Lock screen/buttons during exercise for all Fitbit devices

[Sharpypus]

I've seen similar ideas/feedback noted for the Surge/Blaze and I'd love to see the same sort of thing for the Ionic, I also saw an idea to change the 'stop exercise' button to the (left) hand button on the Ionic which would too be good but would very much prefer a lock screen if possible 🙂

When I'm sometimes performing pushups, boxing, burpees or anything that causes my hand to bend, I've sometimes ended up pushing the bottom right hand button to 'pause' the workout and then sometimes ended up pushing multiple buttons during workouts to end it prematurely.

I'd love it if it were possible to disable the buttons during certain workouts or have some kind of lock screen, maybe even a long-button push option to only unlock the screen when holding one of the buttons for a few seconds etc. At the moment, it's just far too easy to accidentally click the right hand buttons which are tied to pausing/ending workouts.

An idea which would be great would be that my old android watch had, I could turn the screen on with a button although in order to interact any further, I would need to manually swipe away a lock screen (or you could set it up with a PIN each time) and then you'd be able to start/end/pause the workout.

Thanks a lot for reading, really hope this could be considered for a future firmware update 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject and updated label

[Tiffanybfitness]

We absolutely need a lock button. My Ionic always pauses or completes my workout mid session during weight lifting and boxing. It is so beyond disappointing when I lose the tracking progress. A friend of mine has an apple watch and she told me about the lock functionality when my watch paused my workout through my ENTIRE boxing session. I always thought of fitbit as superior for tracking workouts but now I am considering switching. what is the point in a watch that tracks workouts if it does NOT track workouts......

[JJBeck]

For me (again) its not just that it doesn’t track workouts…its that at least six times it has tracked my run from queens into manhattan while on mass transit. I didn’t know I was so skilled, or that my fitbit was so unskilled. It’s a UI problem. I had always thought fitbit was the top of the line….but now I realize that there are so many others out there. Fitbit should realize this point as well and step up.

[Wilkovian]

There's also the issue of inaccuracy from the optical heart rate monitor when doing intense exercise. I really loved Fitbit for a long time but I've come to realise they're an entry-level/mass market appeal fitness tracker at best now.

They do great work if you're looking to improve your fitness generally and be more active and less sedentary but straying into the GPS and full-on fitness watch market I fear they're simply outclassed by the other companies that have been doing it longer and better.

My friend has a garmin VivoActive 3 which is a brilliant device; has a lock button function, onboard GPS, can function as a smart watch, has a round face that can have a variety of different standard faces added to it and the one that he has makes it look at first glance like a smart looking analog watch; but then you have all the same functionality to it. It has optical heart rate monitoring for daily and general usage but can also pair with an ECG chest strap for accurate recording during workouts. It costs slightly less than the Fitbit Ionic and about the same as the Versa.

My partner has a TomTom Spark 3 which very much looks like a fitness watch, but has excellent GPS, a lock screen function and will also pair with an ECG strap for accurate heart rate recording whilst also having optical for day to day. She doesn't actually use an ECG with it as she's more bothered about cycling time and distance than that but you see the point. It costs significantly less than the Fitbit Versa currently does and is about the same as a Fitbit Charge 3.

I'll say it again; I really like Fitbit. As a company they helped me completely change my life at a time where I really needed to. But they simply aren't on top of issues like this and don't seem to want to be.

[ScottKilbo]

Does it also have sleep tracking?

I've been tempted to jump ship on Fitbit because you're right - this is an entry level fitness device at best.  And it is not accurate.  I understand there's a margin of error for pulse rate and GPS, but it's ridiculous when I walk the same path every single day and it always comes out somewhere between 3.75 and 4.30 miles.  That's not a margin of error.  That's just an error.

The only thing that's kept me with Fitbit is that I've been with them since 2010.  That's back when Fitbit was just a startup with great customer service.  That's nine years of accumulated data that I have with them.  If I jump to something else, then I have no more data accumulated with them.  But if the data is invalid...  It's a tough decision for me.

[EricRSRCP]

Yeah  Wilkovian,

I agree with what you said. I researched those and other watches when I lost my older FitBit watch (forget the name of the oldest model watch)  I liked it enough and it worked well even if it had issues.

