, so I can actually compete with what they've done for that day. Show me a graph that shows how many steps I have vs my friends! 

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[Adrienna27]

@LizzyFitbit I am surprised this request is confusing given that SO many people have been asking for it back since it was removed a couple of weeks ago. But for the sake of clarification, this is what @Twoshedsone is requesting.  This feature worked until early August when it was removed for no apparent reason and we *really* want it back.  I too am seriously missing the extra motivation that this information inspired.  

 

[Twoshedsone]

You have to wonder what the mentality of the people running Fitbit really is like! Are they really concerned with helping their customers get fitter or are they just trying to find a way to extract more money out of them!?

[NancyBethLight]

Well I am not sure how Fitbit makes more money out of this change to the Friend page.  But it certainly make their staff seem a bit clueless to a) make the change in the first place--why would they think that was a good thing? And b) how they can't figure out that most people don't like it and want to go back. Perhaps just a slow moving bureaucracy.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Twoshedsone and commentators. We wanted to confirm the screen you were referring to, and thanks for the details. Your feedback is a great help when improving our products and services, and I'm keen to hear what others think?

[Xoxox89]

As I have stated in my thread that was marked resolved when it wasn’t, as I have commented on a few other threads and as I will comment on this one- that graph above that shows the ACTUAL DAILY STEPS is the way I moderate a wellness group that tracks daily steps. Without that feature we will no longer purchase dozens of fit-bits a year. We may be small but obviously we are not the only group that uses this feature daily. Acting like you don’t know what we are talking about is ridiculous. And insulting. At least acknowledge the change. Or - to keep loyal customers- bring it back. 

[mredandchris]

I think the chances of Fitbit replacing the friends daily steps that was recently removed ranks up there with a meteor landing in your yard.  The software is full of bugs that haven't been addressed for years.  The only changes that will be made are critical ones.  The profit margin on a tracker isn't that high, and the software sorta works for the most part so no more money will be spent on enhancements. This whole system of maintaining all the steps, floors, badges, calories, competions, etc etc takes a lot of servers and a lot of money.  There is only so much money to go around.  

[NancyBethLight]

I still don't get the money issue. If it costs money to make changes, why did they make the change in the first place. I admit I don't know much about software, but it seems that not investing a little money to make changes that would make your customers happy is rather shortsighted. Would love to hear some defense by company officials.

[gotta_go]

I have read and participated in about 10 threads the past two weeks.  Everything can be rolled up to the fact the customers don't like what Fitbit did.  I have not seen one positive comment at all, if it was, it was a "I like this part, but they really screwed the pooch everywhere else".  Fitbit knows we hate it.  The problem I think is they expected negative feedback, but are not getting enough of it.  They are going back to their little development groups and saying...hey yeah, we ticked off about 100 vocal people, but we were expecting 1000's.  So they are not feeling it.   I wish there was a way that all the complaints would come in with 'High numbers'.  Everyone should at least try to like all the messages with similar complaints hoping that at some point...they see enough that the take it more serious.   I know its only my issue that I particpated in a work group who all tracked and supported each other, and that was just wiped out.  The canned references of Fitbit just turns me off.  Fitbit just no longer has any mojo. 

[purdyforlife]

I used this feature everyday (seeing the daily steps of my friends). It was what made my friends and I very competitive day by day. It was also a way to help encourage my friends when I see they have not moved very much, and suggest we go for a walk or something. I not only used this feature to see what friends daily steps are but also the activity graph chart to see how active I was. You cannot see your light, fairly, very active activity anymore, even for yourself. This was the main reason why I loved fitbit, and now that is taken away. I want these graph charts back; friends daily steps and time active. It is not very competitive anymore when I cannot see how my friends are doing on a daily basis compared to me, 7 days does not cut it.

[AndyWoodland]

I agree. Please urgently reinstate the Daily Step Count and Daily Activity Time graphs for my Friends, that disappeared without consultation or discussion in August

[vee]

YES! I totally agree. I really miss both the leaderboard and the 30 day graphs, especially the time active chart pictured above.   Also, the time of last sync of friends. Loss of these features are going to be a deal-breaker for me too. Over the years, I have convinced some friends to stay with Fitbit (I'm sure they think I work for Fitbit!)  and sadly watched others leave for other trackers.  The friends and our challenges are what set Fitbit apart.  (as an aside, the loss of the old forums here was Fitbit's first huge mistake, imo! That was a couple of years ago. I've been a Fitbitter since 2011. The groups on the app are not nearly as nice. So I don't do groups here anymore.)

[BethAnn]

I completely agree as well!  Myself and a large group of friends used to check each others steps all the time. We would compete or encourage throughout the day. I REALLY miss this feature. In my opinion it was one of the best parts about fitbit. PLEASE bring this back.

[DavidG15]

At least, can a friend's daily step count option be added to the mobile app? Allow the user to toggle between the 7-day total and the current 1-day total?

[carajean15]

Yes, please bring back a way to see our friends daily step totals!!!!!  This change has really bothered me.  I'm not sure if I will get another fitbit when this one dies if I can't see daily step totals of my friends.  

[BrianH56]

Yes, it was better when you could see all your friends and their step count right on the dashboard without having to click to another window,  Just bring back the old dashboard.

[DavidG15]

If friends daily steps will not be added back to the web dashboard, how about adding a daily step count for friends to the mobile app? Make is such that we can toggle between the 7 day and daily count.

[jaboggs]

I too want the daily step tracker back for my friends. I utilized this tool for a company walking event that occurs every Fall and Spring. This was one of the selling points I used to use for my participants is that "you don't have to report your steps to me since we are fitbit friends". With this gone, I will have to require all participants to manually enter their data now, and the incentive is lost for participants with a fitbit. If I had known this was going away when I was in the market for a new fitbit over the summer, I would have jumped over to an Apple Watch. This tool was really the main reason why I stayed loyal to fitbit. I was familiar with the product and it was able to report what I needed. It now does not report what I need and I do not see the value in it as I once did.

[NancyBethLight]

Interesting that Fitbit has been so unresponsive despite all the complaints. Not a good look for them.....

[wmwalker]

I want the daily step tracker back for my friends and also for my kids. It's helpful data. If that info is gone, the next time my Tracker breaks (and they always break), I will not replace it. Having data on friends is what keeps this product relevant. I don't care about their 7-day total. I want daily steps. If that info is gone, I'll be gone too.

[vee]

This is an old thread and apparently Fitbit’s not going back to how it used to be but I agree it used to be so much better! It was so much more motivating and fun to be able to see and compete with friends on the leaderboard, see their time of last sync and daily charts. Since these were things that could be controlled by privacy settings I don’t see why they removed it.  

[mredandchris]

My versa lite gave up the ghost and I am NOT replacing it. The Fitbit
people don't really care anymore

[dbhc]

I bought a Fitbit for my mother so she and I could both monitor her activity now that she's older only to find this functionality has been removed.

My only assumption for them making the decision to remove this functionality is that there are privacy concerns that Fitbit was worried about.  (Especially with the Google acquisition)    Either way, this functionality should not have been removed.  Sharing should be set to private by default and Fitbit should allow users to manually set it to share with friends.   Fitbit can update their TOS to absolve them of privacy concerns if users specifically choose to share their own data.   Removing that option entirely seems ridiculous to me.