Anyway to debug?

[frapell]

Is there any way to debug code using the fitbit studio?

Having to constantly build and send the app to phone and watch for every single change is a super tedious process

[JonFitbit]

If you're just writing JavaScript logic, you can use something like jsbin.com or jsfiddle.net.

[frapell]

Yeah, but I was looking for something more functional... something like the dev tools in chrome/ffx where you can tweak values and see results right away...

For instance, I don't know the best color, font size, etc combination so it would look nice in the watch, and having to compile under each css change is an ordeal

[PloPp-]

I agree, developing apps for a device really requires a virtual debug-device for quickly launching the app, pressing buttons etc.

Needing access to real hardware all the time degrades the development experience a lot. I would upvote this as a feature request a thousand times if I could.

This would also enable development of apps by people who actually does not own a device.

[allan175]

You should try developing for game consoles, it's all proprietary hardware devkits and you can't develop on anything else!

[frapell]

So, basically, because developing for consoles suck, then developing for Fitbit should also suck?

Being able to develop for a platform without the need to buy a $300 watch is a great advantage in my opinion

[allan175]

Not at all! Just pointing out that Fitbit isn't the only one that has this issue.

[poeticGeek]

not being able to debug my app while its running is a huge hurdle.

having to make a change and then re-build, re-install and then re-run is a terrible hassle for any app that is more than 10 lines of code.

debugging my fitbit app from chrome for example as you can for web apps running in chrome on a mobile device (by going to chrome://devices) would be a huge step forward for building apps.

[frapell]

Good luck expecting Fitbit to take into consideration anything coming from the community... take for example this: https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Suggestions/Smart-Alarms-that-Wake-You-More-Naturally-eg-in-...

A feature that ANY smart watch should have and most do, being "Under consideration" for 5 years now...

Personally, I totally regret buying this watch

[JonFitbit]

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@frapell wrote:

Is there any way to debug code using the fitbit studio?

Having to constantly build and send the app to phone and watch for every single change is a super tedious process

---

Thanks for the feedback. I'd definitely recommend adding your vote to the existing feature suggestion, it's a great way for us to gauge the priority of features.

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Suggestions/Debug-Breakpoint-Support-in-CLI/idi-p/2929201

[frapell]

I don't think Fitbit cares about voting... the Smart alarm feature is 5 years old, has 5617 votes as of now, and 40 pages of people asking for it... Fitbit completely ignores the request...

I would much rather have a response from you like "Guys, our watches don't have the proper hardware for this, it won't happen" and be done with it...

Anyway....

[JonFitbit]

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@frapell wrote:

I don't think Fitbit cares about voting... the Smart alarm feature is 5 years old, has 5617 votes as of now, and 40 pages of people asking for it... Fitbit completely ignores the request...

---

I can't comment on general product feature suggestions, but the SDK feature requests help drive the development roadmap, as demonstrated by the implementation of the simulator, command line tools and other features.

[OnlyLetters]

They have since done this with Fitbit OS 4.1. Give 'em a break. Developers are people too.

[eamodio]

@OnlyLetters What do you mean? Debugging was added in 4.1? How? Where?

[Giampi71]

@JonFitbit roadmap is no longer shared since quite long time 

[OnlyLetters]

@eamodio Sorry that was in response to the smart alarm comment @frapell made

[frapell]

@OnlyLetters Do you know how to read dates? I wrote that in 2018, speaking about a feature request that has been "Under Consideration" since 2013, and it was delivered (apparently) some days ago (6 years later).

Unfortunately, I already sold my Ionic and bought a Xiaomi Mi Band 4, which costs about 10 times less, and provides this feature already.

[paulera888]

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@frapell wrote:

I don't think Fitbit cares about voting...

---

@frapell I also find the debugging tedious, and I get frustrated too when a high ranked feature is not picked. However, product management is not democracy. Users' feedback is meant to provide insights, not decisions.

Instead of ranting, can you suggest a possible solution to the debug process? If I am not mistaken, the device runs the JerryScript project internally, which seems to have a debugger bridge.

@JonFitbit Is there any possibility to allow the contribution of external developers to the OS Simulator? Can we fork it? Perhaps someone in the community could figure out an iterative debugging solution if the FitBit team can't focus on that at the moment.

Thanks