The one thing that kept me with FitBit sadly is that I have all these steps logged with them for years on my profile. I was like, do I really want to lose all of that? Why not try the Ionic? I can't see me sticking with getting a FitBit higher end product ever again. I may get a charge or something to keep the step profile, but other than that FitBit can just go to heck for all I care.  They never reply to me, never offer me anything for being stuck with their **ahem**ty product. It is more like "Oh we are sorry you feel that way."  Great. Well your sorry does not fix my issue or make me feel better about buying your watch over something that will actually WORK well. Apologies and sorries are standard. Of course, every company is sorry if someone is not satisfied. The question is, what will you DO about it. Fitibit? They will do nothing. 

Where is the kiss my pimply white butt emoji? lol

[lmeijerink]

I’d love to have the availability to lock the screen on my Versa during my workouts - wearing boxing gloves often pushing the buttons for me and pauses the workout tracking feature causing my workout stats not to be accurate.  Hoping this become an option in a future software update!!!

[SunsetRunner]

I would love the ability to lock buttons during a workout on an Ionic. On a number of occasions I press pause with my wrist, specially when wearing a sweater or cycling gloves.

Why not make a feature to unlock the ionic with two buttons?

[dougbwyatt]

None of the programmers who work on this watch can legitimately say they're
avid workout enthusiasts, otherwise this feature would have been
implemented long, long ago.

[Cathyk123]

 I recently upgraded from a Fitbit Alta HR to the versa. I am very disappointed with the results from the work out features. Never had a problem with the Alta  but now every time I work out it ends up being paused or turned off entirely and my workout is not recorded correctly. I do circuit training so there are a lot of activities that requires bending the wrist.  When my Alta died  I debated whether or not staying with Fitbit or Apple. I decided to stay with Fitbit because I liked some of the Fitbit features better. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. Fitbit needs to do something to prevent this from happening in the form of a screen lock soon. That is the primary reason most people use these devices is to track their workouts and fitness.  Although the Fitbit is more economical I would’ve paid the additional hundred dollars to have something that works properly! 

[sebastienbarre]

One year later, and still nothing. I bought the Versa a week before the Versa Lite was released, going to return it and buy a Lite, since it has only one button, and no buttons on the wrist side, which can be triggered accidentally so easily.

[dougbwyatt]

I loosen the watch band, slide it up my forearm away from the wrist, put on
a silicone "livestrong" -style wrist band, loop it over the clasp-part of
the watch band so both bands are diagonal and hold each other down and away
from the wrist. It kinda works if you're desperate like me.

[sebastienbarre]

Thanks Doug. I already placed a return order, and order the Versa Lite, I'll keep you posted.

[CissiSall]

I have been out and running several times and have discovered that the Versa has paused my activity. Sad to have keep track of the fact that the watch does not getting in contact with anything how can makes it pause the activity. 

And more disappointed you'll get when you have run the hole round and the clock has paused sometime during the round so you don't get the whole tour. 
Please make something about this! 

[MKuczka]

I just lost half my race data from my recent Spartan race and a few weeks ago I lost half the data from the Savage race.  Somewhere along the courses I inadvertently hit the "pause" button (lower right button) during the races.  Got to the finish line, went to stop the activity and noticed the watch was paused.

I honestly can't believe there isn't a feature to disable certain buttons during activity. As a former programmer, that would take a few lines of code to accomplish.

I love everything else about my Ionic and I frequently recommend the watch and FitBit app to people.  However, at this point I've got to buy a different product.  I have some big races coming up and can't afford to lose more data.  Pretty bummed actually.  😞 

[rayl]

Come on this is a basic feature that should have been released with the device. This crap with voting for basic features is pathetic!!  I am going to kickstart a a new device and put you out of business. I cant deal with your half developed equipment any longer

[sebastienbarre]

This is not going to be huge help, but I wanted to confirm the obvious: the Versa Lite does not have this problem... since it does not have buttons on the wrist side. I've returned my Versa and have been using the Lite for 10 days or so -- no accidental stopping/pausing to report. If you are still in the return window and the buttons get in the way, that would be my suggestion. I would probably have sold my Versa anyway if I had been unable to return it (at some $$ loss I guess).

