XatolosGoogle denies reports that it’s discontinuing Fitbit products
Altima NEORip Fitbit. They had a good run.
lumpenproletariatNow they can do the walk of shame as a Google product.
SpaceNoodleI’m still salty over Pebble
I’ve moved to Garmin now, but I have an ocean’s worth of salt over Pebble as well.
The D QuuuuuillGod the Pebble was such a nice piece of hardware. They really focused on the shit that mattered
I’m still wearing an OG Pebble (I’ve had about a dozen Pebbles total) . However, they’re starting to get more rare and expensive. Also, while I’m still on Android 12, I understand Android 14 can break the app.
Chromecast gave life to my old TVs for years. I’m watching it slowly die.
I had two Pebble Steel watches. One just up and died one day and the other slowly failed as the buttons stopped working. I knew it was fixable, but with the sale to Fitbit happening, I
Switched to AppleWatch. I do miss some things (battery life!) but all in all I’m not unhappy with my Apple Watch.
ErasmusSame thing happened to Nest. The cameras and thermostats were great when they were a private company then sh*t the bed when Google took them over.
Google stopped support of their app almost immediately in support of ‘Google Home’ which was to control the thermostat and Camera - which is terrible and requires you to constantly log into it with your email and password if you want to access anything.
I don’t think I’ve ever had to log into the Google Home app, it just uses the accounts on my phone. Or is this some sort of situation where, “I’m too Android to understand this problem?”
subignitionHaving your Google Accounts linked to your phone is the same as being logged into them at all times. I believe the person you're replying to might not use Google Account integration.
You are correct.
Google Home is the biggest piece of shit I’ve ever had the displeasure to use.
It used to work really well, and now it’s trash. I don’t know how they could fuck something up so badly.
I went with the BezosBoxHomeAsssssistant. … it sucks too. The challenge to my mind is that it’s hard to make any profit on these things, so it’s hard to spend the dev and server $$$ required to actually make the systems do what they should.
Home Assistant works well on a cheap(-ish) Raspberry Pi. They’re even working to get voice fully capable.
It can be fully local and is FOSS, for those for whom that matters.
If you’re using HA then there is an open source alternative to Alexa! heywillow.io/components/willow-inference-server/
Glad I moved to Garmin a while back. I preferred Fitbit’s Dashboard over Garmin
When I heard Google’s buying it, I got a Garmin for my next smartwatch just to check the UI. I was thinking of moving back, but I guess I won’t.
Garmin seems to be embracing smartwatches with a number of different series
When I heard Google’s buying it, I got a Garmin for my next smartwatch just to check the UI. I was thinking of moving back, but I guess I won’t.
Garmin seems to be embracing smartwatches with a number of different series
Great to see all the Garmin love, I’ll have a look.
Just got an ancient Garmin standalone GPS from the thrift store. Soldered a new battery in and it’s GTG. Even with zero updates, the quality is top notch. One example; It’s been untouched and turned on in my hiking pack for over a month. Battery is full hot!
Garmin watches are now increasingly supported by GadgetBridge too, so you can have a fully offline setup.
Tell me more please. What’s gadget bridge and what are the benefits?
Gadgetbridge is a free and open source Android application that allows you to pair and manage various gadgets such as smart watches, bands, headphones, and more without the need for the vendor application. So in short, you can use Gadgetbridge instead of relying on your gadget’s own proprietary app.
Basically, gadgetbridge is a third party open-source application that replaces the manufacturer app for a bunch of fitness watches (and other devices of that kind).
So you can use it to replace the phone connectivity functions (like sending notifications etc) as well as getting visualisations of the data etc. And since it all happens locally, none of your data is stored on the manufacturer’s servers. If you understand how to work with SQL and statistics, you can also run your own statistical analyses, since it’s just a sqlite DB.
The downside is that you can expect it to be limited in functionality compared to e.g. Garmin’s cloud functionality. Personally I find there’s enough data to be useful, but other’s might have different needs.
Can I run the two apps side by side?
Not at exactly the same time since the app and watch communicate over Bluetooth. You should be able to pair and repair between the apps, but I haven’t tested it myself.
