Podcast App

[nbarnhart]

It would be great if Fitbit could build or work with a 3rd Party to build a podcast app for the Ionic. I want to be able to go for a run, track that run, and listen to podcasts without needing to manually load the podcasts from my computer.

Recommended 3rd Party App Partner

• Podcast Addict

Recommended Features:

• Download to and play podcasts from Ionic
• Add/Delete Podcasts from phone
• Pause, Play, Next, Back, 15s rewind, 15s fast forward controls
• Auto download/Auto delete options for subscribes podcasts.
• Playlists that sync to phone player  

Moderator Edit: Added Labels

[editability]

Would love to have the 'fast forward' ability with the current app.

In that case, I can jump to the middle of a podcast file from where I left off previously.

Thank you.

[Bench]

A simple update to the music payer to allow Fast Forward / Rewind when listening to a track. Otherwise an audio book is unsupported on the device in real terms. If the last play position could be maintained that would also help, but at least with FF and rewind you could allow people to get to the point they were at in the audio book / podcast.

[MarcelBK]

Nice suggestion, thanks for sharing. We look forward to hearing what other community members think.

[megsolley]

OMG I can't believe this doesn't already work! I was trying to listen to a Couch-To-5K podcast where a week's worth of runs are stored in a single mp3. I thought I'd be able to leave my phone at home with the versa, but with a half-implemented music player that's not really an option.

[Josh_MB]

Definitely a must! It feels like something that was just overlooked as opposed to decided upon as well as an easy fix!

[HappyIonic]

Please add an option to skip some portion of a music file.  I bought the ionic to jog and listen a daily radio show of about 1,5 hour long.  Sometimes, I already listened to the first 45 minutes and I want to listen from that point where I stopped listening earlier in the day.  At the moment, I must listen again the entire 45 minutes to get at the 46th minutes of the music show.  For me, this option is almost a deal breaker as I don't want to loose time listening to something I already listened.

[Imlesh]

I completely agree. Without retention of last play position, as well as Fast Forward/Rewind options, the music player is severely crippled. If you have long playlists or want to listen to large files (eg. most podcasts), the absence of these basic functions is really infuriating.

I bought my Ionic specifically because I didn't want to carry my phone with me, but I find myself resorting to it a lot of the time, just because I don't want to deal with the limitations of the music app.

[bassoprofundo]

OMG... Just came over from Samsung devices because my employer's health insurance tracking program only supports full tracking on FB and Apple Watch, and I absolutely can't believe the music/podcast experience is this bad.  Not only do I have to use a kludgy windows app to transfer podcasts, I can't even skip position in them?  I'm going to end out working out with a Galaxy Note flopping around in my pocket just to get podcasts.  PLEASE pay attention to your users here.  Basic FFwd controls would at least get us going, and a dedicated podcasts app would really fix things.

[SunsetRunner]

Yes! I’ve found myself shopping around for a new watch specifically because this feature is missing. I thought I would be able to run without my phone but that hasn’t been the case. When people ask me if I like my Fitbit Ionic I always tell them I don’t recommend it if they are interested in it for the onboard music feature. 

[HyWynds]

It would be great to get Podcasts!  Apple and other apps.

[PickelSlurpee]

Got the storage on the watch,   It seems very odd they make you go to the PC to make a list but anyways

Someone please create a podcast app for the versa

or at least someway to sync my watch and my podcast player on my android.  Lets get the pc out of this

OR have a dropbox type deal that the watch will sync up with. 

If i can have my podcast on my watch then I have no need to carry the phone anymore

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @PickelSlurpee, thanks for explaining why you would like to have this option. 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 FAQs.

[santoroski]

I also support this feature request .is there any progress??

[Giampi71]

@MarcelBK Did you have the opportunity to review the suggestion? I think the community spoke clearly about the need of such application.

[sadievan]

Would also like to see a podcast and audible, audio book app. Am trying to decide between the Versa and Apple Watch. This feature is important.

[EmilyFH]

Add a podcast app. People have been asking for years. 

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @EmilyFH! Great suggestion, thanks for sharing your idea. I've moved it into a similar request. You can learn more about how Fitbit decides what suggestions get released in our FAQs.

[RobIgoUK]

Hey Fitbit any news on this yet?

Podcasts seem to be gaining more and more momentum with Spotify announcing they are spending money and also Apple killing off iTunes and Podcasts will be a seperate app.

C'mon Fitbit I'm sure this can be done quite easily by your expert dev team.  Even if you didn't add a pocast app them at least add basic controls on the media player (forward, skip etc.) so we can put our own podcasts on and listen easily!

Any news anything you can tell us what's in the works?

[GreenChange]

Really?

I couldn't believe it when I found out how cumbersome (and slow!) the music syncing process is, learned the limitations around remembering where you were up to in a podcast/audiobook, and discovered the lack of any podcast apps.

It's 2019 already! If I'd read this before purchasing, I would have bought the Apple Watch 4 instead.

Very disappointing.

[RobIgoUK]

bump!  Any update on this?

[Catcher2578]

Be able to access podcast off-line for free from Apple podcast

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @Catcher2578. Thank you for sharing your Feature Suggestion with the Fitbit Community. We aren't sure what you mean by being able to access podcast off-line for free from Apple podcast. Do you refer to integrate Apple Podcast with Fitbit or, would you like to store podcasts in your Versa? Please reply with more detail or specifics on how your idea would work. Looking forward to your reply.

[UsefulIdiot]

If there was a way to sync podcasts to the ionic from the Google podcasts app, that would be great, and amending the music app to cope with pause and resume, or remember last location, would allow long podcasts to be played over several runs.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @nbarnhart. Thanks for sharing this suggestion. Our web API and smartwatch SDK are open which means that the service you are wanting can actually integrate with Fitbit. We’d encourage you to make this suggestion to the service and direct them to our existing API and SDK and resources such as the web dev API community. You will likely be able to email them via their contact us page or customer support, or they may have their own ideas board like this. Or encourage them to reach out to Fitbit directly.

Please note that you can listen to your podcasts offline when using the Deezer app or via streaming with the Spotify app on your Ionic or Versa series smartwatches. Thanks for your participation in the Feature Suggestion forums, we look forward to making Fitbit more useful for you.

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi @Catcher2578, thanks for sharing your suggestion with us. 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.