how to specify the developer name when creating an app in the "Gallery App Manager"

[ChrisSwim]

There seems to be no way to specify the name of the company when creating an app in the Gallery App Manager, everything else is there such as the category, the icon, the name and description (although the text length limit is a bit short), the support email or url and screenshots.

The name of the developer shown in the App gallery when viewing using the private link seems to come from the first and last name that was entered when the Fitbit account was created. I tried changing my first and last name to reflect the company name but this did not change the name against the app and it did not change the name shown in the Gallery App Manager where it shows "Developer Profile: {firstname} {lastname}".

I can see that other apps in the gallery have company names against them, so they must have entered the company name into the first and last name fields when creating the account.

I decided to create a separate account using the company name as the first and last name, but then i hit an issue, i was told that the account needs to have a Fitbit device paired to it when i tired to create an app in the Gallery App Manager to upload the published app file. I cannot see any reason for such a restriction and i am not prepared to wipe my Ionic and pair it to the new account just so i can publish an app.

I decided to contact support in the first instance to try it out as there was no mention of this this already on the forum, i used the live chat to describe the issue in detail and was told that my case was logged and would be forwarded to the correct team to deal with it. I chased it up today as i had not heard back, then later today i received a reply via email.

The reply to the support case i logged had completely missed the point, the support person stated that as i was having issues with the "name of the app" and "it prompt you to create a new account" and that i should "take a look at our Fitbit Studio where you can find the information about the developers" and "refer to the community" , so case closed it would seem.

I find it hard to see how my issue could have been misinterpreted, it was typed into the chat window, i and even typed "to be clear, its the developer name that i need to change" i also clearly explained that i decided to create a new account as a workaround for the issue. The reply looked as if it could have been generated by some kind of intelligent auto response system.

If this is the kind of support that is offered to developers who are trying to get an app published, Fitbit are going to have a hard time building up their app gallery with 3rd party apps.

[ChrisSwim]

Ok, figuring that this issue is not going to be resolved any time soon by the addition of the ability to specify the developer name in the "Gallery App Manager" profile or when creating an app, i decided to go ahead and pair my watch to my new fitbit account. In fact there doesn't seem to be any way of editing or even accessing the "Profile" that is referred to in the "Gallery App Manager" at the top of the page, it must be something that is just auto created from the main Fitbit profile the first time you visit and agree to the terms, with no consideration to the fact that it may need to be edited at some point.

I went into the mobile and tapped on the bin (trash) icon to unpair the device. I confirmed that the device was removed from my Fitbit account as the dashboard page shows "No devices Paired" at the top next to the date selection.

On a different phone, downloaded the Fitbit App and logged in using the new account, i then paired the device to the new account via the phone. I then logged into the "Gallery App Manager" only to be presented with this message:

"It looks like your watch is already associated to another developer account. One watch can only be associated to one Fitbit developer account at a time.

Contact appgallerysupport@fitbit.com if you need assistance."

Except that it's not because i unpaired the watch first and confirmed that it was indeed unpaired. Considering that changing my name on my original account did not change the name on the un-editable developer profile, it figures that unpairing the watch also does not reflect in the developer profile.

This behaviour is unacceptable, let's say my watch had to be replaced for whatever reason, the only way to continue developing apps with a new watch would be the create a new Fitbit account for the replacement watch using another email address. Let's say i sold the watch to somebody else, they could never use it for development because it would still be registered against my developer account with no way of removing it.

My plan by pairing it to the new account was to allow me to create apps in the "Gallery App Manager". I was then going to perform a factory reset on the device and then pair it back to the original account hoping that the new account would still think that it is paired because i never actually unpaired it.

It seems like the only way forward as it is currently is to buy another watch and pair it to the new account!

Difficulties with basic stuff such as this and lack of basic things such as app gallery stats should be resolved as a priority before adding new features to an SDK which may become irrelevant if not enough developers get onboard and start developing enough apps quick enough to produce a well populated app gallery...

I will now send an email to appgallerysupport@fitbit.com and hope for the best, although my patience is starting to wear thin...

[JonFitbit]

I can help you rename your developer profile. Send me a private message with your old name, and new name.

[marcy8468]

@JonFitbit

I want to rename my developer profile.
Where can I send private messages?

[JonFitbit]

---

@marcy8468 wrote:

I want to rename my developer profile.
Where can I send private messages?

---

Click my name, then Send a message.

[ingeniouspod]

I am trying to move my developer account to a new account(this account). I am unable to register in GAM i get the below error message:

"It looks like your watch is already associated to another developer account. One watch can only be associated to one Fitbit developer account at a time.

Contact appgallerysupport@fitbit.com if you need assistance."

Can someone help me map my fitbit device to this account?

[Gondwana]

I think the process is:

• Log in to the Fitbit app using your old account.
• Delete your watch from that account.
• Log out of the Fitbit app.
• Log in to the Fitbit app using your new account.
• Add your watch to the new account.

[ingeniouspod]

I did try the method suggested. It is still giving me same error message.

[Gondwana]

Yeah, unfortunately the watch tends to have a long memory sometimes. It might be time to try a factory reset after deleting from the old account. While that sounds brutal, when you associate it with a new account, most/all of your settings would be nuked anyway, and it would do a firmware update.

[ingeniouspod]

Tried factory reset as well. It still gives me same error message.

[pietr0]

@JonFitbit can I do the same?