Keep clock face/device screen on for longer

[horse482]

I work in EMS and love my new Ionic, but when trying to count my patients heart rate and respiration's I keep having to push the button with my other hand which I usually have on the patients arm.  This makes it hard to watch the clock, and flicking my wrist doesn't always work.  It would be nice if there was an option to keep the watch face active for more that 20 seconds, maybe give the options for 1 minute and 2 minutes also.  I understand that will cause the battery to not last as long but that would be my choice.  Thanks for your time. 

Moderator Edit: Title for Clarity

[JustJoe67]

Another vote for the option to either extend the amount of time the screen stays active or at least a single tap action that extends the amount of time the screen stays active. EMS worker who needs that minimum 15 seconds to take a HR. Currently have a Blaze and was going to upgrade to a Vista or Ionic but without this ability I will have to leave Fitbit.

[MonroCoury]

I better get the option to keep the screen on like it's a watch if I am to continue using fitbit and not switch to Garmin

[Osifer]

Screen needs to be readable in daylight. 

I went for my walk in the morning around 10:45 am and had to go inside my house to read the mileage to know if I had walked  3 miles or needed to continue walking to meet my goal, This is very inconvenient.

[Kayrog]

Agreed! I may return mine. I still have time. Idk. It doesnt track mph when
cycling either. Theres a big old spot for it but it doesnt track it. It
just lacks basic stuff.

[Kayrog]

WOW! You should not have to do that! Its a 200 watch or more.

[paulkinzelman]

Kayrog Jogger: In your case (lack of information), maybe you could try another clock face. Some clock faces have more information than others.

But Fitbit are your listening?
How much feedback do you need to make the clockface stay on longer?

There have already been a couple of suggestions on how to do it.

Adding another variable in javascript to do this simple task is NOT rocket science.

What do users have to do to get you to add what we all want?

[Lea432]

I work in Veterinary Medicine and alot of my friends are nurses at hospitals. We all have to wear two watches in order to take HR and RR for our patients. Is there anyway to make the stop watch time out at 2 minutes instead of 10 seconds?

[NurseCristine]

No clock face makes it stay lit, but thanks

[KJoyce]

Tried several they didn't work as I need them to.

But Fitbit needs to address this. I've seen many posts where professionals are going to stop using or not start using Fitbit.

Fitbit this could be a great marketing tool! Get on this fix!

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[Eddrie]

Please implement this feature in an update! This is really the ONE thing that is stopping me from buying an Alta HR.

I need a smaller device on my wrist and it would be a huge disappointment if you only release this feature in a future product that’s larger with more battery life.

Please include this feature in the Alta or another small-sized tracker that you may release in the future. Please. and thank you. 

[Kayrog]

Most other companies do it so we know it's easy enough to implement! They
may their reasons but the people have spoken. We are all getting out for at
least the option!

[scottdgibbard]

This should be available on Charge 2 too.

[RevCol]

I too are a EMS officer andvthe fitbit is an ideal tool with a lit sweeping hand face but user selectable screen duration times of up to 90 seconds would not only be awesome but are essential to makevthis investment an fantastic tool.  Also a cpr pulser would be a life saver... Thanks 🙂 

[Avad]

Totally agree. I am very disappointed that it only stays on a few seconds. A big reason I got it was to be able to know when I get a text or call by getting vibration but by the time I look down, the screen is dark. Please do something quick or I may have to go back to a watch!

[Kayrog]

I'm within 30 days of buying so i was going to return it actually but I
factory reset my phone and I can't get my garmin vivoactive to pair which
is a problem they have but once done it's perfect. I just went to Fitbit
for better accessories, so stupid!

[SunsetRunner]

I would very much like this feature to be implemented, it isn't always convenient to always move my arm to check the time.

[DMAN530]

Hi everyone,

awesome to see other medical professionals, former EMS and med student here.

Optimally just like the screen wake option there could be a feature called screen on/off that could be toggled between auto and manual so that the user can keep the screen on for as long as they like but also press turn it off. I already see the ionic has a setting to extend the on time to 20 secs maybe this could be added there. 10,15,20, manual. 

Maybe a solution could be a specific clock face that could do this? Not a technology guru but can Fitbit’s have a low power clock face that could have a longer turn off time as a setting? Would be a cool feature, something optimized at making digital seconds or a second hand readable for a few minutes without turning off.

Maybe another compromise could be a app for this that heave users could shortcut onto one of the keys where it would be a clock that would stay on until your finished. 

Just some ideas to try and help.

Some people mentioned The Fitbit turning on while sleeping, you can fix that by doing the following.

1. On the ionic hold the left back button until you feel a buzz switch to manual to keep the screen off while sleeping. I think other models have this setting in the app. 

[rushjamison]

It looks like there are plenty of comments regarding this issue of how short the display stays on.  At the very least, please give us an idea if this will ever be an option to change the amount of time it stays on or even better explain the "why" behind the decision not to have this feature.   

I can't figure out why this would be such a hard adjustment to make.  I think it stay on for 3-4 seconds.  Who thought that was a proper time frame?  It would be easy to have a choice of 5, 10, 15, 30sec, 1 min, 5min, 10 min, 20, 40, 1 hr.  

Simple solution to an obviously frustrating problem for people.

[paulkinzelman]

I believe (from my 25+ years in the computer field) the technical aspect of making the change is trivial. Thus, the reason the change has not happened is lack of motivation on the part of management to direct the software engineers to make the change. The real question is why they haven't done this, are they not listening? Or do they just not care?

[Kayrog]

There is many replies and I urge everyone whom reads this forum and agrees
please say something. I have to believe that it helps, more people show the
same point of view then it has to change. That's how my company works,
although change takes time but it depends on the change. This is just a
very simple firmware update. If we are wrong put out a YouTube video
explaining why and a possible timeline. Connect more with your customers!

[Gingerhermit]

Any updates on this? I just got a fitbit alta HR and I absolutely hate how short the display time is! That is the worst part about it. It’s pointless having the txts displayed because you don’t have time to read them! It seems like this is a common complaint and has been for years, why haven’t they fixed this yet? 

[KJoyce]

No updates. There has been a lot of activity on my initial post. I think I'm going to try to contact them direct. I will keep everyone posted.

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[MonroCoury]

The alta hr and the charge 2 just aren't worth it imho. They're just too expensive for the little they can do.

I returned my alta hr and got myself a versa. The 76 dollars price difference is certainly worth it. With the versa you the watch is far better at recognizing when you're looking at it, and display timeout can be increased to 20 seconds, which is more than good enough for me, so it's no longer that big of a deal.

But yeah, I'd be interested in hearing that Fitbit are listening to their customers and taking care of them. I mean unless Fitbit is intentionally adding these limitations (short display time, severall limited customizations, no waterproofing) to force their customers to buy their more expensive products. 

[Gingerhermit]

True, but for me it’s not so much about the price. I love the way the Alta looks, the slim design and the detachable/customizable bands. If they would just fix this one issue it would be my favorite fitness tracker! Having such a short screentime that you can’t modify makes it virtually useless. It might be better just to save up for an Apple Watch. Sigh.

[MonroCoury]

Or a higher end Fitbit/Garmin/Polar!

The screen is tiny, and the narrow design is a bit childish/feminine to me even tho it admittedly isn't a deal breaker. What really upsets me is the stupid screentime mentioned, and lack of waterproofing. A device at that price should be waterproof, it isn't cheap.