Can the Sense store music like the Ionic?

[Lasertop]

I see where the sense can stream music from pandora but that requires a device with an internet connection, and if you are doing a run you really don't want to lug around your phone.  Does the Sense or Versa provide the ability to store music that I can then stream to my Bluetooth headphones?

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MrSteddy]

Hi everyone - upvote this persons post below to let Fitbit know how important storing our own music files on the Sense is - fingers crossed it’s an upgrade ability.

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Sense/Can-the-Sense-store-music-like-the-Ionic/m-p/4454527#M388

That said - (whilst initially unlikely given my existing music service eco system) if I persisted songs on my FitBit sense via a paid Deezer or Pandora subscription - roughly how much user storage remains in the FitBit Sense for this purpose?

[Lasertop]

I'm not sure what your role at Fitbit is Lizzy but if you have access to the Project team please let them know what we are not happy with them taking out a feature that costs them nothing and then expecting us to pay $10 a month or $120 a year for a service that we really don't want just to get the same functionality on a new watch, we would simply rather keep the old watch or move on to a different brand.  It's wonderful that they now have a way to track my Stress or oxygen levels, but that's not what I use my Fitbit for.  I will certainly click onto your suggested link and add my vote and thank you for that.

[JeffMindlin]

@bobby2478 

This is  very plausible. It’s about money and deals with those streaming services.
remember Fitbit is now owned by google who are experts in obsfucated revenue streams. 

[JeffMindlin]

@LizzyFitbit 

This seems a little misleading. I’m sure that 1 or 100 or people asking for a feature is unlikely to overturn a commercial decision. 
best thing would be i they behaved like tech companies used to and were open about their decisions and reasons 

[Lasertop]

Very true, it's my hope that some independent programmer creates a way to insert music files into the watch.  Should that happen I will be the first in line to buy a new Sense.  Because I do like the Fitbit ecosystem and want to stay with it, and as long as my Ionic holds up I will have no reason to leave.

[bobby2478]

Technically Fitbit is not owned by Google...yet. While Google announced their intent to purchase Fitbit, the deal has yet to get regulatory approval and has not closed. So Fitbit is not yet part of Google.

But your point is valid, they could be looking to force people to use a streaming service if they had some agreement with those streaming platforms to get revenue for each Fitbit user that pays for their premium service and syncs with their Sense device. Although that would be a round about way of collecting additional revenue vs just making the ability to upload tied to their "Premium" service.

[SunsetRunner]

Hi @JeffMindlin Fitbit are NOT owned by Google yet.  The deal is still being scrutinised by various regulatory authorities and especially here in the EU.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi everyone.

I appreciate your feedback about the Sense and its features. I understand your thoughts about being able to store your music on your watch. While the comments shared in this forums are frequently reviewed by our team, my best advise is to add your vote to this idea. This will help us to track the votes of our members and if it gains popularity, it can be shared internally.

Thanks again for your comments and if there's anything else I can do for you, don't hesitate to let me know.

See you around.

[nh97103]

This is not cool. Not cool at all. I am leaning towards cancelling my preorder now. I have to have the ability to store and play music, just like I do on my Versa 2. What a boneheaded mistake, Fitbit!

[Marrrmaduke]

@nh97103 I get your disappointment, really do, though personally I don't miss clunky upload of the tunes 😖 If I could advise... Don't cancel. This is honestly a good product with so many features packed into tiny frame. If you dislike it, you will have 45 days to return it. 

[Lasertop]

@LizzyFitbit Now I understand you are only trying to help, but right now I see about 14 upvotes, and let's say we double that to around 30, truthfully it won't matter.  I have been in the software development business for more than 30 years now, so I know that a few people making noise about one feature isn't likely to get their attention, because the big picture here is Fitbit is getting a chunk of that music subscription money and that will far outway anyone like me that passes on their new watch.  They know that in time my Ionic will break and I will have to replace it with another watch, and they are banking that I will be too tied into the Fitbit Ecosystem to even think about moving elsewhere, instead I will end up paying an extra $120 a year for a feature that right now is free to me.

