Status on iOS notifications

[thenameless1]

Hey guys,

Trying to figure out who is at fault for the iOS notification issues.

1. Apple provided fitbit and other app developers with the iOS13 beta 3 months prior. which would have allowed fitbit to fix any potential issues. Can't blame Apple.

2. Fitbit was provided the beta 3 months prior and it appears that @KateFitbit  and her team just flat out ignored it and has gone missing since the Google merger was officially announced. Has anyone seen an official update from Fitbit regarding this issue.

3. Google must have been in talks with Fitbit representatives prior to the official press statement. Unless a deal was reached overnight on Halloween 2019. So I wonder if its possible Google interfered with the beta period provided by Apple. Like did google instruct fitbit, @KateFitbit and her team to not make the necessary changes.

Googles logic could be that if they can show government officials that the majority of Fitbit's is user base are android users that it would be easier for them to gain government approval

After all, how many iphone users here have already commented that they are switching to an apple watch?

Fitbit bought Pebble. Pebble no longer exists. Google buys Fitbit. Fitbit no longer exists.

Why did Google buy Fitbit besides the obvious data grab?  To enter the smart watch hardware market and compete with Samsung and all the other android watch makers. So the fitbit brand turns into the Google Pixel Watch leaving iOS users with nothing!

moderator edit: title for clarity

[Saramina]

I have had my Versa only 5 months and already it is not doing what it is advertised to do. I have done every troubleshooting method there is....I have been tinkering with it for a month now. Getting message notifications was huge. Without that feature I would have gone with a different product. I wonder if they will take it back? In my opinion, this is false advertising. I am super ticked off.

[thenameless1]

@Saramina This definitely has to be considered false advertising!  There is no warning or anything present on the website alerting potential purchasers of the current issues either!

According to @MarreFitbit Fitbit guarantees no issues  as long as you have a compatible device/phone.  However there has been no information as to what this guarantee actually is. No one from the fitbit staff has provided any information to the guarantee.

I'd like to think that since the versa2 doesn't appear to be having issues or the occurrence rate in the versa2 is dramatically lower than other fitbit devices that they would give you a versa2 since your device is still under warrenty and used with a compatible device.  I mean that's how a guarantee works @MarreFitbit . Or at least that's how it's supposed to.

Since @KateFitbit and her team can't or won't provide an update on the status or potential update fix it would be safe to say that in this case the guarantee doesn't imply fitbit fixing the app. There solution seems to be just buy a new one.

Wish you the best of luck!  But don't expect much from fitbit here. I've only been on here for a couple of days and all it seems to be is a place to vent.

[Saramina]

So I just did a live chat with customer service....we got it working again!

[Rich_Laue]

Kate as a moderator is only able to pass on what has been told to her. 

@thenameless1 while it is true that Fitbit, Garmin, and others got a pre release. Why did iOS change the way the handle notifications in the final release? Google did not kill iOS, for one, Google does not own Fitbit. IOS did it to their users by pulling a big change with the release which broke notifications for Fitbit, Garmin, and others. IOS simply does not want their users using non apple products. 

[thenameless1]

@Rich_Laue  I try to research the forums before i post  so that i can try and provide accurate information.

This link provided https://community.fitbit.com/t5/iOS-App/Stopped-seeing-notifications-after-updating-to-iOS-13/td-p/3... takes you to the sticky thread right above @KateFitbit  where the very first user post is dated 6/29/19 and its a reported issue with notifications. So while apple might have made changes to the os these were changes that fitbit knew of well in advance and had time to prepare for. So why didn't fitbit do anything?

I'm not sure if you had a chance to read the press release titled Fitbit to Be Acquired by Google

(i've provided the link below), but typically when something or in this case a company is "acquired" it implies ownership.

