• Ebby@lemmy.ssba.com
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    2 months ago

    As a longtime Fitbit user, the writing is on the wall. The Google buyout has been horrible, features disappearing, support sucking, no more web dashboard, payment issues, calorie goals no longer customizable, etc.

    They bought the company for user data and patents. Merge what they want into their watches and discontinue the rest. Absolutely minimize maintenance costs by dropping features and firing employees. They’ll keep the Fitbit name, maybe roll that into a watch sub-series, but the buyout was definitely a gut-and-dump deal.

    Too bad the antitrust suit won’t save what used to be a great product and company in time.

    • fishos@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      What are the good alternatives? Been a fitbit user for a few years now and not sure who to switch to next.

        • empireOfLove2@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          2 months ago

          I was just going to second Garmin. I have an instinct solar and it’s absolutely amazing. If you get good sun exposure it only needs charging once every 2 weeks in normal mode.

        • Ebby@lemmy.ssba.com
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          2 months ago

          I was also leaning towards Garmin, but the price and style kept me with Fitbit for now. I really wanted to jump ship recently though.

      • dmtalon@infosec.pub
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        2 months ago

        Garmin watches, IMHO more rugged and they do not put their software behind a paywall. You’ll pay for it in the cost of the watch.

        I’ve been using Garmin for fitness since about 2013, I have use a Charge HR for steps/fitness alongside my Garmin watches when I used them only for activities.

        Eventually I replaced that with a garmin Fenix 3HR that did steps, activities and looked good enough to wear all the time

        I have a Fenix 6 now.

        • ByteOnBikes@slrpnk.net
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          2 months ago

          I feel like I was too hard on Garmin. Their GPS hardware in the late 2000s were outdated and so I rooted for Apple/Google to replace them with map software and phones.

          And here I am watching Google destroy Fitbit and eyeing Garmin again.

          • dmtalon@infosec.pub
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            2 months ago

            I’d like their upper watches to have some more smart features, but not at the expense of battery life.

            My Fenix has NFC payments, it gets notifications. Holds music/podcasts so I connect headset directly to it.

            But reading and responding to notifications is clunky.

            Still, for me Garmin is the way to go.

            I got a pixel watch 2 last year when I bought a Pixel phone and tried wearing it. Loved the extra smart features but couldn’t stand the battery life. Just a non starter for me

        • Damage@feddit.it
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          2 months ago

          I’ve read that Samsung and Apple smartwatches are better than Garmin at detecting cardiac issues tho.

          • dmtalon@infosec.pub
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            2 months ago

            Problem with the smarter fitness watches is battery life. My Fenix can go about 2 weeks with running 4 days a week. I do t want to have to manage charging my watch so often it’s a pain to capture my life. (Sleeping, steeps, activities)

            • Damage@feddit.it
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              2 months ago

              TBF I’m rocking a 30€ smartband connected to GadgetBridge lol

              It gets ~1week battery life regardless of activity tracking

              • dmtalon@infosec.pub
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                2 months ago

                A week isn’t bad. I just use mine to track a lot if activities, even sailing. So hours of GPS tracking. I’m really happy with my Garmin.

      • aln@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Garmin if you want a watch that receives notifications and can do basic replies. Anything else if you want a mini phone.

        Spoken from an ex Pebble user here that’s been rocking a Garmin 245 since 2020. Finally now starting to get a bit meh in the battery department and I will probably upgrade maybe next year to another Garmin?

      • PerogiBoi@lemmy.ca
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        2 months ago

        Garmin. Vivoactive 3 purchased in 2017 is still working perfectly today. I’ve upgraded because I’m an unethical consumer but my mom now wears it. Other than less battery capacity, works perfect. Touchscreen, waterproof, and all.

        Fitbit wristbands are faulty and keep detaching.

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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        2 months ago

        Not a direct replacement by any stretch, but I’ve been looking at the PineTime. Not sure how accurate anything it has is, but it’s FOSS, so that’s nice.

        Other than that, the last time I looked for watches, it was between FitBit and Garmin for me, so I’ll echo what others are saying.

        • AlligatorBlizzard@sh.itjust.works
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          2 months ago

          I’ve been really interested in the PineTime, for the price point it seems like a neat little gadget. I’ve never had a smartwatch and I’d want something cheap to see if I like it, and with the PineTime I know it’s going to be less sketchy than anything else at that price point.

          But everything I’ve read implies it’s not really a polished product yet. I’m really curious where it’s at and I’m perfectly fine with some garden variety FOSS jank but how much are we talking here?

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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            2 months ago

            Idk, I don’t have one, so I don’t know how janky it is. I have heard good things about InfiniTime though, so that’s what I’d probably use. Maybe do some research about that and see if it interests you.