[Marrrmaduke]

@Lasertop I actually agree. And as you said it's all about the demand. But it's also about product roadmap. Honestly with everything moving to the cloud from software to analytics, it is unlikely we will see local storage to go on. And when/if Google-Fitbit marriage finally gets consummated 😂, we might even get YouTube Music. The way I see it, there's no stopping it, and given other features that this product brings, it's an absolute upgrade. Any way I look at it. Of course, I understand different people different strokes and all that. At the end of the day, it's your call to make. 

ETA: Let me just add one more thing. No matter the tracker you use, we as community will be happy to have you. 😊 I still use my old charge 2. Happy stepping!

[JeffMindlin]

I don’t buy by brand. I look carefully at the features I need to make a purchase work for me. If they are not there, no purchase. 

[nh97103]

It is clunky to upload music on the Versa 2 but that doesn't bother me. It only needs done once and then you're good to go. You're also right that the Sense does a lot, but I will never use Pandora or Deezer. Therefore, for me and many others, the Fitbit Sense does not have the ability to store and play music. Ergo, we have a smartwatch here that tracks GPS but not music. It's so funny to me, considering the Fitbit Versa 2 had music but no GPS and the Charge 4 has GPS but no music. Now this. Fitbit just can't seem to get this important feature right for runners. 

Therefore, while it saddens me, I have to vote with my wallet. My preorder has been cancelled. I will reconsider when and if I have the ability to store my music on the Fitbit Sense.

[Lasertop]

@Marrrmaduke Now I do agree everything is moving to the cloud, but this is a watch that I take with me on my daily run or bike ride.  Unless they come out with a watch that uses Cellular data (and how much is that going to set me back) the only way I am going to stream music from my watch to my Bluetooth headphones is from local storage on the watch.  The New Sense has such local storage, but they are making that only available to music services where you would pay for a subscription and then get to download their music onto your watch.  So for me at least this is NOT an upgrade as it will not do the main task that I want it to do, which is exercise while listening to my music.

[Marrrmaduke]

@Lasertop I think at this point we are looking at adding more cloud services that would allow you store the music playlists offline without the need of cellular data. Tho honestly I wouldn't be surprised if there's cellular data Fitbit model on the product roadmap. Who knows. Basically at this point Fitbit needs to add offline Spotify and YouTube Music. Sorry, but that's where it's all heading. And by all I mean pretty much the whole world. I wish I could me more helpful here. 

[PatriSol]

I'm sorry @Marrrmaduke , but you are not right on this.

As @Lasertop pointed, the watch has the internal storage, but you are not allowed to use it as you want, but as Fitbit is telling you to do... buying a subscription to Pandora, Deezer or Spotify...

You are trying to say all smartwatches are pointing towards cloud services and that is correct... but not leaving it as THE ONLY OPTION, specially if you had internal music storage before. Ionic, Versa 1, Versa 2 could do it before, why are Fitbit taking it away?

Look at samsung watches for example... you have spotify... but it also have the option to put your own music inside...

That is the point here... GIVE OPTIONS TO CUSTOMERS TO BUY YOU PRODUCT, DON'T TAKE OPTIONS YOU HAD BEFORE, because then you have customers like me and my husband, that have no option but to buy another brand...

[Marrrmaduke]

@PatriSol I think it comes down to different expectations. Same as several years ago Blockbuster CEO laughed at Netflix. Streaming content? Look where's Blockbuster Video now. But, I agree at being versatile and giving options. It comes down to cost vs benefit. Obviously the music storage didn't make the cut. I'm sorry to see you go, but I agree it comes down to preferences and priorities. For me, music storage wasnt why I got Fitbit. I hope you find the watch that fits your needs. 

[Lasertop]

If you can have Offline Spotify or YouTube or any other music service that means you have memory on the watch to hold these files.  So why not let the customer store their own music in this space?  That is what they did with the Ionic and Versa 2.  If I'm at home and want to play some music, most certainly I can ask my Echo Dot to play something.  But If I'm biking up a mountain somewhere unless my watch can use cellular data and there is a cell tower close by then I am out of luck.

What this comes down to is a revenue source for Fitbit, they will spin it as a great new feature they have added to the watch no doubt, but for those of us who have watches that did this for free, it is hard to convince us of the value in paying for something that we used to get for free.

[eljae]

I watch a lot of true crime shows. There is no way I would go anywhere without my phone. 

Maybe hold out for the Galaxy Active 3 or check out the Garmin devices, I have friends who love the Garmins.