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

[MKuczka]

Screw it. I'm buying another watch TODAY. I lost data Thursday lifting
weights and again yesterday at my HIIT gym. I've got several big OCRs
coming up and this is unacceptable. A software fix for this would be a few
lines of code. Hell, give me the source and I'll fix this crap in 5
minutes.

So frustrated.

[Meabh]

I absolutely agree. It is so frustrating and distracting during my workout when my FitBit Versa pauses. Like a lot of you this happens during boxing or planking etc. Surely they could do an upgrade to help their users with this issue. Why have a community if you're not going to listen to what the community are saying? I am thinking of turning my watch the other way during workout so the pause button isnt the closest to my wrist...could be a bit of a work around... 

[greyhame]

I am a Charge 3 owner, and this issue drives me absolutely crazy. Intense exercise inevitably requires making contact with the device at some point, to move it or dry off the skin (because it loses heart rate tracking!), and it seems if you just look at it funny, let alone touch it, it pauses or stops a workout. To make matters worse, it seems like it can scroll through multiple screens with gentle touches so even getting back to the resume screen - if you're lucky enough to have only accidentally paused instead of accidentally finished the workout - can require way too much fine motor control while in the middle of exercise. The amount of fumbling it can require is just, ugh. Screwing around with my watch while I am in an exposed location during an intense hike is preposterous. It seems every single time I try and track something I end up with a paused or prematurely finished tracking log. Agree with OP that even something like requiring a long button press (3 seconds?) to pause or stop an exercise would save so much frustration. 

[MrBadger]

Sadly, FitBit seems disinclined to do anything about this. Too bad. In
other respects I'm very satisfied with this product. But I'll have to think
hard before I by another one, more because of the non-responsiveness than
the design flaw.

--
Come, my friends, 'Tis not too late to seek a newer world. -- Tennyson

[Ashabalee]

There needs to be a way to not have workouts start and stop with the buttons on the Versa.  I kickbox and the bend in my wrist doing body weight cardio in the warmup and my gloves are starting and stopping my workouts, giving inaccurate logs.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @Ashabalee! Great suggestion, thanks for sharing. I've moved it into a similar request. Hopefully we will have support from other users since more votes and comments an idea has the more visibility and momentum it gains.

[scampbell34]

Yes, please allow us to lock the buttons/screen.  The same thing happens to me with cross-fit.  Makes calorie/heart-rate tracking useless.

[Ryanthehalfling]

Amazing how long this issue has been posted with no resolution.  I've lost too many workouts to stay with fitbit if there are no plans to fix.  At least enabling option to require 2 buttons to pause would be simple fix.

[Butts74]

yes a lock screen would be great, I don't want to keep changing screen to see what zone I'm in as it defaults back to the home screen after a short period. 

[JayFar]

Lost yet another HILT workout because the buttons getting accidentally pressed.  I also have to constantly watch it while lifting weights to see if I have accidentally have hit the same buttons.  I fairly happy with the Vera, with the exception of the lack of an exercise lock out button.  This has been a an ongoing issue, that has not been solved to this point. I refuse to wear it up super high, buy a case for it, wear it on the wrong hand, cover it with a sweat band, put the music app on ect ect ect. How can Fitbit ever expect anyone to buy another product from them, if they refuse to fix an issue that many people have encountered.  I had been recommending the Vera to people, but will never do so again, nor will I ever spend another dollar on fitbit products, if this issue is not addressed. Please implement a software fix for this very well know issue, if you do not, when this Vera dies, I will never purchase another Fitbit product, and tell anyone that will listen to do the same.

[Djcbrook]

Please change the pause function on the ionic so that it is not so easy to pause an exercise. Perhaps use the top or bottom button instead of touch screen. I often have gps function interrupted because pause is activated by coat sleeve.

[StephanieMcP]

Agree with all comments here. The fact these buttons sit on the side they are activated all to easy doing a simple plank, boxing etc

There should be a lock function

Won't be upgrading soon but this would steer me away from Fit Bit in future

Especially their lack of paying heed to customer feedback

[mlefebvre1098]

Please please please lock the exercise mode - this would be such a simple fix. I must admit that I too will probably not come back to fitbit once this Versa dies. I love the versa for everything else but as someone who boxes almost everyday this is infuriating to constantly lose data. What is the point of the versa if it doesn't track!?!

[FishNakMuay]

I had the same thing happen to me. During training (Muay Thai) I had my Versa under my hand wraps and at some point it paused my workout and only tracked 30 mins of my hour and a half workout. 

[TheRealAdam]

Agreed, this is frustrating. At this point I wear the Ionic on my right arm when weight training with wrist straps.

[Abdulla]

Does anyone know other brands which has quality sports watches, neat app (close to fitbits), but with the lock screen ability? 

[dontcallmej]

At this point I think this issue has been ignored because the Versa 2 only has buttons on one side. So the solution is to buy a new Fitbit 😕

[Wilkovian]

Yes. There's actually a few.

I ended up switching brands about a year ago. I had a lot of loyalty to Fitbit (across 4 devices and 6 years) but unfortunately this issue and the issue of incorrect heart rate measurement led me to look elsewhere.

I've avoided mentioning a brand because I think it may get taken down and also because as I say, I have loyalty to Fitbit for helping me get started on my fitness journey but it makes me sad to have come to this point when I think a lock screen of all things would be a simple software fix and update.

[Caz29]

THIS.  I don't know about anyone else, but I can't tell you how often the water from my shower head activates the Versa display and randomly starts navigating settings and activities.  I've had alarms created/deleted, exercises started as well as various settings messed with while in the shower with this watch.  It's really annoying.

[StephanieMcP]

Indeed, but if I am to repurchase then FitBit have lost my custom.

I will opt for a Garmin or other brand.

These things aren't cheap to not be fit for purpose!

[LizFitbit]

Hi @Sharpypus and thanks for sharing this suggestion, which has received votes from other community members. I’m happy to let you know that this suggestion has been picked up internally at Fitbit and is being considered by our team. This suggestion will either remain ‘Under Consideration’ until released, or else move to ‘Not Currently Planned’ if it’s not viable right now. Further updates will be posted here.

Please remember that if a suggestion is chosen for development, it can take some time before updates are available or a release is finalized, so thanks in advance for your patience :). To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs. Fans can continue to vote for this feature suggestion while it is under consideration.

[StephanieMcP]

Thanks for the update but we'll have moved on to new providers by then.
Can't be waiting around for decisions and developments on devices that are
not fit for purpose. By right we should get our money back.

[dougbwyatt]

My iconic died, charge went to zero and won't recharge. I got a Huawei Band
3 Pro works well for what I need

[Caz29]

I personally never experienced accidental button presses. When I lift, I always move the tracker higher up on my wrist as recommended in the instructions. It's supposed to be 2-3 finger widths above the wrist bone during exercise. This gives more accurate HR and prevents button presses during wrist extension.

[dontcallmej]

I always do that as well, doesn't really work for me though. it all depends on your gloves and what kind of work out you do.