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We’ve been faithful Fitbit users since 2015, my boyfriend has had 4 models as after 9-12months they need repairing/replacing, I’ve had 2 models, but regardless we’ve always stuck with Fitbit for the ease of use & great features; mostly the sleep data. I’ve been so frustrated with my fitbit the past 12-18months, my step & exercise data is more & more inaccurate (we’ve tested by wearing my Fitbit on one wrist, & one Fitbit/other brand on the other wrist), we’re losing faith. The ONLY reason I decided on Fitbit above other brands is for the highly rated sleep data & ‘free’ access to ‘MY’ data, this is vital for me as I suffer multiple chronic diseases that drastically affect my sleep, along with lifelong sleep conditions & disturbances. My usual night is around 4hrs, it’s a lifelong battle to get more, even with prescription meds (which don’t work on me), so seeing my hours & average helps me try & focus on getting more, when I need to relax more, how my type1 diabetes is affecting my sleep (& vice versa), & giving my drs my data to compare, so having a ‘sleep score’ & no option to revert back to hours is totally pointless for me. It stresses me out even more & is making me sleep less, so having the opposite effect to whatever the intended purpose of grading sleep was, I feel like I’m 5yrs old & am being scolded/rewarded for being a big girl & sleeping through the night with an award/sticker chart, except the scoring is totally inaccurate!
The most frustrating issues are:
•I never received any email/notification announcing the huge change.
•There’s no option to go back to hours average.
•We shouldn’t HAVE to trawl to the website to view our hours average, as what’s the purpose of having an app? Hours sleep & average is the basic & most vital info for sleep & shouldn’t be treated as an added special extra/bonus only accessible via desktop website; everything runs on apps these days.
•We shouldn’t be expected to now have to pay a monthly subscription to view our basic data; fine if it’s just for additional/bonus features, like the more detailed breathing etc, but not for something that’s virtually always been a main feature & selling point for consumers.
•There’s zero relevance of the scoring system, I have many nights of just 2hrs sleep, many of 4hrs, just a couple times p/month I’m blessed with 6+hrs, but I’m scored 70-82 with only 2hrs sleep p/day! (For reference my sleep goal is set at 6hrs 45mins), it makes no sense at all, & doesn’t help one bit with tracking my disease flare-ups (which I can often predict by viewing my sleep data & heartrate).
I hate the new sleep score. I usually get more sleep than the average person, so it isn't even that I don't like being told that I am failing. I just hate the system. The number assigned seems fairly arbitrary when I compare different days' sleep, and the default view/average shown is based on this new arbitrary sleep number rather than on average hours slept for the week. I understand that some people may enjoy a single number, so make it optional for those people. But it should not be mandatory when the existing sleep analysis was working so well.
Just here to chime in with all of the above. I find the sleep score stressful to look at, as many above have said.
I work a schedule which isnt always the same. It is far more important for me to see at a glance how much sleep I've actually gotten, than some arbitrary "sleep score". It isn't like I can will myself to "sleep better", but I can know I am a little short on sleep and make a concerted effort to get to bed a little earlier than usual.
Also, the new main page is just awful. Instead of seeing everything on one page at a quick glance, I now have to scroll down to look, and there's less information ready without having to dig in to each heading.
I fully agree. The main page is not an improvement. I showed it to a friend who is an avid computer game player. He described the look of the new Fitbit dashboard as something from Atari or Nintendo like Pong or Donkey Kong from nearly 40 years ago. We laughed. And Fitbit dies not respond to customers.
This sleep score is a demoralizing addition. My goal is to get more sleep. Period. On a night when I exceeded my goal of 7 hrs by getting 7 hrs and 24 minutes of sleep, my "sleep score" was 58. "Poor". I felt pretty darn good the next morning though. Three nights later, I got just over 5 hours of sleep and was scored a 74. I felt like sh*t all day. So yeah, this "sleep score" is not something meaningful nor anything I want, and would rather see sleep time and an average of the time slept, not this stupid pointless depressing meaningless "score". Fitbit, this was a fail. Admit it and let us move on please to be able to choose to use the tools we bought the fitbit for in the first place. (I'm researching the Apple Watch now).
I completely agree that the sleep score graph is useless. When I contacted Fitbit Support, they basically said, "Too bad. That's just how it is now. Here's a forum for you to look at," and sent me the link to this conversation. Bring back the hours slept/night graph as the default view! Truthfully, I think this is their idea for getting people to buy the premium package. NOT HAPPY WITH THIS!!!
The sleep score is NOT scientifically guided, gives us nothing actionable and is LESS accurate than showing the sleep times and cycles. I absolutely hate the sleep score "feature" and would like to remove it from my account. I've been happy with fitbit for >8 years, and this dumb sleep score and the inability to remove it is making me consider switching to Garmin which is more accurate and fact-based.