Alright, where’s my replacement once my current Fitbit dies? What company makes a watch that tracks steps, heart rate, sleep, spO2, notifications, is generally water resistant (light swimming) and has a battery that lasts ~5+ days? Bonus points for open firmware/hardware that doesn’t require me to design my own apps/systems for each of those items. I don’t even use most of what my Versa 3 can do, but I know it won’t last forever and I’d at least like an idea of where to go if/when it breaks down.
the_weezCheck out Withings. Not open, but they are pretty good on respecting privacy and check the boxes you want. withings doesn’t do the full screen app stuff, but it’s a good watch with all the smart features.
Garmin is the gold standard in athletic watches. They have a ton of models, from generic entry level to high end, sport specific.
Garmin Instinct 2 does all of those things well, and has excellent battery life. I charge mine about every two weeks.
Lots of Garmin love in here! Anything affordable that handles GPS well?
It’s what Google does, launch products -> cancel them, buy products -> cancel them. I have been burned enough times by them that I don’t use anything they make anymore out of the certainty that it’ll get canceled just as soon as I’ve grown to depend on it.
what’s the word for a thing that worms its way into your life, makes you depend on it, then uses that to exploit and damage you?
there’s a word for that.
I too was married once.
Either Google continually buys companies for far more than they should or they really suck at buisness. How many times have they aquired healthy companies then absolutely destroyed them? It’s hard for me to believe they’re not actively trying to at this point.
The point is to exterminate them. To paraphrase another company, embrace, extend, extinguish.
RubberDuckIn this case it’s more if you can’t beat em buy em. But it’s from the same school of business.
Yeah, if they are healthy companies they could snag some market share from one of Google’s products.
Easier to kill them early.
TAGI would assume some of that is acqui-hiring. Google acquires a company and looks at which employees are the outstanding talent. The best employees are poached for projects Google cares about while the rest are left to keep the product going without the thought leaders who built it.
It means you get to dismantle a competitor, while also retaining the employees best suited to creative a new competitor.
Between Fitbit and Nest, I don’t know how they can buy them and not just let them run separately like Waze. They have great brands that were ruined.
I literally just bought a Fitbit because I really needed a watch and it has the features I cared about and was way less expensive than a Garmin.
Honestly I think Google will cancel them because they compete with Android Wear or whatever and can’t hold a charge worth a damn
manmachineMay I suggest Garmin? For a smartwatch they have decent battery life and tons of sport/fitness features.
Another Garmin recommendation from me as well. They are built well, and not shitty with their apps.
You must have missed my first statement? Unless you can justify $300-$400 more for the features I use in the Fitbit. Bonus points if you can make it into a funny song.
Shit, I sure did. Sorry.
Man that’s way too short to be a funny song
They don’t need to, the day the acquisition was announced my Fitbit went in the bin.
Fuck google, the greedy rent seeking parasites.
I had no idea Fitbit sold to google, and had in the back of my mind to buy one eventually. Guess that’s not gonna happen, found any alternative?
I haven’t found any alternatives but I also haven’t been looking…
Garmin. Works reasonably well without connection to the phone. Some models supported by #Gatgetbridge
Garmin. You’ll probably spend a bit more on the hardware, but there’s nothing locked behind a subscription. I had the Fitbit Sense and switched to the Garmin Forerunner 265. If the skin temperature sensor is important to you, you’ll want a different model, but that’s the only thing I’ve noticed as missing so far.
I’ve been loving the Venu 3s, it has quite good hardware for the price point. Battery lasts 5-7 days, depending on my activities. I got a 20% off coupon by signing up for an app and doing 2-3 surveys, I can’t remember the name but it’s mentioned quite a few times in the Garmin subreddit (sorry I know…). Also get a couple different 18mm bands (I like nato style or a silicone band) and maybe a screen protector since it’s a raised bezel it’s prone to contacting more things than recessed glass.
Anything supported by Gadgetbridge. Get corpos out of your private data.
As soon as they require me to use a Google account I’ll get rid of mine, too. It’s coming soon.
FYI for those thinking of migrating to pixel watch: Big oof: The Google Pixel Watch 3 can’t be repaired, only replaced
While on this subject, here is the iFixIt list of repairable smartwatches.
kirk781It’s a shame. This was the case with both their previous watches as well.
Thankful for my first-generation ANCIENT Apple Watch. It needs to be charged every night and the UI is a bit sluggish, but it’s still kickin! Still does everything I want it to (legitimately just activity tracking and reading texts)
OneWomanCreamTeamOf course they aren’t killing fotbit. This week.
Yeah, and as if anyone would know. They’ll send out the announcement internally on the Tuesday before the next fitbit releases, then announce it to the public on Wednesday.