App Gallery stats such as number of downloads / installs?

[ChrisSwim]

When is this fundamental feature going to be added to the App gallery so that developers can find out how many users have downloaded / installed their app?

It has already been suggested some time ago:

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Suggestions/Add-number-of-installs-in-the-fitbit-app-gallery...

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Suggestions/number-of-downloads-and-rating-in-appstore/idi-p...

I would guess that like myself, other developers who may be looking to see if it is worth developing apps for the Ionic and Versa will need to know this information in order to decide on the viability of developing Fitbit Smartwatch apps as a potential way of generating income.

If you are just a hobbyist developer then this is not much of an issue, or if a company is just providing a Fitbit app to connect to an existing revenue generating service then again, not an issue.

Looking at the apps currently in the App gallery most of them seem to fit the above 2 categories. After spending a week or so playing around with the SDK, I am at the point where i have to decide if its worth the hassle for a Smartwatch platform which may well not succeed, especially given the limitations of the development process and app gallery as it is currently and my experience with Fitbit support so far.

I wonder how many other developers have done similar and then just decided to abandon ship and carry on developing for other platforms? 

If Fitbit are not taking important developer requests seriously such as this, they are not going to build up a decent 3rd party app ecosystem. As history has shown many times, it's the apps that make the difference. It would be a shame to see Fitbit's new Smartwatches fail in the face of the established competion.

Btw. Developers could always implement their own method of discovering the number of installs, but without making it very clear to users that an app (which may have no valid reason to access the internet) is going to be phoning home to report that it has been launched, would be a privacy issue. Forcing developers to go down that route is not good for anyone.

[_Attila_]

I will second this. I am a hobby developer and even I would like to know if someone (anyone) found an app or watch face useful. It would be nice to see downloads and perhaps a rating as well.

[JonFitbit]

We're fully aware of this request, please make sure you vote on the feature request.

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Feature-Suggestions/Developer-Dashboard/idi-p/2496931

[tipztv]

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I wonder how many other developers have done similar and then just decided to abandon ship and carry on developing for other platforms? 

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I have been keeping fitbit under my rader since the ionic but I have never developed anything for this platform due to the lack of SDK features and monetisation options. I recently came back to this forum to see if it's worth to make apps for the new Versa but I am still very disappointed with the process. Let's hope the smartwatch category doesn't die before we get a decent SDK.

[PriyankaPardesi]

Sorry for replying on a 2018 thread in 2020, but I completely agree with @ChrisSwim. This is a basic and must have for all developers.

Hope this gets rolled out soon. 

[morningReign]

Hello ChrisSwim,

This may not be helpful for your needs, but I use the stats from Kiezelpay.

They do provide information on trials started, payments made, country of origin and other useful statistics.

I think you can even provide an app for free and still be able to keep track of it this way.

[saaasaab]

From a business perspective it makes sense not to open that information to the developers to developers.  If they do give us the info and it turns out our apps aren't getting downloaded at all, then we'll stop developing, which means their community driven app network falls apart.   

Potentially holding the info back offers us the hope that our apps are doing well.  Business is business, and business must grow. 

[marylouwho]

The link you posted to is asking for a dashboard. Is there not a way to just see the number of installs? That just seems so basic to be >2 years in the making

[Guy_]

It's 2022 and this was brought up many times since 2018.

Common, give the developers more help, after all they are contributing to selling the Fitbit watches with various developed clocks and apps and need all the encouragement you can give them.

Surely adding downloads would be easy enough without redesigning the current presentation.

Add it as ZERO stars because that's what it is, the user either voted or didn't.