Another suggestion: maybe wear your Versa on your non-dominant hand? So that the stop/pause buttons are not on the wrist side? The back button would be on your wrist side, but accidentally pressing it by bending your wrist would not stop your workout (it only changes what is displayed).

[MrInc]

I would like to recommend a simple configuration setting be added to the Exercise Menu.  This Menu is found in the FitBit App under Account / Ionic (Connected) / Exercise Shortcuts / Run - Bike - Swim - Treadmill - Weights - Interval Workout - Workout.

* The new configuration would allow the TouchScreen Sensitivity to be set for each Exercise Type and would take effect while the Exercise is Running.  The setting would range from Maximum Sensitivity down to OFF.  When set to OFF the touchscreen is completely disabled during the workout.  The physical buttons still continue to function allowing the user to interact with the watch - Pause, Resume, End the workout.  When the workout is Ended the normal touchscreen operation resumes.

* This configuration setting provides a very simple solution to the technical challenge that exists for the Software to distinguish between a human touch intended to command the touchscreen and water drops/splashes or wet clothing (likely to occur during a workout) that appear the same to the Sensor.  Since everyone’s workout needs/habits are different, this allows the user to customize the touchscreen behavior to their use.

[GraceGFitbit]

Hi @MrInc, this is a really nice suggestion. I've moved it into a similar suggestion which has a lot of votes. As the more votes and comments an idea has the more visibility and momentum it gains.

[Tkd_Link]

This solution would be the opposite of the problem people have here.  We only want the touchscreen, especially with option for a lock screen, but as is would be enough for me at least.  It's the buttons we want disabled.  Accidental touch is way less of an issue (never for me) than accidental button press.

I'm aware this isn't an issue with Versa Lite, but I also know that doesn't have music option and I use mine while bouldering.  The benefit being I don't need to carry my phone while climbing, just my watch and Bluetooth earphones.

[MrInc]

Interesting to read others issues with this feature (the lack there of).  As a Swimmer, my only issue is with the touchscreen due to the water, while others in this post only the push buttons.  Though I have read other posts with issues of touchscreen triggers from wet clothing.  I did a quick test yesterday, wearing a leather jacket was able to trigger the touchscreen occasionally from just the sleeve.

My experience with the Swimming Exercise, it's less sensitive to false touchscreen triggers than the Workout Exercise.  However, I prefer to use the Workout Exercise because it tracks my heart rate (pretty well in the water), whereas the Swimming Exercise will not.  The Swimming Exercise also has false triggers, though rare.

All this to say, like most UseCase issues (if you've worked in Human Factors) they really do need to be thought through carefully to vet the nuances and corner cases to find the very best solution.  My bet, the good folks at FitBit are doing just that to deliver a solid solution.

I think the suggestion above to use a 2-button combo to lock and unlock the entire interface, might possibly satisfy all the use cases.  If the left push button were pushed first and then together with the upper right push button, this would provide a fast lock-unlock toggle that would have a low probability of a false occurrence.  Perhaps this together with a configurable touchscreen sensitivity per exercise type would provide a lot of use coverage.

It would be nice if FitBit could provide the Fan Base with an update, let us know what's going on, while we make due with the existing implementation.  Apart from this issue, I've been thrilled with the Ionic watch and the App.

[Filosophical]

3 years on and no plans for this serious problem that would be so simple to fix?

I can't believe this isn't irritating everyone using the watch for any kind of fitness. Boxing is impossible to get to the end of a session with the full session recorded. Anything with gloves. What's the point of a fitness tracking watch that can't stay on for a full session.

[Tkd_Link]

For boxing, I bought a Supcase and it's, so far, worked. No accidental button presses. 

The downside is it's pretty big and I don't find it very comfortable. It's a good option if you value data over comfort. 

I'm honestly at the point of wondering if there's a way to purposefully break the buttons without breaking the whole thing.

[Filosophical]

Thanks! great suggestions

Charles

[scampbell34]

**Please** add a lock feature of some sort (or a way to disable pausing by way of the touch screen). I've lost various portions of workouts (the most recent just yesterday), and that pretty much obviates any benefits of tracking exercise.

[JJBeck]

It’s not just a design flaw in the hardware, but also one in the UI. If my company gave discounts to garmin products....I’d be tempted. Just saying