Idle Alert

I would love to have an "Idle Alert" feature added where the device would vibrate if you've been idle for a certain length of time.

Moderator edit: Added labels.

1,041 Comments
mamaduck00
First Steps

What I love most about my zip is that it is not out on my wrist.  I don't need everyone to know that I am keeping track of my steps -- thats between me and my bra 🙂

 

I wish, though, that I could set my zip to vibrate after I have been sitting too long.  That feature would ge me to buy a new zip!!!  Just sayin'!!!

mamaduck00
First Steps

Totally agree.  It is the one thing that would make me buy a new zip!!!  (please make sure to offer on the zip option not just the wristbands) -- I prefer to pick my own jewelry)

gzs3
Jogger

+1 (flex)

Eman
Jogger

I'm just here to say "Me too!" I'd like to be able to say M-F 8am-10pm, buzz me if I'm sitting longer than 25 minutes. Being able to switch it on and off easily from my phone, like other alarms, is important so I can sit through a movie, etc.

 

(I have a Fitbit One, and it's synched through my S4)

BigTomG
First Steps

This past month a relative of the family passed away in his apartment. He was alone with not many friends .... several caring family members called every week. He was deceased in his apartment for 1 or 2 weeks before they found him. It dawned on me this morning that if he had a fitbit band around his wrist,  the family members might have detected something wrong (inactivity) earlier and averted this tragedy. And then I got to thinking about Alzheimers patients, shut ins, elderly etc etc.

 

This idle alert function, you suggest,  is applicable to a wider range of people than just those who need an alert to start exercising.  With your wristband, loved ones can monitor unobtrusively whether their loved ones are active or not. Certainly adding a gps receiver would enhance the product even further.

 

Hope this insight might open up this market segment even wider for your "idle alert" idea.

AnnabelleP
Stepping Up

I second this request


@Laura10 wrote:

I would love to have an "Idle Alert" feature added where the device would vibrate if you've been idle for a certain length of time.


 

sdliv
Keeping Pace
The Jawbone Up has the feature and it would be so easy for to be implemented with the fitbit through a firmware update. Fitbit, please add this!
debiannj
First Steps

This feature would be useful, but make it an option so that you can choose NOT to use it.  It would be great for me when I CAN get up and move, but if I'm at my desk, working, it would be very annoying.  I think it would cause me to end up leaving my Fitbit at home where it's usefullness would be in question.  As it is, I already have a light in my office that can't tell the difference between someone doing computer work and no one in the office, making me have to roll my chair out every 10 minutes.  Won't be long before I will put in a floor lamp like my office mates have done.   If I have my Fitbit nagging me to get up when I need to be working, it will end up in the trash.

 

Ade
Powerwalker

This would be really useful for pacing and slowly increasing activity levels for those of us with health issues. 

 

It would have to be customizable though. I would want to set my own number of steps and time period in which I want to reach that number of steps. I would prefer to start and stop this feature from the app,  rather than having it automatically start from 6 to 10pm for example. 

 

Not sure what the best way for letting me know I need to get up and move would be, a shorter buzz of the armband would be great but I'm not sure how the battery would fare. 

Andriy
First Steps

This is definitely important feature - especially for proffesions like programmer, when you all are in the code and need some external reminder to have a walk. Vote for this feature with both hands!!!!

MaddieLove
First Steps
I just requested that
exercisebluff
First Steps

Want it.  Need it.  Between work and school, I'm too "engaged" to get up out of my chair and go for a short walk - more often than once every six hours.

 

 

Moderator edit: format

purplespider
Recovery Runner

Loved this feature on my UP but swtiched to the Flex when the UP went bezerk and time traveled making all my stats messed up. I miss the idle alert feature. 

cyberspastic
Premium User
Recovery Runner

I used the Jawbone Up24 for a (very!) short time and about the only thing I liked about it was you could have your tracker vibrate when you've been sedentary for a set time period. You can also have step updates throughout the day. These would be really nice to have on my Fitbit.

Jrdubyakc
Cross-Country Runner

Agree that this would be a great feature.  Such an important feature for those that work at a desk and can lose track of time.  I often find myself staring at a screen for 4 hours without getting up.  A little morning "buzz" would definitely get me up and moving. 

StanGable
First Steps

Yes, hurry up with this feature already!

TheVigilante
Jogger

Count me as another user who would LOVE an idle alert!

dagnarus75
First Steps

I have a desk job... and a program on my PC called "Take a Break" which buzzes me once an hour to get out of my chair and walk around for a bit.  The program's not "intelligent" though, it doesn't know if 10 minutes ago I walked to someone else's office, which can lead to a lot of snoozes.

 

What would be really nice is if the wristband, which actually does know if I have been active or been sitting on my butt, could give me a little nudge if I've been inactive for too long.  Obviously we'd want this disabled in sleep mode.  😉

 

It would definitely be a way to keep healthy habits in peoples minds by reminding them when they've been sedentary for too long, and fitbit is in a unique position to do it more intelligently than a passive hourly alarm.

R_Sue_H
Recovery Runner

Just stopped by to give my two thumbs up to this! Working on spreadsheets all day long I get lost in the job and when I remember to move, I'm stiff and dry eyed. Having a buzz to remind me to move would be great for my health and my eyes. Please add this feature right away!

khemi
First Steps

Would love an Idle Alert - one of my favorite features from the Jawbone UP.  It seems silly to not have this incorporated already.

Cassian
Runner

I have a Zip, and I came here to ask for an idle alert to be added to the Fitbit app (I'm on Android; Nexus 4) since the Zip obviously doesn't vibrate. 🙂

Theadrock13
Recovery Runner

The Jawbone UP does this "active reminder" when you're idle for too long (of which you can designate how long is "too long").  I bought the Fitbit Flex today because they advertised that it "reminds you to keep moving", which is false, as it does no such thing. 

 

So yes, an active "idle alert" feature should be included in future updates.  There would be an obvious batter life trade-off, but so long as its a feature that can be disabled that shouldn't matter to sensible users.

 

I would appreciate if Fitbit could let me know if this feature will be coming soon, as I only have 90 days to return this Flex and get the UP24 instead.

jeffro
Runner

@Theadrock This has been "Under Review" since 1/28/14.  I doubt you'll have any official comment from Fitbit.  They don't seem to actually pursue any of these suggestions/ideas.  Even their Implemented category is mostly junk or already existing solutions. 

GadgetMOnster
Base Runner
Plus one here
KKB
Jogger

This is a duplicate of this request under review.

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