@Jemmadawn, thank you! You nailed it with your bullet points. One of my major aggravations with the sleep score is that it was just dumped on us with no warning or heads up. The dissatisfaction with the new app and the sleep score has been growing and has been going on for too long with absolutely no word from Fitbit. Do they even have a PR department? They are now making a bad situation worse. I invested in Fitbit. When I did it made complete sense. However, that is no longer the case. I "upgraded" to a Charge 3 in December of last year. The first thing was that the battery life was not what as advertised. It was better than the Charge 2, but most of the features needed to be turned off. This I could live with. Then there have been all of the sync issues with various app "updates." The redesigned app has proven to be incredibly unstable and is far from customizable. Then throw in the useless sleep score that we were not warned about and does not contain everything that was in the beta test (in the beta oxygen levels were incorporated). The final nail, for me, was when my Charge 3 developed the much complained about white lines down the face. This took place two days ago. Not only did I get lines but swiping the face became hit or miss. After 4 years of being with Fitbit, my relationship with them has ended. They are no longer a fit for what I need. Luckily, the tracker that I ordered arrived yesterday. I wore both yesterday, and heart rate and sleep are very close. A caveat, my new tracker does not show REM sleep. I took my Charge 3 off this morning. It is now retired as is my relationship with Fitbit.
Hi @SunsetRunner and commenters, thanks for sharing your feedback. 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. You can learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQ
I like to have the score and to see deep sleep etc. It helps me really a lot, also the score I find it useful. If someone need it optional is good, but I bought the Fitbit also for sleep tracking; the look at sleep phases and the score is really appreciated and a must. But if someone is uncomfortable with it Fitbit can give the opportunity not to use it but for the others it should be avaible for free. I want it. Thanks.
I am about to switch to another tracker because of this. The number is virtually useless unless you purchase premium to find out how it's even calculated and then the UI changes for premium are just awful from a usability standpoint. Certainly not worth 10 dollars a month.
I agree with a previous poster sentiment that this is just an inducement to purchase premium subscriptions which is frankly pretty insulting considering that we already paid for devices.
Agreed! It's easy to work on hours slept goals, but when I sleep 8 hours and get a 70 I feel like I failed. Having it optional is a great idea, we can look at the data if we want, but our priority should be to focus on the things we can control, like hours slept.
I have put my Fitbit up and using my galaxy watch. It not only gives you the average hours slept, but it also gives the average time you go to bed and the average time you get up. Biggest drawback is battery life, but I'm getting a good schedule on it to maximize my wear. I am unable to get the notifications turned off on this thread. If a moderator reads this, please tell me how to get out of seeing the notifications for this thread. Thank you. Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
I'm with everybody else, this needs to be optional and should not be the main feature of the sleep information. Also, average sleep time needs to be restored to its former location, right there with the sleep data when you first open up the sleep panel.
Fitbit Premium is frankly one of the worst mistakes Fitbit has ever made (not even mentioning the cheap plastic sensor cover on the Versa that broke down chemically due to sunscreen & sweat combo, resulting in the watch getting destroyed). Locking our data, which we have used for a long time, behind a paywall is frankly outstandingly insulting to consumers. We purchased these devices specifically because of the advertised sleep tracking capabilities, and now we have to pay for something that is built into the actual device and was advertised in the first place?!
I can totally understand Fitbit Premium including the video tutorials, and guided workouts. That makes sense.
The sleep tracking? Complete B.S money grab. If this sleep tracking paywall isn't reversed, I will NEVER purchase a Fitbit product again. Garmin is a good alternative and I would rather pay more upfront that be lied to and abused as a customer to access data that is 100% MINE!
@Granacher Absolutely! I purchased my Ionic specifically so I could track my heart rate during sleep, and track my sleeping habits and see how they improved as I got into better shape. Now, nearly half a year in, and I have to start paying to see data I had access to before? Complete B.S
I looked at the community suggestions page as well regarding the sleep score and UI/UX changes, seems basically everyone wants the old layout back but they refuse to even comment on the thread! They don't want to end up like EA on Reddit on their own forum. Bunch of scared pansies terrified they will make the situation worse by responding.
Hint: Not responding to our complaints IS making the situation worse! Acknowledge our fair and legitimate complaints and maybe some of your consumers will stay. Otherwise F*** Fitbit, I will buy a Garmin next time and save myself the hassle of dealing with lying/scumbag Fitbit! I would rather pay extra than be lied to and have my own data stolen from me!
My sleep goal is hours slept, but the new sleep score stops me seeing my hours slept, such as my weekly average sleep. The sleep score doesn’t seem to make sense, but i would be willing to give it a go if it didn’t obstruct the data I want to see in the app.
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