The Fitbit App Explained (and 6 things you didn't know you could do with it) (2024)

Your Fitbit may track your activity 24/7, but the Fitbit app is really the main attraction.

All of your data is maintained here; think of it as a central spot to track trends, adjust your goals, and get valuable insight into your actions. Whether it’s a Sense, Charge 4, Versa 3, Charge 5, or a more basic model like the Inspire 2, every Fitbit device connects to the same app. You may see more or less information depending on your tracker.

Fitbits are famous for tracking your steps, workouts, and sleep patterns. But there’s more to these devices and apps than you may think.

We’ll go through how to access the Fitbit app’s 8 major areas, from monitoring your statistics to recording your nutrition, as well as some of the more hidden capabilities. Then we’ll show you seven things you probably didn’t know you could do with it.

1. Check your Today view

The Today view is nothing more than a dashboard in which you can review everything your tracker has collected. You can customise the order these bits of data appear. Furthermore, it includes your daily activity tracking goals. These include steps taken, floors climbed, distance covered, calories burned, and Active Minutes). And some extra elements such as Heart Rate, Sleep, and Weight.

2. Review your daily activity goals.

On initially setting up your Fitbit account, you select your goals, allowing you to adjust Activity, Exercise, Nutrition & Body, and Sleep. Fitbit allows you to update your goals at any time since they are likely to vary over time.

3. Determine your level of cardio fitness (VO2 Max)

The Cardio Fitness Score from Fitbit calculates your VO2 Max. Essentially, this is the optimum amount of oxygen your body can take during exercise, expressed as a round figure ranging from ‘Excellent’ to ‘Poor’ based on your age and gender.

This score, according to Fitbit, is calculated from your resting heart rate and user profile, with the score becoming more accurate the longer you wear your Fitbit so that it can learn.

4. Check your Estimated Oxygen Variation

Fitbit’s optical heart rate monitor employs a red LED to assess the oxygen levels in the blood overnight whilst you sleep. Estimated Oxygen Variation (EOV) looks at the difference between your blood oxygen highs and lows and attempts to discover any underlying problems rather than displaying this as a single percentage.

5. Maintain a food diary

Because your Fitbit tracks your calories burned throughout the day, monitoring your food intake allows the Fitbit app to integrate these two factors. You may then assess if you’re below, in or over your weight goal based on your targets. Fitbit has an extensive food library, and you can scan barcodes of products.

6. Review your history of physical activity

Your exercise history covers everything tracked and synchronised from your Fitbit device. Including every run, walk, swim and more. When you tap a registered workout, it expands into a detailed display, provides information like heart rate and more.

7. Data synchronisation

When you wear your Fitbit during the day, it saves all of your data until you send it to your smartphone and the Fitbit app. You can select ‘All-Day Sync,’ meaning your Fitbit will automatically sync throughout the day when your phone is nearby, but you can also sync manually any time you want using the app.

8. Heart rate zones

Heart rate zones are simple ranges of beats per minute that are less than your maximal heart rate.

Fitbit will generate three simple zones for you after it has determined your maximum heart rate. Each one reflects a particular intensity level (or % of your maximum heart rate) that engages a distinct energy system in the body and produces particular benefits. Here’s how it works:

• Peak: High (85-00 percent of your max heart rate)
  Advantage: Improves performance speed
• Cardio: Strenuous (70-84 percent of your max hr)
  Advantage: Improves cardiovascular fitness and muscular strength.
• Fat Burning: Moderate (50-69 percent of your max hr)
  Advantage: Increases aerobic endurance and educates the body to burn fat for fuel.

If you wish to establish a custom zone, you may do so under your account profile’s “HR Zones” settings. Select “Custom Zone” and enter the desired higher and lower bounds.

Now you know a little more about the basics; here are 6 Fitbit app features that most users don’t know about.

1. You don’t need to own a Fitbit tracker

We love that the app is absolutely free. It just requires that you have your smartphone with you all the time, and most people do already.

Though it misses some of the more sophisticated features seen in Fitbit devices, like heart rate monitoring. Also, it cannot be used for water-based sports like swimming, as a waterproof Fitbit can.

Some people do not own a Fitbit tracker for their own reasons. Maybe they’re not keen on tech or don’t see the value of spending the money. Steps are recorded by the official Fitbit app, which works on any smartphone, as well as by the Fitbit wrist trackers.

2. Fitbit Coach is there for you

TheFitbit Coach is a streaming video platform with an ever-expanding library of training videos geared to a wide variety of fitness levels and interests. Fitbit Coach varies from similar fitness programs in that it offers a range of quick activities. Based on your fitness and energy levels, these exercises are integrated into playlists. Fitbit Coach uses the same Fitbit account as the other Fitbit apps, and data is synced across them.

The Fitbit Coach app is compatible with Windows 10 PCs and tablets, Windows 10 Mobile smartphones, Xbox One game consoles, iPhones, iPads, and Android devices.

If you only walk or run, this is an excellent way to introduce a variety of training regimens. It offers numerous free workouts, but the bulk of the content does require a membership.

3. Fitbit works with Xbox One consoles

This is a straightforward solution for seeing your fitness information on a larger screen. Though, you’re not able to connect to your Fitbit device. You’ll need a smartphone, tablet, or Windows 10 PC to do so. Simply download and open the official Fitbit app for Microsoft Xbox. To find the app, go to the dashboard’s Store section and search for Fitbit. Easy.

The Fitbit app is available for Microsoft’s Xbox One, Xbox One S, and Xbox One X video game consoles.

4. You can compete in a Fitbit challenge with friends

When participants are in different time zones, the start and end times may be ambiguous. Still, Fitbit Challenges improves your experience by gamifying exercising and allowing you to compete against friends in daily or weekly leaderboards. More, users may battle it out to see who can walk the most steps or finish their daily goal first. For the duration of the challenge, progress is tracked on a scoreboard, which all players may comment on.

Fitbit Challenges may be tracked and begun with any Fitbit app or device. After opening the app, go to the Challenges tab and scroll all the way down to the bottom to start a challenge with your friends.

5. Pick between Fitbit adventures and solo challenges

Steps shown on a map convey a sense of progress and an eventual objective like trivia at different location points during the race.

Or, go on a solitary excursion if you don’t feel like competing with others!

Rather than typical leaderboards, participants race through a 3D map of real-world locations such as New York City and Yosemite. A thousand real-world steps with your Fitbit will progress you 1,000 steps up the racetrack in the app.

6. Fitbit has a social network of its own

The stuff you publish on the feed is only visible to your friends, ideal if you don’t want your actions made public.

It’s easy to ignore the social feature of the Fitbit app, which is located under the Community option rather than the main dashboard.

Fitbit has always had social features like a friends list and scoreboards. The social feed, which can be accessed under the Community tab, is a newer feature that longtime users may be unfamiliar with.

You may post Fitbit activity, such as steps taken or badges unlocked, on this feed, just as you would on Facebook or Twitter. Friends may comment on one another’s posts and support one another for fast connection (similar to like on Facebook).

Now you know how awesome the app is, check out the 2021 comparison of Fitbit models.

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Last Updated on September 28, 2021