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

[SantiR]

Hi @dougbwyatt, thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us, this feature suggestion already exists so I’ve moved your post here as it is not currently planned.

[JJBeck]

I have hit the pause button on my Fitbit so far twice during a walk by accident. Its super annoying to think that my brisk pace has a huge gap just because the device is pausing my workout when I didn't intend it to. It would be great if I could lock OR disable the pause feature for those people who don't want to pause during long walks.

[SantiR]

Hi @JJBeck, thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us, this feature suggestion already exists so I’ve moved your post here as it is not currently planned.

[gretchen_carey]

 Please update so that you can lock the exercise screen. it's too easy to pause or cancel out your workout which defeats the purpose of tracking it. If your wearing wraps, gloves etc any movement with your wrist will pause your workout. It's very frustrating. 

Options:

Lock on screen

double button pause instead of just hitting one button, etc

I know the apple watch allows the functionality. It seems that others would like this as well

Thanks for considering. 

[SantiR]

Hi @gretchen_carey, thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us, this feature suggestion already exists so I’ve moved your post here as it is not currently planned.

[Peterwhite]

I find it frustrating doing anything that involves wrist flexion with the versa, push ups/shoulder exercises/benching/squats/even cycling-the button on the side often pauses the workout. Can we change it so that one must unlock the screen and then use the touch screen to pause or end the workout. It’s heartbreaking to be mid workout and feel a vibration knowing your workout is now paused but you can’t do anything about it until after you’re finished. I don’t see the need to pause it via a side button when it can be paused by the touch screen which is far less likely to happen accidentally than with the side button. Thanks,

Peter 

[LizFitbit]

Hi @Sharpypus, thanks for sharing this suggestion. Whilst there aren't plans to release this on Fitbit Ionic or Fitbit Versa, this has been noted by our Product teams and discussed for future products. I have updated the labels accordingly (and so moved the status back to 'Reviewed'). Thanks for sharing this idea and please continue to vote on it if it's of interest.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @Peterwhite! 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.

[rcge]

Completely agree, this is essential - if the watch slides down my wrist, it has a tendency to catch the right-hand buttons and stop my exercise.

The option to disable this, so only the screen controls the exercise, would be ideal.

[dontcallmej]

I also agree. As a weightlifter, I've found my Fitbit to be almost useless because any wrist movement causes the buttons to press against the edges of my glove and pause the workout. This happens constantly. Don't understand why this is not given more serious consideration by the product teams.

[ScottKilbo]

Fitbit has already said that they have no intention of implementing this much-needed feature on the Ionic or Versa.  They don't care if we want it.  It isn't happening.  And yea, I just had another workout prematurely shut off today because of this product flaw. 

[ScottyDM]

Yep, it’s amazing Fitbit is so popular with such blatant disregard of valid
customer need.

[JJBeck]

So far this has happened so many times to me that it has disrupted my use of my charge 3. I love the product...but think the UI needs better implimintation.

[jmg425]

I started wearing my Versa on my right hand to prevent it from stopping during my workout. Totally unacceptable but it works...

[Perez85]

I have a fitbit Versa and have noticed I accidentally pause my workout any time I bend my hand (push ups, planks, burpees, or lifting weights). It would be great to have a feature to disable the buttons or lock the screen during a workout. 

 Thanks! 

[JJBeck]

Im an ex-iwatch user. Way too expensive, horrid batter life. Way too much as functionality that I don’t need.
Only benefit was the UI. The buttons and UI were fluid.

Fitbit has just the right usage…but the UI and buttons are horrible

[Wilkovian]

So, I'm hesitant to post this as I already posted something similar on a post regarding inaccurate heart rate readings from the optical sensor on my Fitbit (I had the Charge HR, Blaze and Charge 2 at various times and a One before that just for steps).

I love Fitbit; they helped me get much fitter and make complete lifestyle changes that totally changed my life.

That being said; I came to realise in recent years that their approach as a company wasn't in-sync with my needs. Things like the lock button issue above, refusal to accept that the optical heart rate monitoring alone simply isn't accurate enough for good readings when exercising vigorously - in my case I found it read waaaay too high doing things like jogging on the spot or skipping but was erratic during kettlebell workouts and circuits.

