MS Health and 3rd Party Bands (Or the Sad Fall of MS Health)

jmilkey

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Two days ago my 5th MS Band 2 developed a tear, and I braced myself for leaving the MS Health eco-system. Sure enough, when I got to the MS Store, the incredibly friendly and knowledgeable representative told me he didn't have any more Bands. He did let me exchange it for a Fitbit Surge.

Now, my wife has had a Fitbit for awhile, and while I appreciate that it hasn't died nearly as many times as my Band, I still like the MS Health platform a great deal more. I remember when they first released the platform, they implied that 3rd party trackers would work with it. I think we have all probably seen that graphic of the band, along with what looks like a jawbone and fitbit device "syncing" data with MS Health. And while the original Band was out, I kept looking for alternatives that would sync with MS Health, but none seemed to appear.

All that being said, at one point the platform looked as if it would support 3rd party devices. Do we know why that has never emerged? Was it something that MS wanted to do and then decided against? Is it something that 3rd parties like Fitbit never took them up on? It seems like all of these platforms have some level of interoperability. Is it simply a matter of someone working on some software to link them? Or are there technical limitations that have excluded this option?

In addition to that, I wonder, with all the MS Bands silently dying and not being replaced, what does MS do with the MS Health platform it created. Does it let it silently die as well? Thanks for listening.

Jim
 

jmilkey

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Health.png
 

jmilkey

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I have also noticed after scanning the Fitbit site, that my Fitbit Surge replacement is not immune to the same sort of cracking the MS Band 2 experiences. I guess no one has really solved this issue yet...

Jim
 

DroidUser42

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All that being said, at one point the platform looked as if it would support 3rd party devices. Do we know why that has never emerged? Was it something that MS wanted to do and then decided against? Is it something that 3rd parties like Fitbit never took them up on? It seems like all of these platforms have some level of interoperability. Is it simply a matter of someone working on some software to link them? Or are there technical limitations that have excluded this option?

Perhaps the first question to ask is just how MS was going to get money out of Health? My uninformed guess is that while MS was open to third parties, they didn't want to pay the price of admission. They all had their own backend/eco systems they were pushing. They're all wanting to duplicate Apple's computer business model (with it's higher profit margins), not HP/Dell's.

what does MS do with the MS Health platform it created. Does it let it silently die as well?
Good question. Right up there with "Why did MS rename the Health app to "Band"? The only answer that makes sense is that MS does have plans for Health - at least the "brand". What that means for Band users is anyone's guess. I'm hoping the next MS event will bring some enlightenment. If not, then I'm going to have to figure out when bail out and where to go.
 

lstar337

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Adding some fuel to the fire here, or maybe I am only just noticing something that has been there forever, but was this always on this page:
MS BAND.jpg

Don't think I have ever seen it before, but it seems to suggest that there may be other devices that could add data to MS health.
 

jmilkey

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It could be that the other available source would be from qualifying phones? Didn't I read that some of the Nokia phones were able to sync step data with MS Health? I wonder if anyone out there is doing this. Or maybe it is the start of something new. I would like to believe that.

Jim
 

jmilkey

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I was looking thru some websites showing the Health Dashboard, and the "Source" field definitely has not been there the entire time. I wonder if we can pinpoint when it was added. Because until Istar337 mentioned it just now, I had never noticed it.

Jim
 

jmilkey

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I looked thru my own records, and the "Source" field is listed as blank until December 1st. So conceptually, that field was added that day, and any records prior to that day leave the field empty. Is that what other people are seeing?

Jim
 

lstar337

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It could be that the other available source would be from qualifying phones? Didn't I read that some of the Nokia phones were able to sync step data with MS Health? I wonder if anyone out there is doing this. Or maybe it is the start of something new. I would like to believe that.

Jim
My iPhone contributes to step collection data, and does show up next to the band as a little icon.

Today is the first day I have noticed it, and I visit most days.
 

poit57

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I also just noticed that "source" section over the weekend and wondered if it was new. I mostly view my data from the mobile app and haven't visited the dashboard very recently.
 

DroidUser42

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I looked thru my own records, and the "Source" field is listed as blank until December 1st. So conceptually, that field was added that day, and any records prior to that day leave the field empty. Is that what other people are seeing?
Yes.

One quibble - it's saying the source is "Band 2". I'm still on "Band 1". Still, I think this is a hopeful sign!
 

jmilkey

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I am not either, but I don't have many other options. As someone on the Fitbit community reported, they are working on getting all the data out of MS Health and into Fitbit but it looks like that will only go back a year (which would be OK in my case). But at the moment, there doesn't seem to be a way to transfer data into MS Health.

Jim
 

jmilkey

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My Band 2 fell off my arm while I was asleep last night. The strap finally broke clean thru. Still waiting on the Surge replacement. I will call the MS Store today and see where that sits. I had some hope that it would have lasted and I could have liberally applied Gorilla Glue to repair it last minutes, but with the full separation it doesn't seem like it will ever go back. So on to Fitbit I suppose, and hopefully Microsoft has a plan to get data back into MS Health. Although like I said, I am not holding my breath.

Jim
 

marchius

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on my page source is Band and/or "phone". As I use phone tracking during the day. So they have added this may be just to show if it is phone or band motion data used...
I use android...
 
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poit57

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I have sent my Band off for a warranty exchange and disconnected it from my account. With my Lumia 950 counting steps the last couple days, the "Sources" section on the dashboard is empty instead of showing a phone.
 

jmilkey

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A quick update. I am continuing to use my Fitbit Blaze every day. However, I kind of hate it. The Fitbit software is abysmal and while I used to look over the data my Band 2 produced, there is nothing useful that Fitbit provides me. And of course I can't use the GPS function on my windows phone to give me accurate tracking of distance for runs. But I keep at it hoping that at some point I will move on to something else and will be able to dump my data out to something useful. Its hard to imagine what I would move to next but I think it would likely be a Garmin. But that's the update. I will continue to dream of a world where they didn't abandon the Band 2.
 

Ghouston

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I have also noticed after scanning the Fitbit site, that my Fitbit Surge replacement is not immune to the same sort of cracking the MS Band 2 experiences. I guess no one has really solved this issue yet...

Jim

I have used both and I feel that the Surge was worse as far as build quality. My MS 2 band was/is holding up but both my wife and I have had to get replacement Surges because the band breaking. Cool thing with fitbit is that they are good about sending you a replacement unit when this happens, at no charge.

My wife now uses the Blaze and she loves it. Not a single build flaw, in her opinion. I have moved to the Fossil Q Hybrid watch. I miss the touch screen but it still gives me a quick way to see what notifications are coming in while still giving a full analog watch experience.
 

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