Open water swimming for Versa/Sense

[DanReyLop]

The Fitbit Ionic looks awesome, but it's only compatible for swimming laps in a pool.

The main competition, the watch with a certain fruit name, can be used in the sea and it will use GPS to map the workout and track distance / calories / speed. Other trackers have GPS, water resistance, but curiously aren't capable of using the GPS while swimming, but can be tricked by choosing a "Running" exercise and just jumping into the water. That makes me believe that the only thing stopping FitBit supporting this feature is just software, as all the hardware sensors and capabilities is already there.

Please consider implementing an "Open water swim" workout that uses GPS to track calories / distance for swimming, instead of laps.

Moderator Edit: Title for Clarity/Added Labels

[Duke552]

Thé gps detection is probable thé same than  Garmin or apple. Thé Big déférence is on thé processing of the data. Àn algorhitm shall suppress all the wrong GPS data acquisition. Polar V800 was like thé ionic at the beginning but they implemented a software to  have a good trace on the water.

Shall Fitbit do the same?

[Stevomeano]

Open water swim please!!! I can't believe I still need to wear my Garmin 920xt for that. Come one Ionic!

[Duke552]

So now, we know what the comunity think about this feature.

What about Fitbit ? 

Can we have your feeling please?

I would enjoy this feature for triathlon. 

[adriandominiak8]

Agree! Need this feature and it is very usefull! Fitbit! Implement this with the next software update! You can do it! Don't let us wait to long!

[adriandominiak8]

Fot triathletes it will be hot stuff! You will significantly increase your sales! It is worth! When I recommend Fitbit to my sport friends, they ask about open water feature and they don't take buying Fitbit into consideration! Because of the lack of open water trainings! 

[SantiR]

Hi everyone, thanks for sharing this suggestion. We're always striving to enhance Fitbit products and services, and we appreciate all of the input we receive from our customers. We do not currently have plans to release this feature. You can learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQs located at the top right box of the Feature Suggestions Board screen. For now, we will leave this suggestion open for votes (and closed to comments) so that we can continue to track community demand over time. Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us and we will let you know if anything changes.

[matteocourth]

Currently the Fitbit Ionic records swimming activities without using the GPS. This is ok when swimming indoors but makes it unusable in open waters. Moreover, because of this issue, indoor swimming activities cannot be uploaded on Strava since the social network requires GPS tracking. Can you please fix it? It is just a small software update. Thanks for the support. 

Matteo

[Peter_the_SBAM]

I love the way my Versa works out if I am swimming in the open water, and estimates the distance I have swum.  However, the estimates are out by quite a bit.  Notwithstanding, there are some swims where I know the distance.  It would be great if I could input the distance actually swum, and the watch could then calibrate itself to my style. 

[LuciaFitbit]

Hi @Peter_the_SBAM, thanks for taking the time to share your feedback with us. This feature suggestion already exists so I’ve moved your post here. At the moment it is not planned to implement it. Nonetheless you can still add your vote.

[declankinvara]

I currently use the Fitbit Surge, and overall I am very happy with it. I was going to upgrade to Fitbit Versa, as I see that it is water reisistant. But on further investigation, I see it is not set up to use GPS for openwater swimming. Would be great if either the Versa or some other Fitbit product had this facility.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @declankinvara, 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. You can keep adding your votes to this suggestion so we can keep tracking this request overtime. Learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQs. I hope to see you around.

[ewojack]

I have a Charge 4 right now and it can be a bit annoying that I am unable to turn on the GPS when swimming. I often use Strava or open water swim and I am unable to track myself in the water or synch up with Strava. I would greatly appreciate it if Fit Bit made it possible to at least turn on GPS when swimming so that I can track myself this way.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @ewojack, thanks for explaining why you would like to have the option to GPS for swimming activities with Fitbit devices. This feature suggestion already exists, so I’ve moved your post here. While we don’t currently have plans to release this feature, we always appreciate the passion and creativity that comes out of this Community. Since we know this idea is important to many of you, we have left voting open to continue tracking interest and will post another update if anything changes. To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs.

[SunsetRunner]

The Fitbit Sense should get Open Water support for everyone who is looking to swim in lakes, rivers, and oceans. The open water feature should include the following metrics:
- HR
- Distance
- Duration
- Stroke Rate
Furthermore, HR should be added to pool swims as well.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @SunsetRunner, and thanks for taking the time to share this suggestion about adding open water support  for Fitbit Sense. We rely on feedback like yours to help us develop products and features that we know our community wants to see. If this suggestion receives votes from other customers and gains popularity, it will be shared internally with various teams at Fitbit. To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs.

Watch this space for status updates. In the meantime, try visiting Health & Wellness to talk with other members about all things health and fitness.

[SunsetRunner]

With a rapid rise in open water swimming - especially during COVID lock down it is disappointing that Fitbit has done nothing to support this trend, sticking with its previous refusal. Counting lengths simply does not work in open water. I would simply like to know how fare I have swum

I have my 3rd Ionic

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @SunsetRunner. Thanks for taking the time to explain why you'd like to track open water swimming with your Ionic. This idea was already requested in the Feature Suggestions board, so I’ve moved your post here. While this isn't currently planned at this moment, we have left voting open so we can keep tracking this request over time. To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs.

[Jus100]

Maybe it's possible as a first step if you offer open water swim while connecting the fitbit to the smartphone. Many people swim with buoys so it's possible to take a phone with you safely. 

Other exercises use this connection already so you kind of "just" have to combine those two modules (swimming and GPS from the phone). As it is difficult to use GPS in the water that might be a easier start where you wouldn't have to develop fitting curves for the GPS signal...

[RockabillyRebel]

Please enable gps for swimming just as you have for running and bike. I purchased the Ionic specifically for the fact it has gps and am astonished to discover it cannot track swim distances outside of a pool.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @RockabillyRebel, thanks for explaining why you would like to have the option to enable GPS for open water on Ionic. This feature suggestion already exists, so I’ve moved your post here. While we don’t currently have plans to release this feature, we always appreciate the passion and creativity that comes out of this Community. Since we know this idea is important to many of you, we have left voting open to continue tracking interest and will post another update if anything changes. To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs.

I hope to see you around.

[RebeccaSUPWS]

Whilst my Sense has inbuilt GPS, it doesn’t track for open wafter swimming. Nor is there a SUP (stand-up paddle boarding) mode, which ideally would be the same/similar code.
I would like to be able to track the distance that I am swimming or paddling with my Sense.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @RebeccaSUPWS, thanks for taking the time to share this suggestion about having the option to track swimming in open water on Sense. This feature suggestion already exists, so I’ve moved your post here. While we don’t currently have plans to release this feature, we always appreciate the passion and creativity that comes out of this Community. Since we know this idea is important to many of you, we have left voting open to continue tracking interest and will post another update if anything changes. 

To learn more about how Fitbit decides which suggestions get developed, visit our FAQs.

I hope to see you around.

[EilidhMC14]

Option to track open water swimming via GPS or even just by time.

[enidhagerty]

I agree with Jus100 First Steps -- add phone support for placement in a buoy minimally.  Seems odd that the Ionic tracked open water swimming  so nicely and there is not even an option on the Sense....  Please add open water swim activity.  Thank you

[DavideFitbit]

Hi @EilidhMC14, thanks for taking the time to share your feedback about the possibility of tracking open water swimming with GPS on your Sense watch. I noticed that a similar feature suggestion already exists, so I’ve moved your post here, this helps to keeps the boards more organized. Make sure to add your vote as well to support this suggestion, this helps the team of developers to keep track of popularity and demand over time. 

Thank you again for your participation in the Community.