They also don't appear to have any interest in responding to these requirements. I think reading between the lines they've made a business decision to stick to the casual market and to work towards people with a mild interest in becoming a bit more active and from there just stylistic choices. That's fair enough as a business model, it just means they aren't suitable to those of us with specific desire to see accuracy or certain things implemented.

I have since switched to a competitor that was a bit more expensive than Fitbit's top-end Ionic but about the same as their mid-range stuff and I have to say it's fantastic. It's round so I can set the screen to look like a regular watch face. You can lock it by holding the button on the side and then pressing the lock on the screen and it unlocks by holding the button again for a 5 count so it's very unlikely to come unlocked during a workout and just tapping it won't pause it. It does have step counting and heart rate monitoring on the wrist for during the day usage but can pair with a bluetooth chest-strap for accuracy during actual workouts which makes it soooo much more accurate than just using the optical component. Prior to this I was taking my fitbit off during workouts and switching to a much older sports watch that paired with a strap and then manually inputting the data to the fitbit app so it would sync up with that and myfitnesspal; this one does that automatically and is fully compatible with MFP.

It also has built-in GPS for tracking of runs and bike rides and can be synced directly to apps like Strava.

It also works pretty well as a smartwatch although that's not really my focus but you can use Android pay etc. through it and it has apps available. I won't mention the name of it as that seems inappropriate to do on Fitbit's forums and as I say; I have a lot of respect for the company (though I imagine you could figure out which device it is from the above if you wish - it's the 3rd in that series)

Overall I have to say it's exactly what I was hoping Fitbit would do with their stuff but sadly (for me) that's not the direction they're taking. I hope to come back to their devices one day but right now they simply don't do the things that I want and seem to be ignoring those of us who have that hope; I guess we're not their target market.

[MattG27]

I do have a suggestion for your product and research for new designs for your team.  When I box  my charge 3 side sensor (where you tap to scroll or pause your workout) alway pauses my workout due to my boxing gloves. Same happens when I snow ski because of my ski jacket inadvertently hit the side button.  If you would be able disable that side tap feature it would be a tremendous help for more intense workouts .

Thanks 

Matt

[MissMaven]

Many of us are extremely frustrated when our workouts are ruined because the Fitbit with “pause” and “end” the workout when the button on the side is even slightly pressed by the bend of the wrist. This button is way too sensitive.

Please fix so this feature can “lock” with a 3-5 second press so we can accurately track our workouts - which is why many of us bought a Fitbit in the first place.

[VickyL9876]

Having the same issue. I am assuming no update regarding to resolve this issue.

Seems pointless having a watch to track exercise and movement if unable to record actual movement due to the pause options 

[JJBeck]

Im super frustrated with this. I LOVE the fitbit app, love the way it records things and the fact the company I work for gives us discounts and that we all compete together through teams to get healthy.

I hate the UI and hardware buttons. Its not done well…

[SunsetRunner]

This would address a really annoying issue with the charge 3 too, for most of the exercise I do I loose data because the exercise tracking is forever being stopped because of this very issue. Please sort it out! 

[godet]

Hi,

I BADLY miss a feature on my Ionic to be able to "lock" the watch DURING an activity so that it won't be pause nor end during the activity.
It happens once again yesterday to both myself and my girlfriend (Versa user): During our CardioBox session, the activity was paused (myself) or canceled (my girlfriend). We thought it happens because our glove made contact with either the screen or the button of the devices.
I personnaly think we should be able to put the device in a lock position by a long press( like 3 sec) so that it will NOT be possible to pause nor end the activity, even it the screen is still active to be able cycle through data (heartbeat, duration, and so on). The next long prerss would obviously "unlock" the device.

Thanks for your time,

Laurent

[JJBeck]

This morning my fitbit recorded my run (without my knowledge) from my home in queens….all the way to penn station while I was on the train. I don’t know how I did it (maybe im superman OR maybe my fitbits UI is terrible). You be the judge

[nameinamillion]

I'd been using a Blaze (borrowed from a friend) which I really liked for most things. However, when I cycled my glove almost always paused the tracker and I lost half my ride! 

I was going to buy my own Fitbit device - likely an Iconic for the GPS - but when I found that NONE of these devices have a "button lock" feature - which would be so simple to implement - I went out and bought a Polar watch instead, which has both GPS and button lock. 

Such a shame, as I prefer the Fitbit app and the look of the devices, but hey, at least the Polar doesn't lose half my ride.