It's also a known fact that google has been struggling to bring a smart watch of their own to the market. Similar to how fitbit was having issues with mobile payments and then Fitbit purchased Coin (ive attached that link below as well). We really don't hear much about Coin anymore and you know what they say history repeats itself. I wonder if we will still hear of fitbit after it is "aquired" by google.

The term "acquire" is used a lot on these official fitbit press releases so I provided a link for a definition of the term to clear up any issues.

I'm fairly new to the forum, but i would believe that as a community council member that they would have told you that Google was buying them.

https://investor.fitbit.com/press/press-releases/press-release-details/2019/Fitbit-to-Be-Acquired-by...

https://investor.fitbit.com/press/press-releases/press-release-details/2016/Fitbit-Inc-Acquires-Wear...

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/acquires

[thenameless1]

@Rich_Laue I continued to do some research on this issue and it's clear that the issue falls on fitbit and it's really hard to believe that Google didn't play a hand in it. I wouldn't be surprised if we started seeing google ads in the app trying to sell us health products based off of data collected from our trackers.

Some supporting info:

1. The iOS 13 update was focused on users privacy. Fitbit should have had no issue with this and welcomed ios 13 especially since there press release about google OWNING/BUYING them says that privacy has been ingrained in their DNA since day one. With the ios13 update people now are seeing requests from apps like google and facebook as well as some others for Bluetooth requests. Why would these apps require a Bluetooth connection? To track you!!  Bluetooth can connect to devices called "beacons" that will allow these apps to track your location and how much time you spend in a store. That's how we get targeted ads

2. You mentioned that apple changed notifications in the final release, which is simply just not true! iOS developer beta 8 for ios 13 (the final beta released to developers) references no changes to the notifications. Besides that final beta was released on August 21, 2019 which was still 1 month PRIOR to the ios 13 release. It's still a lot of time for Fitbit to make changes. Also, we are 2 months into ios 13 and Fitbit still can't fix it or provide an update on the issue?

3. Now the best part is that just one week later on August 27 apple released it's first beta for ios 13.1 to app developers. So they already had that final version of ios 13.

4. Following the fitbit ios app history. If we ignore the the august 21, 2019 update. Fitbit pushed out 3 app updates in between the final beta (8/21/19) and the ios 13 release date (9/19/19)  that neither warned users of the pending issue or made an attempt to rectify it before it became an issue.

@Rich_Laue since you are a Community Council member and a Community Legend I don't want to fully dismiss your comment.  Lets say that apple made all these changes just so people would stop using fitbits and purchase apple products. Where was the warning from Fitbit?  Nothing present on the website and fitbit has an app that provides ads now  surely they could have put a warning or an official press release out saying if notifications are important to you please wait prior to upgrading to ios 13?  All i'm saying is a warning would have been nice. So why didn't anyone get one?

As a community council member I hope that you would be able to work with @KateFitbit  and her team to advocate for the betterment of Fitbit products and services. Am I correct in my description of what a community council member does?

Just an update on the notification would be nice. Not a generic one that states its being worked on. Something a little more specific like if @KateFitbit  could post a thread similar to the one referencing the other update. Like we are on still addressing the notification issue with iOS 13 and currently working on app update 3.2 and we are hopeful that this will address the issue. Or maybe with Apple introducing dramatic changes to notifications in iOS 13 we are currently in the process of overhauling our app and its taking longer than anticipated. We hope to have it fixed by the end of the year.

Surely, Fitbit must be realizing that by providing no update on the issue it's causing a public outcry on the forums and their lack of action is actually driving people to apple watches. It's actually kind of weird because you would think that this would be something Fitbit would be interesting in stopping. Unless this is what was intended with Google purchasing Fitbit.

[KateFitbit · Accepted solution]

@thenameless1  Our team is still reviewing. We have updated workflows and recommendations for fixes over the past several months. I recommend keeping your iOS and app updated for now. 

At this stage, I don't have further information to share. I'd like to ask you to refrain from crossposting, as it violates our Community Guidelines. I will be closing this thread for further comments.