Is UHC Motion compatible with Charge 5?

[fritzk9]

Hey All - Has anyone been able to use the Charge 5 with the United Healthcare (UHC) Motion App?  I know that the Charge 4 is compatible, and the UHC App itself doesn't list the Charge 5 yet (as of 11/29/2021). 

If the Charge 5 doesn't support the Motion App natively, I thought I might be able to "trick" the app to think it's communicating with a Charge 4, if the Charge 5 provides the data required for the Motion App.

Thanks!

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[EdsonFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community, @fritzk9.

Thank you for your question.

I noticed that you've been in touch with Customer Support. I'm pretty sure they've done their best to provide a high level of support. 

Have a nice day.

[infiernodeashly]

I, too, would like to know if the Charge 5 is or will be compatible with the UHC Motion app, as I regularly used it and only bought the Charge 5 because it was on sale and my Charge 3 just completely stopped working. It seems to still work with the mobile app, but I haven't found out how to install the application to my Fitbit for tracking and notifications. The option isn't available in my Fitbit mobile app.  

[Kcb53]

I just received a Charge 5 to replace my Charge 3 and would love to know when it will be available to display UHC on my tracker or if there are any work arounds.

[EdsonFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community, @infiernodeashly @Kcb53.

My team has recently informed me that the Fitbit Charge 5 is not included yet on the list of devices compatible with the UHC App. In order to add it to the program, please reach out to your program administrator.

Have a nice day.

[Janislitch]

Hi, 

Please explain how our program administrator is able to add devices to the UHC Motion app. On its face that makes no sense. Obviously there is sufficient demand yet your dev team hasn't been able to pull it off. 

The same question has been asked repeatedly above. We'd all appreciate a useful answer. 

Thank you

[EdsonFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community, @Janislitch.

Thanks for your comments.

Your program administrator might not be able to add devices to the UHC Motion app but they need to get in touch with the Fitbit dev team to request to add the Fitbit Charge 5 to the list.

Have a nice day.

[SunsetRunner]

EdsonFitbit - please tell us if and when UHC Motion and Fitbit plans to offer this compatibility. Should I return the Fitbit 5 I ordered?

[Rich_Laue]

@SunsetRunner. have you followed @EdsonFitbit suggestion and contacted UHC Motion? For this to happen, UHC Motion needs to contact Fitbit. 

Our first step is to let UHC Motion know that their users want this option. 

[MikeMcFit]

UHC Motion support said that it is Fitbit that has not added support for the widget, so who's telling the truth? They have an option to just scrape the data from my Fitbit cloud account, but the widget is invaluable for reminders and ongoing status throughout the day. I want to move from my Charge 4 to a Charge 5, but this is a deal breaker. If it requires work on Fitbit's side, make it happen or lose current and future customers to hardware that continues to support UHC Motion.

[Koolkoala938]

So just to make sure, the Fitbit app itself can send the data to UHC Motion, right? I just got the Charge 5 to (surprise surprise) replace my screen-faded Charge 3 and I wanna be able to use my that for doing things.

[Elven]

Had I known about this before getting my charge 5 I wouldn't have. It is a pain in the butt. The part that held the band on the tracker of my charge 4 broke off randomly one day and I figured I'd just get the next model... because I'm an idiot. I didn't do my homework. It has stress trackers that stress me out-if they work at all, doesn't support Spotify and doesn't support UHC. It tracks and the fitbit app will eventually connect with the uhc app but the frequency targets are pretty much impossible to hit. Literally been able to ONCE because I manually tracked a "walk" 6 times at hourly intervals beginning approx 65 mins after the previous. Who has time for that everyday??? Wildly inconvenient.

[tlgrove1]

Has this device been added to be able to use the Motion app yet?

[MikeMcFit]

No, it still isn't available as an option in the UHC Motion app. You can add the Charge 5 to the app as a generic Fitbit device, but you won't have the UHC widget and reminders on the Charge 5. I'd love to upgrade to a Charge 5, but this is still a dealbreaker for me and a lot of UHC Motion users. Sad that Fitbit isn't interested in adding the functionality, they're losing out on a lot of Charge 5 sales....

[ebdb]

It works, but still is not as integrated as the $50 fitbit... I liked
knowing when the 300 step walks were completed and the sense 5 does not do
that. Otherwise it works fine.

[TNVOLinOH]

I don't know how to do that.  However, I did send the following email to UHC Motion.  Maybe the moderator can send it to development.  If they get enough complaints & see how stupid this is, maybe they'll update their contract / policy.

UHCM does not play nicely with Fitbit Charge 5.  Apparently, because of a contractual relationship, the FIT bands cannot appear on the Charge 5, like they can with the Charge 4 & other devices.  THIS IS RIDICULOUS!!!

Without the bands, the wearer cannot get the vibration notices that it’s time to start walking (F) or you’ve reached your goal (F,I,T) or other information.  Now, I have to

1. Set the timer on the Charge 5 for 60 minutes, so I can get up and walk 6 times a day.
2. I have to carry my phone with me, so I can REPEATEDLY sync the Fitbit app with the UHCM app.  They often don’t sync well together.  With the Charge 4, it was almost automatic. Now, I have to pull down the screen & refresh many, many times.  This is a royal PITA.  To do all this, I have to stop walking or exercising & lose momentum.
3. My Charge 5 is new, so I don’t yet know how the activities (bike, run, elliptical, etc.) will actually carry over to the UHCM app & record for rewards.

Whoever thought this was a good clause to put in a contract is an idiot.  It’s not good for Fitbit, UHCM or the member.  Who wants angry & frustrated customers?

My solution?

I’ve ordered a new Charge 4 from eBay & am returning my Charge 5 when it arrives.  Fitbit just lost my business.

[BWis]

I am floored by this.  Indeed I'm tempted to go back to the Charge 4.  This is a nasty surprise.

[Kcb53]

I gave up 3 weeks ago and went back to the Charge 4.  It is soooo nice to have the UHC tracking from the Fitbit instead of constantly syncing to my phone!  As a bonus, I found my stash of Charge 3 wrist bands and they all work with the Charge 4 - Nice!

So far I haven't missed a single thing about the Charge 5 (except for the money I spent purchasing it)!

[MegaHertz60]

Exactly the same thing happened to me.  The small plastic tab on the Charge 4 watch that connects to the wrist band broke off, rendering the device useless.  Fitbit offered me a discount to "upgrade" to a Charge 5.  It never occurred to me that the Charge 5 might not be compatible with the United Healthcare Motion app.  So, I purchased the Charge 5.  Now, I am not a happy customer.  UHC and Fitbit need to fix this discrepancy ASAP.

[LelandMills]

10 months after the original question, it appears the situation is the same.  Any updates?

I used to have Charge 3, and enjoyed motion App.  I'd used wife's Apple Watch 2 when my tracker died, but it had terrible sync problems with motion and a crack on screen rendered it basically useless.  Decided to go back to FitBit and got the "latest" nice tracker (started shopping from UHC motion website), and like others SHOCKED that no motion App as with previous two iterations of this model.  Also appears there are really NO apps outside of what's delivered with the Charge 5.  Feels very non-extensible, while the Charge 3 did.

Is FitBit's plan here to confine trackers and push to smart watch?  I like the size of Charge, and affordability for something that will get worn out.