Unable to store music on my new Sense

[drfl]

I loved my Ionic, it did everything I wanted it to do.  GPS, Exercise tracking, and it stored MP3s for when I would go running.  I'm not a fan of running with my phone and while putting MP3s on my Ionic was kinda a pain it allowed me to have music on my jogs.  Now, the Ionic has been recalled and I replaced it with the top of the line Sense only to find out I have to have a paid subscription to Pandora/Spotify/Deezer in order to store music to my phone.  What the hell?  Either choose a FitBit that has the potential to burn me go without music.  Please add the ability to store our MP3s to the FitBits agains.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Rich_Laue]

Actually @drfl Spotify can only be played on the phone. Like any type of music, your Sense can act like a remote for playing both video and audio on the phone. 

As for Pandora and Deezer, both of them, not Fitbit require a payed subscription to locally store music. 

[drfl]

The issue I have is they had the feature and then took it away.  I don't have Pandora or Deezer nor want either because I have thousands of MP3s.  I wouldn't have upgraded, but I felt that the safety issue was a cause for concern.  I am fairly certain the app would work on this watch as most of the other apps seem to have ported fine, they just took it away for no apparent reason.

[slorraine]

I returned my Ionic to Fitbit and regret doing so.  Bought the Fitbit Sense this weekend without knowing it didn't support iTunes.  I just boxed it up and I'm returning it today.  Wasn't happy the way it continually lost contact with my iPhone.  Looking for another alternative to a watch that supports iTunes and GPS.  

[SunsetRunner]

@Rich_Laue , you wrote: "As for Pandora and Deezer, both of them, not Fitbit require a payed subscription to locally store music."

Are you referring to the fact that the premium you pay for a music subscription goes into either Pandora's or Deezer's bank account, not Fitbit's?  That's true.  And in that very narrow sense you can argue it's Pandora and Deezer, not Fitbit, requiring payment to locally store music. 

However, in the broader sense it's absolutely Fitbit (not Pandora or Deezer) who's requiring you to pay to store music on your tracker.  It was Fitbit's decision to block the upload of personally-owned mp3s onto its tracker and require users to subscribe to a premium service if they want to locally store music.

To elaborate: Fitbit used to provide a feature where you could store your personally-owned mp3s locally on your tracker, thereby allowing you to listen to music directly from your device for free.  However, Fitbit has removed that feature.  Now Fitbit requires a paid service (Pandora or Deezer) if you want to locally store music on your tracker.  In other words, Fitbit re-designed its tracker so that they are no longer compatible with free music and only work with paid subscriptions.

Note that it's Fitbit dictating these design features for its trackers.  Neither Pandora nor Deezer determine the functionality of Fitbit devices, so they can't be blamed for Fitbit's decision to require a paid subscription to locally store music.

[Moneymgmt]

Can the Sense store music from Spotify or not?  One response here says it can be stored locally while another says it acts like a "remote", requiring streaming through a phone nearby. 

[Guy_]

Hi @Moneymgmt  - the Sense cannot store Spotify music, it's only a remote control app which requires exclusive control of your watch, nothing else can be used at the same time.

In addition in order to even use the remote control app on the watch you have to have a premium Spotify account.

A better solution is to use the built-in music controls on the watch which is better and free to remote control any music playing on your phone.

Music controls doesnt stop any clock or app running on the watch and can adjust the volume which Spotify can't.

Bottom line, as you will always need your phone to play Spotify music there îs no need for the Spotify control app or a premium Spotify account.

[Moneymgmt]

Thank you for responding to clarify.

My watch is the largest thing I carry when I run; I do not, and will not, run with my phone.  If the options are run with a new Fitbit AND my phone, or buy a different brand and run without my phone, there are options.  I want to love Fitbit after the Ionic debacle but they are moving backwards.  I completely agree with the OP on this frustration.

[Rich_Laue]

@Moneymgmt on every page is a link to the online, searchable user manual

How do I control music playing on Spotify?

[Applefritter]

I feel like there’s been a bait and switch. I stupidly assumed when they recalled the Ionic the Sense would not only be an upgrade but it would maintain ALL the features that made the Ionic such an awesome tracker. Who does that???? Remove one of its top two selling features.  Now you expect your loyal Ionic wearers to pay for a music service????? Ridiculous.  I know personally of another Ionic owner that bought into the Ionic/Sense switcharoo as well.  Had we known, we would have gone with something else.  Fitbit has been downgraded from highly recommended top pick to meh. 

[BonnyJ]

I did the same, recalled my Fitbit because it could set on fire and then 'upgraded' only to realise the 3+ years newer model has less functionality than the old Ionic I returned. It's such a nonsensical decision to remove a feature people need and genuinely care about, this is such a kick in the teeth to people who are loyal to Fitbit to make the product worse and force you into paying a subscription to listen to music on your device you've already paid a good sum of money for. The answer is simple for me, vote with my feet, if the feature isn't added in the next update (which it easily could as it exists on the inferior Versa 2!) then I simply won't be buying another Fitbit product ever. 

Moderator edit: word choice

[SunsetRunner]

Especially as Pandora is US only and shock horror!! not everyone lives in the US!! and also, Deezer is hardly known or used outside of France.  Makes you wonder what kickbacks Fitbit got from these sites...

[BigGameHunter]

I agree wholeheartedly and implore Fitbit to add storage of MP3 files to the sense as my old Blaze which was way less expense could save music and play directly to my IPods or Wireless Beats 3.  BigGameHunter

[Guy_]

Hi @BigGameHunter - unfortunately Fitbit are in the process of removing music from all their smart watches so nothing for music will get added as this would just reverse the direction that has been chosen.

As to why Fitbit chose to make their watches less competitive when it is technically possible is a mystery.