      • The Quuuuuill@slrpnk.net
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        2 months ago

        I been looking at nabbing an amazfit and setting it up with gadget bridge (and then uninstalling the huawei spyware app into the ocean)

    • Zorque@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      The antitrust won’t save shit, it’s just a move to let other vulturous companies have a piece of the public corpse, not for any kind of consumer protection.

    • henfredemars@infosec.pub
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      2 months ago

      The poor Sense 2 was supposed to be the value feature phone of smart watches, and it was absolutely gutted. I’m sure it was simply purchased to remove it from the market so as not to compete with the Pixel Watch.

  • schizo@forum.uncomfortable.business
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    2 months ago

    Yeah, and Google Stadia had great new games coming and they were totally committed to it until woops, never mind, it’s dead.

    Google has a hell of a credibility problem at this point.

    • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      People were literally still working on stadia as they announced its cancellation.

      Google didn’t even tell all of the stadia team that stadia was being cancelled. Or devs that were working on Stadia games, even ones they had close exclusivity deals with.

    • henfredemars@infosec.pub
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      2 months ago

      At this point any Google product comes with the unstated assumption that it could be considered a prototype or an experiment up for cancellation at any moment.

    • ikidd@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I called that one dead in 2 years right from the start, and I might have been out by a year.

  • nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 months ago

    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.

    • psmgx@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      The point is to exterminate them. To paraphrase another company, embrace, extend, extinguish.

      • RubberDuck@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        In this case it’s more if you can’t beat em buy em. But it’s from the same school of business.

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      2 months ago

      Yeah, if they are healthy companies they could snag some market share from one of Google’s products.

      Easier to kill them early.

    • TAG@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I 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.

    • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      It means you get to dismantle a competitor, while also retaining the employees otherwise best suited to create a new competitor.

    • EddieTee77@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      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.

  • makyo@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    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.

  • Erasmus@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Same 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.

    • aport@programming.dev
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      2 months ago

      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.

      • APassenger@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        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.

      • TehWorld@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        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.

    • n2burns@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      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?”

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        2 months ago

        Having 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.

      • TrenchcoatFullOfBatsA
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        2 months ago

        I’ve moved to Garmin now, but I have an ocean’s worth of salt over Pebble as well.

      • n2burns@lemmy.ca
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        2 months ago

        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.

      • TehWorld@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        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.

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    2 months ago

    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 which can’t hold a charge worth a damn. 24 hours for a Pixel Watch? Fuck right off.

    • manmachine@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      May I suggest Garmin? For a smartwatch they have decent battery life and tons of sport/fitness features.

      • peopleproblems@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        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.

      • BaroqueInMind@lemmy.ml
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        2 months ago

        Another Garmin recommendation from me as well. They are built well, and not shitty with their apps.

        • subignition@fedia.io
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          2 months ago

          I dunno about iOS, but the reviews of the Garmin Connect app on the Play Store are… very consistently negative over the last handful of months. There was apparently a significant redesign that made a lot of information less accessible. I was thinking about getting one of their cheaper fitness trackers, but I’m less sure about that after seeing those reviews.

  • Cypher@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    They don’t need to, the day the acquisition was announced my Fitbit went in the bin.

    Fuck google, the greedy rent seeking parasites.

    • Frank_B@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      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?

      • QualifiedKitten@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        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.

        • benpetersen@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          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.

      • pound_heap@lemm.ee
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        2 months ago

        Garmin. Works reasonably well without connection to the phone. Some models supported by Gadgetbridge

        Edit: corrected app name

    • tamal3@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      As soon as they require me to use a Google account I’ll get rid of mine, too. It’s coming soon.

  • rxbudian@lemmy.ca
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    2 months ago

    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

    • vividspecter@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      Garmin watches are now increasingly supported by GadgetBridge too, so you can have a fully offline setup.

        • vividspecter@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          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 receiving 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.

            • vividspecter@lemm.ee
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              2 months ago

              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.

        • ililiililiililiilili@lemm.ee
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          2 months ago

          https://gadgetbridge.org

          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.

    • shalafi@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      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!

  • Matriks404@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    The year is 2039.

    After successful launch of AILook replacement NextAI, Google is discontinuing traditional Google Search.

    • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 months ago

      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)

    • Joelk111@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      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.

  • TheHottub@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    It’s like when you stop hanging out with your girlfriend in hopes she breaks up with you. Technically you didn’t break up with her.

  • Drathro@dormi.zone
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    2 months ago

    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.

    • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
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      2 months ago

      Garmin is the gold standard in athletic watches. They have a ton of models, from generic entry level to high end, sport specific.

    • the_weez@midwest.social
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      2 months ago

      Check 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.

    • aport@programming.dev
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      2 months ago

      Garmin Instinct 2 does all of those things well, and has excellent battery life. I charge mine about every two weeks.