Dig out your Fitbit tracker , bracelet , or smartwatch from whatever draftsman it ’s gathering dust in and strap it back on — we’re about to show you some cool legerdemain you could seek to do more with your wearable . From ameliorate gimmick accuracy to exporting your data , here ’s how to get the most from your Fitbit .
1) Plug Fitbit into Strava
Strava is one of the unspoiled fitness apps out there , and luckily works very well with Fitbit tracker too — head tothis pageon the web to connect the two accounts . Fitbit activity with GPS attached shows up inside your Strava account , and any ride or runs you do through Strava get added to your Fitbit statistic for active minutes and calories burn .
The apps are apparently reasoning enough to blemish twinned action and make certain they are n’t lumber doubly , and we have n’t noticed any problem using the two apps together . If you want to break the connexion between Fitbit and Strava ( or Fitbit and any other app ) , the easiest way is to go tothe Applications pageon the WWW and click Revoke Access .
2) Sync with Apple Health
Neither Fitbit or Apple ( or both ) will lease you sync your Fitbit tracker with Apple Health natively , which intend you ’re restricted to third - party workarounds . One of the best we ’ve come across in a rather patchy field of view isMyFitnessSync for Fitbit , which will set you back $ 5 , but does do an admirable job of pay off everything in your Fitbit account moved across .
Bear in psyche that this is unofficial , and as a outcome could break at any time , but for the second the app has a upstanding rating on the App Store and mould when we prove it . Just make trusted you follow the instructions that appear inside the app cautiously , such as leave the app open while the initial sync finishes , and allowing accession to all of your Fitbit data .
3) Tame your notifications
unlike Fitbit tracker have unlike presentment capabilities , but the idea is the same across all of them : You do n’t have to accept the presentment configurations that your wearable offer out of the box . Just because your tracker can alert you to incoming texts and calls does n’t imply it has to — you might opt to completely ignore your sound for a while .
Changing contour options is easy done no matter what model of Fitbit you ’re using , but we ’ll explicate the process for the Versa . bug the profile icon ( top rightfulness ) on the Dashboard tablet , then blame Versa . Scroll down and tap Notifications , and choose which alert you want to show up on your smartwatch , and which you ’d rather stay hidden .
4) Scan barcodes for diet tracking
Until we ’re all using overbold forks andsmart plates , tracking food and drink breathing in is go to be more problematic than tracking steps , but Fitbit does offer some assist with a barcode digital scanner built right into the app . When you ’re about to eat or drink something , tap the Plus ikon ( bottom left ) on the splasher , and choose Scan Barcode from the pop - up menu .
Point your sound ’s television camera at your foodstuff ( or drinkstuff ) of choice , and the app ingest care of the rest , make your diet tracking a whole mass easy — even if you only rake some of the solid food you eat , it can speed up the input process . The barcode electronic scanner can be launched from the standard food first appearance screen too , via the barcode icon at the top .
5) Subscribe to a personal trainer
If you desire to level up your Fitbit fitness government and you ’re disposed to give a little bit for it ( $ 39.99 a year , to be precise ) , then take a look atFitbit Coach . It ’s not just a personal autobus , but it does give you access to a wide of the mark selection of physical exertion video and audio lead , and will adapt what you see and hear base on the statistic you ’re log inside Fitbit .
To get the best effect from the inspection and repair , you demand to set a destination to place for , whether that ’s bulking up or running a endurance contest . The exercises are all approachable and well - explain though , and can be viewed on a mobile machine or a data processor — they last between seven and 60 minutes , so you could beak the ace that work good as part of your day-by-day routine .
6) Get stats from your Amazon Echo
Sometimes opening up the Fitbit app or dilute up the web site seems like too much effort just to find out how many measure you ’ve taken that day — so get yourAmazon Echoto tell you how far you ’ve walked or range instead . It ’s peculiarly utile if you ’ve just got in from a run around the occlusion , or are just heading out for a run and do n’t have your phone on you .
Look for the Fitbit acquirement in the Alexa app on your phone to get the two serve connected , and once you ’ve done the common caper of logging in and support access , you may apply Alexa command such as “ ask Fitbit how many steps I ’ve get hold of ” or “ call for Fitbit how I ’m doing today ” for case . you may evencheck up onthe battery lifetime left in your Fitbit twist .
7) Keep tracking without your tracker
Should you circumstantially go out your tracker or smartwatch at home when you maneuver out to the power or on vacation , all is not lose as far as your step tracking is concerned — the Fitbit app is still able to log some basic stats using the sensors in your phone . When you ’re reunited with your wearable , the dedicated equipment can take over again inside the app .
To do this you need to activate MobileTracker . From the Fibit app , tap the profile batting order icon ( top right ) on the Dashboard tabloid , then choose countersink up a twist and pick MobileTrack from the next screenland . believe it can suck shelling life-time , it ’s belike a good musical theme to enable and stop the MobileTrack pick each time you do n’t have your wearable with you .
8) Track your data in a spreadsheet
Fitbit can be cagey about leave other service ( like Google Fit or Apple Health ) to link to its own program , but one consolidation that does knead well is the one withIFTTT(If This Then That ) . It can mechanically extract your Fitbit data and get it into various other places , as well as link your health and fitness activity up to your social sensitive accounts .
Once you ’ve signed up for a free IFTTT account , opt to create a newfangled applet ( via the drop-off - down menu in the top right corner ) , then choose Fitbit and Daily activity summary as your gun trigger , and Google Sheets and summate course to spreadsheet as the action — this exports all your Fitbit data on a casual foundation to a Google spreadsheet of your choosing .
9) Stay accountable for your sleep
Another of the IFTTT Fitbit trip you could select for the first half of your applet is Sleep continuance above . pick out this , move into the phone number of hours you ’re aiming to log every dark , and the applet will get actuate whenever you dispatch the butt . Alternatively , choose Sleep continuance below to trigger the IFTTT applet whenever you do n’t get enough shut - center .
What you do next is up to you , within the point of accumulation of IFTTT ’s compatible services . You might require to mechanically tweet out a substance or send an electronic mail to your Fitbit Quaker whenever you ’ve make ( or missed ) the target . If you ’d wish to keep your sleep habits more private , you may log your winner or failures in a bank bill in your Evernote account .
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Photo: Harrison Weber (Gizmodo)
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