Fitbit app doesn't show exact exercise time (min and sec)

[lmacmil]

Just got back from a 30 minute walk and looked at my stats on the app.  It shows duration as 30 minutes, no seconds displayed.  That put my pace at just over 13 min/mile which is a little faster than normal.  I logged into Fitbit on my computer and it shows the exact time of 30:54 so apparently now the app just shows the minutes and drops the seconds.  It doesn't even round to the closest minute.  I wonder what genius thought this was an improvement?

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[ShazzaW]

Since updating the app (22 Nov 23) exercise time is rounded down to show the minutes only which isn’t very helpful when you’re trying see improvements in times/results. 

Am I missing something or is this one of the unhelpful changes introduced through an update? 

[Triletics]

One of many unhelpful changes. You can still see seconds if you go to the web dashboard.

[MomMD5]

All of a sudden, all of my exercise times are being rounded to the nearest minute. This is useless. How can you ever get a PR on your runs if your times are all rounded to the nearest minute? Is this an exercise watch and app? Apparently it’s not anymore. Fitbit what are you doing??? Have you lost your mind? Why in the world will I spend money on Fitbit if it doesn’t track my exercise time?

[MomMD5]

It does this for runs too which is a real problem. This is supposed to be a fitness app, yet a runner can’t even determine if they have a PR or not because the exercise only tracks in minutes not seconds. Clearly, someone who just sits on the couch all day designed this app.

[FBRunner17]

Did some more searching.  Seems a lot of people had this same problem in late 2020 and posted about it for months with no resolution other than “check out our online dashboard” - I did, it is junk, definitely not mobile friendly.  Why have it on a dashboard but not on the app???  Funny thing, I didn’t have the problem then - have been using my Fitbit(s) for over 10 years and only ran into the problem with this latest software update.  
Most of the posts from 2020/2021 were annotated as “edited by moderator” which I found interesting…

Did see one work-around, not that it fixes what is a pretty basic must have for an exercise tracker, but they said can scroll to the end of the HR tracker and see the exact time there.

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Sorry…. Just tried the “work around” - that doesn’t work either.  Doesn’t show time and the whole scrolling through HR is clunky and jumps, not a smooth scroll. Would gladly trade that “feature” in the app for the feature of being able to see seconds!

[Triletics]

@MomMD5 even with seconds tracking PRs or running progress with Fitbit is a chore as there are no tools for that (unless you write down all PRs somewhere 😁). Fitbit doesn't recognize common distances (like 5k, 10k, 10mi, 13.1mi, 26.2mi) and has no tools for runners. This is device designed to count steps not runs. It may be partially solved but syncing with Strava which tracks PRs and other running data but Fitbit isn't runner's watch. If somebody picks Fitbit to track running then makes a mistake.

[Gbernardwandel]

Yup

this update sucks

I'm leaving Fitbit as soon as my premium is up for renewal

[Tilly297]

Agree to all of the above! Who on earth in their right mind would create an app update for FITNESS tracking that eliminates precise duration tracking (minutes AND seconds)?! This just wiped out a tremendous amount of information I’ve been carefully tracking for years. If this is what Fitbit premium is becoming, makes me ready to give up six years’ worth of tracking on Fitbit and switch to an Apple Watch. 

[Tilly297]

I feel the same way! All of these other features like heart rate, zones, sleep profiles etc are “nice to haves” but are meaningless if the app doesn’t track a MAJOR basic building block like the “actual” pace as counted in minutes AND seconds! This watch just became deadweight with this app update! They better announce an upcoming app update soon or I’m switching to a different product. My workouts are way too important for “generalities”.

[MattGG]

Just realized this today after my run.  I am not happy.  A minute is an eternity in a lot of exercises.

[Shipmandm]

Exercise just showing minutes not seconds

[dhimes]

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@MomMD5 wrote:

It does this for runs too which is a real problem. This is supposed to be a fitness app, yet a runner can’t even determine if they have a PR or not because the exercise only tracks in minutes not seconds. Clearly, someone who just sits on the couch all day designed this app.

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I think you nailed it.  In the developer world we call it "eating your own dog food."  If you are building something you should use it.  I think if the decision make was actually using the app to progress towards some real fitness goals they would be very reluctant to make these decisions.

[LightAnt2016]

Seriously, What's wrong with the product manager thinking?? Why remove the detail of workout  graph???WHICH IS SO USEFUL!!

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi everyone, and welcome to our new members.

Thanks for the detailed information, and your efforts while working on this matter. I understand how important this information is for you and I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I've gone ahead and escalated this to our team so they can further investigate. Rest assured that I'll update this thread as soon as I have more information.

By the way, I've merged your posts to this thread so we can keep you updated on this matter.

[weneedaccuracy]

Please keep us in the loop. It is quite an annoyance and I’m sure will lose you many clients so should be an urgent matter for the development team. 

[John1D]

What’s the point of having an app if you have to log into a poorly configured web dashboard to get correct information?  

[Weemanger12]

Why would they take away the actual time I took to run ? The new app either rounds up or rounds down my run to the nearest minute - absolutely ridiculous 

[marco57]

Lizzy, this redesign is a disaster...how can it be possible that a fitness app doesn't track actual exercise time (minutes/seconds) as it used to?  How can this be good for the customer? Plus many other anti-customer changes that you can read about in the comments (e.g. swim distance no longer tracked)..  How did this happened.  Was tracking fitbit customers' exercise activity too onerous for a fitness tracking app to track?  We demand a roll back to prior version!!!  

[Gbernardwandel]

I’ll be shocked if they do a rollback to the earlier version

they don’t GAF about their customer base

they just wanna keep their software engineers employed with redesigns 

this is the world we helped create