Fitbit: Difference between revisions
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Fitbit, now a subsidiary of [[Google]], is a company that produces fitness tracking devices, some of which also function as smartwatches. They acquired [[Pebble]] in 2016, and produced the Ionic, Versa series and Sense series with Pebble-like SDKs, OSes and features, but skipped out on a lot of the openness and consumer freedom that Pebble users enjoyed. Most of the anti-consumer practices came following Google's purchase of the company in 2021. | {{Stub}} | ||
{{CompanyCargo | |||
| Founded = 2007-03-26 | |||
| Industry = Activity trackers | |||
| Logo = Google Fitbit Logo.png | |||
| ParentCompany = Google | |||
| Type = Subsidiary | |||
| Website = http://store.google.com/category/watches_trackers | |||
}} | |||
'''[[wikipedia:Fitbit|Fitbit]]''', now a subsidiary of [[Google]], is a company that produces fitness tracking devices, some of which also function as smartwatches. They acquired [[Pebble]] in 2016, and produced the Ionic, Versa series and Sense series with Pebble-like SDKs, OSes and features, but skipped out on a lot of the openness and consumer freedom that Pebble users enjoyed. Most of the anti-consumer practices came following Google's purchase of the company in 2021. | |||
==Fitbit Charge 3 / 4 Faulty Strap Connectors (2018, 2020)== | ==Fitbit Charge 3 / 4 Faulty Strap Connectors (2018, 2020)== | ||
Unlike the Charge devices that came before and after them, the Charge 3 and 4 have plastic strap connectors that snap off from the device with regular use, this often happened in under a year. Fitbit was willing to provide replacement devices in many cases, but never admitted to this fault publicly. | Unlike the Charge devices that came before and after them, the Charge 3 and 4 have plastic strap connectors that snap off from the device with regular use, this often happened in under a year. Fitbit was willing to provide replacement devices in many cases, but never admitted to this fault publicly. | ||
==Music Limitations (2020 - | ==Music Limitations (2020 - 2023)== | ||
Fitbit supported syncing music from your PC to your smartwatch to play offline. Supported devices for this were: | Fitbit supported syncing music from your PC to your smartwatch to play offline. Supported devices for this were: | ||
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*Fitbit Versa 2 (2019) | *Fitbit Versa 2 (2019) | ||
With the release of the Versa 3 and Sense in 2020, Fitbit removed this functionality, instead mandating that users either use a paid Deezer / Pandora subscription to sync offline music to their device (with DRM), or control music from their phone. | With the release of the Versa 3 and Sense in 2020, Fitbit removed this functionality, instead mandating that users either use a paid Deezer / Pandora subscription to sync offline music to their device (with DRM), or control music playing from their phone. | ||
With the release of the Versa 4 and Sense 2 in 2022, the remaining music functionality in the previous device was scrapped, and Google later added support for YouTube Music controls, requiring the user to have their phone nearby and a YouTube Premium subscription. | With the release of the Versa 4 and Sense 2 in 2022, the remaining music functionality in the previous device was scrapped, and Google later added support for YouTube Music controls, requiring the user to have their phone nearby and a YouTube Premium subscription. | ||
In 2022, Google shut down the necessary servers for syncing music to the older 2016 - 2019 devices. | In 2022, Google shut down the necessary servers and software for syncing music to the older 2016 - 2019 devices. | ||
In 2023, Google terminated Fitbit's partnership with Deezer and Pandora and disabled those apps on the relevant devices. | |||
==Fitbit Ionic Recall Program (2022)== | ==Fitbit Ionic Recall Program (2022)== | ||
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===Missing features=== | ===Missing features=== | ||
Many features were removed from | Many features were removed from these devices, including but not limited to: | ||
*The ability to switch between clockfaces on device | *The ability to switch between clockfaces on device | ||
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*Bluetooth headphone pairing | *Bluetooth headphone pairing | ||
Users also reported the software on | Users also reported the software on these devices to be buggy and incomplete. | ||
==Fitbit Studio Shutdown (2023)== | ==Fitbit Studio Shutdown (2023)== | ||
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==Google Assistant Shutdown (2025)== | ==Google Assistant Shutdown (2025)== | ||
Following Google's focus on Gemini, Google quietly deprecated Google Assistant for devices they considered "legacy". This included Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense devices that were still being newly sold just over 2 years ago, which were now only capable of using Amazon Alexa. Around this time, Google launched a marketing campaign showing their new Gemini assistant on Pixel Watch devices. | Following Google's focus on Gemini, Google quietly deprecated Google Assistant for devices they considered "legacy". This included Fitbit Versa 3 and Sense devices that were still being newly sold just over 2 years ago, which were now only capable of using Amazon Alexa. Around this time, Google launched a marketing campaign showing their new Gemini assistant on Pixel Watch devices. | ||
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