Notifications, Alarms, Clock Faces and Apps

[Wisemo]

The Fitbit has, from I can tell, the best hardware when compared to other watches and "Superwatches", but there software leaves something to be desired when compared to competitors like Garmin Vivoactive, Basis Peak, Pebble Time and the new Apple Sport Watch. 

Improvements:

Notifications:

The first improvement that should be made is the intergration of other apps for notifications. Not many people use messages as their main form of texting anymore and leaving this out limits Fitbit compared to other brands. Adding notificaations support can be achieved as it is with all of the competeitors. Use the https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/CoreBluetooth/Reference/AppleNotificationCente...

Although it should also be noted that there are some notifications you don't want to recieve on your watch which is why a switch should be made in the app to say which apps are allowed, something like this. 

Stronger Alarm:

The second improvement has to do with the alarm. I think it should be stronger or at least repeat itself untill stopped. Usually the vibrations do no wake me up forcing me to return to a tradtional alarm instead.

New Features: (Endless Opportunities)

SDK - Clock Faces:

A new feature that should be introduced is the watch faces customisation. Competitors allow the watch face to be created and be customised, for exmaple pebble and Garmin. The watch face should be personalised and allow people to get what they want on the watch screen. For example the seconds and the date on the Flare clock face. Allow a community to be created where people can share their clock faces with eachother, similar to other brands.

SDK - Apps:

The other feature is the introduction of apps. This is a major part of the new fitness trackers and smartwatches, with things like Garmin's ConnectIQ and Pebble Time's app. Allow people to create third party apps for the Surge and make it a proper competitor in today's market. Open a community of developers to Fitbit and make it a competiative brand. It is endless what things could be done if the watch could be used with a simple app like a compass or stopwatch like these.

(The stopwatch wouldn't include the GPS or the distant)

Or could go to something complex as with Garmin, Apple and Pebble's apps.

Links of Ideas:

https://www.reddit.com/r/fitbit/comments/2uf6ql/hackjailbreakroot_fitbit_charge/

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Requests/3rd-Party-apps-that-can-be-developed-by-anyone/idi-...

https://developer.getpebble.com/

https://developer.getpebble.com/smartstraps/

http://www.wareable.com/apps/the-best-apps-for-pebble-and-pebble-steel

http://help.getpebble.com/customer/portal/articles/1701779-pebble-appstore

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/

Moderator Edit: Added Labels/Title for Clarity

[Forestelf]

The addition of more silent notifications for distance would be great. At the moment my Charge HR stops at 10km. I would like notifications for, say every 5km after 10km, up to at least 40km. It is not always convenient to glance at the watch and swipe for mileage info.

[Jackwilson2603]

I really hope these suggestions are implanted into the surge then it would be a real super watch. Stuff like third party apps would be a real nice feature

[Sniffle774]

Real lack of interest from Fitbit IMO on offering any real updates on this.  Such a shame as this would be have been killer add to the Surge HR and I'd be out to buy one in a shot. 

However I do like my notification from other apps that my Pebble gives me and have no desire to need to wear a smart watch AND a Fitbit so, to coin a phrase, for that reason - I'm out.   Garmin Vivoctive looks likes the ideal compromise on what we need and it's a real shame that Fitbit seem to have been caught on a hop on this one.

[SunsetRunner]

Notifications is the most important thing in this thread, but I agree with all of them.  I find it sad that not only can Pebble, a Kickstarter campaign, can receive any notification I get from my phone whether it be CNN, Whatsapp, Messenger, etc. it can also allow me to pick and choose which I receive.  Surely if they can do it with their limited funding, a well funded business like Fitbit can.  I'd still be wearing my Pebble if it wasn't for the fact I can't stand Google Fit more than I can't stand being able to pick and choose my notifications.

[chumpa13]

Hi,

This suggestions were made in April of 2015. I see that after a year Fitbit only introduced notifications to Blaze. Why do you make a Feature Suggestion thread if you ignore the suggestion being made? 

For Android users there is a third party app that forwards all notifications, but this is no excuse for Fitbit not to implement this by default. 

[Jrock2378]

I would like a longer charging cord. It dangles off my charging area. I've had 2 Fitbit broken to the charging area falling off my fitbit

[MrOldGuy]

Fit bit needs to add the original author to their product management team. He/ she has more insight into not only what users want but what is already available or can be made available with a little imagination / effort.

 Having been a product manager for a key product line this kind of user feedback is priceless and worth more than all the dang "market research'.  The ideas from blogger input should be stack ranked from frequency (number of similar ideas) with a second criteria of ease of update / ease of implementation of said feature / functionality. From what I can gather 90% of these ideas are software driven, many API enabled. Granted a solar powered watch is a bit far fetched given the need to integrate solar collecting and conversion of one form of energy to another.  That could take decades to bring to market as it would require a compeletely different "platform" for the watch and probably cost prohibitive, but 90% of those ideas expressed here are doable today.

[sebvance]

+1 for Telegram notifications support. Please!

[LAM22]

I'd like to add to please work w/3rd party company that programs the notifications to give Users the ability to delete and/or save any of the  notifications we want or son't want.  Turning it off is not an option for me because the notifications  motivate me. I feel great when I get one that reads I iver achieved.  I feel motivated to move wgen it reads, only so & so steps to go.  

[LizFitbit]

Hi @Wisemo thanks for your detailed post. It's much easier to address your suggestions when they are so specific, and even have images! I wanted to update you that most of these have been implemented on our newest product, Ionic.

• Notifications: On Ionic you can set up notifications for any app on your phone which has push notifications like Whatsapp, Facebook, Emails, Calendar events, Texts/Calls, and any other apps like Google Drive, Hangouts, Lyft, Uber, Pinterest, Skype, YouTube, Airbnb etc. This will work for both iOS and Android phones. These notifications can be individually turned on or off.
• SDK gallery: At launch, Ionic will offer Weather powered by AccuWeather, Pandora, Starbucks (North America only) and Strava apps. The App Gallery will continue to expand with more popular apps expected this Fall, like adidas All Day (US only), Flipboard, GAME GOLF plus many more apps and clock faces created by our developer community. We've recently launched a Fitbit SDK community for third party developers to interact more directly with us.
• SDK Clock faces: Developers can build any type of app for Fitbit Ionic, ranging from new types of exercising apps to clock faces and more. Ionic offers more than 15 different clock face options, ranging from sleek and understated to fun and fitness-focused so you can customize the display to your own personal style. Options will increase as third party developers design more and they are brought into the gallery.
• Stronger Alarm: Vibration settings can be set from 'normal' to 'strong' which is significantly stronger!!

Thank you so much for your suggestion, I hope I've addressed all of your points. Thanks again for helping us make Fitbit better.

[LizFitbit]

Hi @Wisemo thanks for all of these suggestions which I'm happy to say have now been released!

1. Ionic has push notifications, which can be turned on or off individually
2. Alarm - Ionic has variable vibration strength but if you want to add your votes to alarm should vibrate until dismissed, please do
3. SDK Clockfaces and Apps are now available on Ionic through the Fitbit App Gallery

Thank you for illustrating your thoughts so clearly and for sharing with the community.