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.
'''[[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 - 2022)==
==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 and software 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 this device, including but not limited to:
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 this device to be buggy and incomplete.  
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.
[[Category:Google]]
 
==References==
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[[Category:Articles with verification concerns or other deficiencies]]